Kids love pizza, and these freezable pizza pockets are just the thing to prepare in bulk to have ready for a quick lunch, whether you’re on the go with summer adventures or already gearing up for back-to-school. If you’ve got the time, have some fun with the kids and knead the dough by hand. Sure, it’s going to get messy, but they’ll have a blast and will love having a hand in making their own lunch. There is also no need to worry about defrosting ahead of time — if placed in lunchbox frozen, even with ice pack, these will defrost by lunchtime.
Pizza Pockets
Prep time: 90 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 1 hour and 45 minutes
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon quick rise yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus 1 teaspoon, divided
- 1 cup slightly warm water
- 3/4 cup uncooked oat bran hot cereal
- 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1/3 cup no-salt-added tomato sauce
- 1/2 cup part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
- 16 slices pepperoni, quartered
- 4 mushrooms, sliced
- 4 mini sweet peppers, sliced
Directions
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In stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine all-purpose flour, yeast, sugar and salt. With motor running, add 2 tablespoons oil and warm water.
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Switch paddle attachment to dough hook. Add oat bran and mix until combined. Add whole-wheat flour a little at a time and stop when slightly sticky ball forms. Continue to run mixer 1 minute.
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Brush ball of dough with remaining olive oil, cover with plastic wrap and place somewhere warm to rise 1 hour.
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Heat oven to 450 F. Spray large baking sheet with cooking spray.
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Punch down dough. Dust counter lightly with flour. Roll out half of dough to 1/4-inch thick, dusting with more flour if too sticky. Use 4-inch round cookie cutter to cut rounds.
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Spoon 1 teaspoon tomato sauce into middle of each round. Add 1/2 tablespoon cheese, 4 quarters of pepperoni, mushroom slice and 2 pepper rings. Moisten edges of dough with water. Fold dough over filling and press to seal. Use fork tines to crimp and further seal edges.
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Place pizza pockets on baking sheet and poke top of each with fork.
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Bake 15 minutes, or until tops are browned (some cheese may leak out).
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Once cool, freeze in single layer on baking sheet. Once frozen, wrap individually in plastic wrap and transfer to freezer bag.
Source: Produce for Kids
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