What if you can have your pizza and eat grain-free too?? Pizza seems to be a weakness among almost everyone, and this recipe may just be the therapy that you needed. I’m adding these Easy Pizza Bites to my list of grain-free pizza recipes! (Yes, go check them out!)
Make up a few batches and freeze for a quick food for parties, for snacks and even for breakfast! 😉 These are delicious enough to eat by themselves but even better if served with my marinara sauce (or even Tomato Basil Soup)!
Quality Ingredients
Look for quality ingredients. Applegate Farms makes a great Pepperoni and can be purchased at Whole Foods and some local grocery stores. When choosing cheese, be sure to avoid the pre-shredded kind so that you can avoid corn starch and other additives. Natural flavorings are even sneaking into butter so be sure to read the label!?! Also, some brands of sour cream are infamous for including ingredients other than cream. I personally use Daisy Brand because the only ingredient is cream (and it taste SO good)! Remember, the best source of meats and cheeses come from grass-fed cows. I realize that is not always an option or affordable. My advise is to find and purchase the highest quality you can afford, and with the fewest ingredients on the label!
Substitutions
Try adding 1/2 lb. of Italian sausage, cooked, drained and cooled to your Easy Pizza Bites instead of pepperoni. Do you like Bacon?? Add 4-6 pieces of cooked, crumbled bacon to your pizza dough for a bacon-e twist!
Serving Suggestions
These Pizza Bites are great for a pizza delivery you can send then warm, unless you are like my brother and like cold pizza. If making these in advance, be sure to serve at room temperature or reheat in the oven for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees. Feel free to make the marinara sauce in advance as well. Really kick these Easy Pizza Bites up a notch by serving them with my Extra Zesty Ranch Dressing! YUM!
I hope you enjoy the recipe! Serve them at a party and NO one will know they are grain-free & low-carb! Everyone wins!
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup coconut flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried basil*
1/4 tsp. oregano*
1/4 tsp. dried thyme*
2-3 oz. pepperoni, chopped
4 oz. mozzarella, shredded
4 tbsp. salted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. sour cream
Optional ingredients: 1/4 cup chopped olives, 1/2 bell bell pepper or 1/2 small onion, chopped and sauteed in 2 tbsp. butter, 4 oz. mushrooms, chopped and sauteed in 1 tbsp. butter (cooled)
*Omit and add 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and set aside. In a medium bowl, add dry ingredients and blend well. Add all remaining ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until blended. Use small scoop (1-1/2 tbsp.) or medium scoop (3 tbsp.) to measure out dough onto prepared cookie sheet 3 inches apart. Bake for 15- 20 minutes or until slightly brown. Serve warm with marinara sauce or Ranch Dressing.
Nutrition Information: 60 Calories, 5 grams Fat, 1 Net Carb, 2.5 grams Protein per Pizza Bite (using small scoop)
Also be sure to check out my two cookbooks, Satisfying Eats & Comforting Eats, NOW available in eBook format through Amazon and the spiral bound versions are available here on my blog.
Happy Cookin’!
Melissa
I made these today and they are delicious! Thanks for the recipe. I made them with sausage instead of pepperoni. I just had one question about the scoop size. Are you sure it was a 3 tbsp scoop? I used a small scoop (1 tbsp) and they looked larger than yours and I only got 22 pizza bites. Either way they are yummy! Thank you!
Hey! Just found your website a few weeks ago when I decided to go grain free. I was curious, do you think these would freeze well? Reheating them in the oven will probably help retain any crispiness. I just found out I am am pregnant with #3 so I am trying to find recipes that I can make a huge batch of, that my kids will eat and that will freeze well. Thanks!
Aibigail, everything pretty much freezes well, especially these little babies. Yes, even reheating in a toaster (or toaster oven) works well! Congrats on #3 and good thinking about getting your freezer stashed started! 🙂
60 calories per bite?
Jennifer, if using a small scoop and you get 28 bites, yes, per bite.
Got your cookbook a couple weeks ago. Love the mashed taters with cauliflower and the apple pecan salad- but I have a real sweet tooth and wanted to make something sweet- I am no expert with stevia, I just know it can be bitter if you use too much- I made the southern pound cake- boy was I disappointed- no flavor or taste- maybe more stevia and some almond extract-
Sheila,yes, you may need to add more sweetness. Almond extract or lemon extract would be great too. Add another tsp of vanilla if you like as well. Accomplishing the texture is the key with the pound cake recipe, you can always adjust the sweetness and flavoring to your liking. As stated in the book, ALWAYS taste your batter before baking. Everyone’s taste buds are different so you may want to add more flavoring or sweetness. Hope this helps.
I did taste the batter and it was good, –maybe the almond extract will help- I loved the frosty and pizza bites. the pancakes , no flavor. What can I add to the batter to make it better??? The frig fudge did not harden, but I loved every bite as I spooned it out- I have looked in all the healthy grocery stores for half and half, and heavy whipping cream without the carageena in it- I cant find it- where do you purchase it?? And I ordered the stevia you recommended – it is greenish in color, not white. Trying out these recipes on my husband–
Sheila, which pancakes?? The pancake mix in Satisfying Eats is a base… variations (which are listed) can be made like adding pumpkin, banana, cinnamon, etc. Again, my baked good recipe have achieved the desired texture and I encourage you to adjust the sweetness, flavors, etc. to your liking. Here is the link to find the brands that don’t contain carrageenan: http://bit.ly/brands-without-carrageenan Check your local grocery store, whole foods, Trader Joes and Costco or what ever stores you have around. I purchase it from our farmer’s market so be sure to check there. The KAL I recommend is not green.. KAL makes one that is still green but I have never used it. I currently use: http://bit.ly/organic-Kal-Stevia and http://bit.ly/sweet-leaf-organic-stevia. I also have an “old” bottle of the original KAL that doesn’t have maltodextrin. Hope this helps.
I tried the pancake/waffle mix (pg. 22 sat. eats) just plain without cinnamon or bananas–maybe I will try adding bananas next time. I have looked in all the healthy stores for whipping cream, etc. without the carrageenan, and cant find it- thank you for the site
Any suggestions on what I sub for the sour cream? Would greek yogurt work?
Yes, Greek yogurt works well.
how about cream cheese? or any non-dairy ideas?
I don’t see why cream cheese wouldn’t work. You could probably use the thick part of canned coconut milk but you will probably have a slight coconut flavor! Hope this helps!
Love these. Thanks for sharing. One question. Mine seem a little dry. When I spoon them onto the parchment paper, they have a consistency of, I guess toll house cookie dough. When cooked they don’t get smooth like yours look. I know gluten free cooking is/can be a challenge, and I am pretty new to it. Any suggestions?
Steve.. Maybe you cooked them a little too long?? Also, double check ingredient amounts, being sure not to pack down the flours when measuring. This can make a huge difference. The dough is thick but I wouldn’t say cookie dough thick. Yes, grain-free baking is a little different but once you learn some basics, it gets a lot easier! I am actually working on a “Back to Basics” blog post to discuss other tips to grain-free baking! I hope this helps!
I am allergic to Almonds and almond flour. Can I just replace the almond flour and use only coconut flour?
Christina, coconut behaves very differently than almond flour. If needing a nut-free substitute, use raw ground sunflower seeds instead.
These are so good! Will probably omit salt next time since the cheeses and pepperoni were potent. Went crazy and also made the red lobster biscuits, nut free thins and harvest apple cookies. All so delish! Freezing most for later snacks!
Made these for lunch today and they were a hit! Even my non-lowcarb/non-GF family members enjoyed them. Made them for myself (eating lchf/gf/loose-paleo) and for grandson who is on the spectrum – i’m trying to limit his gluten intake. Everyone was coming up with new versions we could do like jalapeño popper style, etc. Thanks for a nice recipe that actually works!
Am curious about using ground sunflower seeds for flour. How does it ‘behave’ in relation to
other types of flour? Are there special considerations? I would be thrilled to find a flour that doesn’t have the coconut flavoring…and I am crazy about sunflower seeds. BTW…made this recipe and is was very good….dipped in pizza sauce. YUM! Thank you so much. Now for a recipe that is ‘cholesterol friendly’.
My husband is a diabetic, so the low carb/sugar factor is heaven….but cholesterol is a whole other story.
Paleo doesn’t seem to worry about that.??? Love your blog…Thanks again!
What kind of grated parmesan cheese do you use. My kids didn’t like them because they thought the parmesan was over powering. I really want these to work for lunches, so please advise.
Melissa love your recipes they are so nice love easy pizza bites the whole family loves them which is not always the norm at our place. Narelle
You have great recipes & info!, but I haven’t been getting your newsletter/blog by email lately, I thought maybe I’ll cancel it and then retry to sign up, but it didn’t work. Will you please sign me up again, so I can get your wonderful new recipes & info, thanks.
I am just wondering on your easy pizza bites , can you put them in a cupcake pan instead of a cookie sheet?
Jessica, I am sure you could. I would worry about them sticking so be sure to oil them well.
Curious about this one. Is it like making cookies or pizza? Do you smash the dough that you scoop out, or does the oven heat make it spread well enough?
Tom, when you cook it, the dough will spread out. There like mini pizza biscuits.