Pepperoni Pizza Rolls

Pepperoni Pizza Rolls: prepared with my kitchen-tested pizza dough recipe, these pepperoni pizza rolls are an instant crowd-pleaser. Packed with mozzarella cheese and pepperoni, these rolls are extra awesome dipped in your favorite pizza sauce.

Our team won the SuperBowl last year and to say the city of Baltimore went bananas is an understatement. The streets were packed, the crowd was roaring. Our plans aren’t quite as exciting for the SuperBowl this year, but I have an AWESOME new snack to bring along. These are pepperoni pizza rolls and you can use frozen or homemade pizza dough!

It took me 3 tries to get these pizza rolls right. The 1st time I made them, the rolls completely fell apart as I was cutting. The 2nd time, I burnt them to a black crisp. But the 3rd time was a charm! The rolls were pizza perfection: crispy on the bottom, tender on the inside, super cheesy, and packed with pepperoni. You will love making and eating pizza this way.

Homemade Pizza Dough

You can use store-bought, but I encourage you to try homemade pizza dough. This lean dough makes a crust that is extra flavorful and crisp with a super soft and chewy interior. You can watch me make the dough in this helpful video tutorial. The entire dough recipe yields 24 pizza rolls, but you can cut the dough in half to yield only 12 rolls. (Extra pizza dough freezes and thaws beautifully.)

Or use my whole wheat pizza dough instead. The same steps apply, just swap out the crust. You can use either dough recipe for homemade garlic knots, too.

If you wish to use a rich bread dough for a softer, dinner roll or homemade breadstick like texture, I highly recommend making these pizza pull apart rolls instead!

How to Make Pizza Rolls

Pizza rolls are surprisingly simple and if you’ve made cinnamon rolls before, you’re familiar with the process. It’s all pretty similar to making stromboli. After the pizza dough is prepared, follow these 3 easy steps:

1. Roll out the dough, make dents in it with your fingers, and brush with olive oil. Why? The little dents in the dough prevent air bubbles and the olive oil prevents any sogginess.
2. Fill the dough with your favorite pizza toppings like pizza sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. Thinly sliced peppers, onions, and cooked crumbled sausage works too!
3. Roll up the dough and chill for 25 minutes. Why? Chilling will prevent your rolls from falling apart as you cut. During that time, preheat your oven. You want the entire oven to be hot and ready!

Top with some parmesan cheese and bake into crispy, melty perfection.

Dip the bottom of the rolls in a little cornmeal before baking. This is completely optional, but adds a wonderful CRUNCH on the bottom.