Pizza Rolls

I saw a recipe for Pizza 'cinnamon buns' at Savory Notes and I knew I had to take a crack at them, immediately. But, since I have a lot of favorite ways of doing things, I copied the idea but not the recipe. 

These were a major hit at our house and the twelve Cinnabon-sized rolls fed my family for a whole weekend. My bottomless-pit of a fifteen year old could only eat one. Crazy!

Basically this is what you do:

Need a bit more? Thought so.

First I made bread dough. I think bread was prefect as it's a lot fluffier then pizza dough. This recipe makes three large loaves so if you don't have a need for a massive amount of pizza rolls, mix this up and bake a loaf or two of bread alongside the pizza. Then you can have fresh french toast in the morning too. Yum!

Nicole's Best Bread in the Whole World

(nobody said I was humble)

2 pkgs of yeast (1TBL = 1 packet)

¼ C warm water

2 C warm milk

¾ C sugar

½ C softened butter

1 ½ tsp salt

2 eggs

7-8 C flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, sugar, butter, salt, cardamom, eggs, and 3 C of flour. 

Beat until smooth

Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough

Knead 6-8 minutes

Place in greased bowl.  Cover. Allow to rise until doubled (one hour)

Punch down. Divide into three and form loaves.

Cover and rise until doubled (about 45 minutes

Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brush top with butter as soon as it comes out of the oven for a nice buttery soft top.

Note: for Finn Bread or cinnamon rolls, add 3/4 tsp of cardamon when you add the salt. This recipe makes great rolls, sandwich bread and braids beautifully.

For pizza rolls

After kneading allow bread to rise until doubled, about one hour.

Spray your counter with cooking spray (Pam) so the dough doesn't stick when rolling it out.

Punch down and roll out the amount of dough you would like to use (all of it, 1/3 or 2/3s) onto your counter in a rectangle. It doesn't have to be perfect. I do this by squishing it out with my hand but use a roller if that's your thing.

Rub butter or margarine over the dough and sprinkle with garlic powder.

Spread a thin, even layer of spaghetti sauce (or homemade marinara) on top of the garlic butter layer.

Now you can top it with whatever you like. This is what we did:

Fresh grated parmesan, pepperoni, sage sausage, crumbled bacon, red pepper flakes, pizza seasoning.

Sprinkle a little bit of mozzarella over toppings. Remember, you're rolling this up like a cinnamon bun so don't go crazy.

Everything I know about rolling cinnamon buns came from watching Amish women from Pennsylvania do it. They're masters! The trick isn't to just roll it up like a towel; you need to roll and tuck, roll and tuck. Your fingers should be doing a little dance all the way up and down the roll turning and tucking as you go. It takes a bit longer but it works great. 

Now you should have a giant weird looking roll. Tuck the ends under if you're so inclined and cut it in half (short distance, not long) so it's easier to manage. Wrap each roll in Saran wrap and refrigerate for at least a half hour. This will help it all stick together and make cutting easier. When mine came out of the fridge a few hours later (I made this early afternoon and baked it for dinner) the Saran Wrap was TIGHT because it had risen so much. Don't be alarmed.

Unwrap and cut into slices. I made ours about two to three inches thick which produced HUGE pizza rolls. Cut them smaller if you want to make them more reasonably-sized. Use a sharp knife. Forget about the dental floss cutting trick because you're going through pepperoni. It just won't work.

Now you should have these.

Put them in a greased (cooking spray) 9x13 pan(s), cover and allow to rise for about 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes. Sprinkle the top with some cheese for the last five minutes, broil if needed to melt the cheese.

I served them with bowls of marinara for dipping but two of my guys ate them 'dry', one loved the sauce and one dipped his in Ranch - all seemed like good options. 

These are delicious and microwave like a dream. I hope you try them.