* Pull-apart Mini Pizzas *

Okay, so I honestly don't know what this recipe is really called but I'm sure "Pull-Apart Mini Pizzas" is not it. I got this recipe (although it's not really a recipe but another way to make pizzas) from my mother-in-law and my family loved it! My mother-in-law uses rhodes bread dough for the dough in this recipe but I used my own pizza dough this time. I think the rhodes dough works best (they turn out fluffier) but either way, these are yummy.

* Pull-apart Mini Pizzas *
One batch of homemade pizza dough, rhodes bread dough, etc.
cheese
toppings
pizza sauce (for dipping)
ranch dressing (for dipping)

Roll out your pizza dough into a rectangular shape. Cut dough into 12 equal pieces. Stretch each piece out and place desired toppings in the middle of the dough piece. Top with cheese. Fold over the edges of the dough and press together, making a "pillow?" (not sure how to describe it) Place seam side down on greased baking sheet and repeat with the rest of the dough pieces.

I really don't know how to describe this next part either...basically you take a knife or a scraper (see my picture below)and chop the pizza pillows 2 or 3 times across and 2 or 3 times top to bottom. Scrunch (or spruce) the mini pizzas up. Bake at 425* for 10-15 minutes or until browned. Serve with ranch dressing and warmed up pizza sauce.
These are super easy and my kids (and I) love them because they can pick little bites off all by themselves! I hope this all made sense. I just learned it by watching my mother-in-law so don't mind the weirdo directions :)

* Homemade Gourmet Vegetarian Pizza *

When I worked at Papa Murphy's, there was a pizza there that I swore I'd never try. It was the Gourmet Vegetarian. It had zucchini, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, atrichoke hearts, & onions. That sounded ridiculously gross to me and I have to admit now that I WAS WRONG! Who knew that vegetables could taste so good on a pizza? (probably most of you out there) I decided to make it on my own last week and it was seriously so good! Try it out...you will enjoy it!

*Homemade Gourmet Vegetarian Pizza *(you will notice that mine does not have onions or mushrooms on it...I did not have those toppings so I didn't use them but I am sure they would've been good! Also, don't mind the pepperoni. My kids won't eat those veggies.)

pizza dough (I used my calzone pizza dough recipe...so good!)
white sauce (found in this post)
cheese (I used colby jack because that is what I had on hand. Papa Murphy's uses mozzarella on top of the sauce, and a mix of provalone and cheddar on top of the toppings, topped with parmesan cheese)
zuchinni (sliced)
artichokes (chopped into smaller pieces)
spinach--can use fresh or frozen. If using frozen, cook spinach until tender and drain.
muchrooms (sliced)
tomatoes (sliced or chopped)
onions

Make pizza dough according to recipe. Roll out onto pizza tray, sheet, or stone. Top with 1/2 c. - 3/4 c. white sauce. Top with cheese. Spread desired toppings (don't over do it on the toppings, Since they are vegetables, they have a lot of water/juice in them and too many toppings will make your pizza soggy). Top with more cheese. Bake (usually between 400* and 425*--depending on your recipe) for 12-18 minutes.

* Pizza Crust and White Sauce *

I've said before that I don't necessarily love my go-to pizza crust recipe. I mean, there is really nothing wrong with it other than it's kind of bland but it's fast, easy, and doesn't need to rise. This recipe is similar with a little more flavor...it's also fast, easy, and doesn't need to rise. I found it on Real Mom Kitchen blog here. Give it a try, if you're looking for something fast and easy.

*Fast & Easy Pizza Crust*sorry about the crappy picture...my camera broke a few weeks ago and I had to use my phone :(
3 cups flour, more or less
1 tablespoon honey, heaping
1 tablespoon oil, heaping
1 cup warm water
1 tablespoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. (If using a pizza stone, let stone heat for at least 30 minutes in the oven before baking pizza.) Mix all pizza dough ingredients together, except the flour. Add flour and knead for a bit then put into pan (or use a pizza peel and pizza stone). Top dough with sauce and toppings. If baking in a sheet pan, bake for about 12 minutes (checking often) until crust is browned and cheese is golden and bubbly. If baking on the preheated pizza stone, slide pizza onto stone and bake for about 8 minutes. Makes 1 large pizza.

I also used this white sauce found on Real Mom Kitchen. It reminded me of the white sauce we used at Papa Murphys...and it was also really good!

*White Pizza Sauce*
½ cup ranch dressing
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. dried basil
¼ cup shredded Parmesan

Mix all ingredients together and place on your pizza crust. This is enough sauce for 1 (14 inch) pizza.

* BBQ Chicken Pizza *

As I've mentioned before, I worked at Papa Murphy's Pizza for a long time. One of my favorite pizzas we made there was the BBQ Chicken Pizza. They use KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce, shred the chicken and let it marinate in the BBQ sauce for a day or two, spread that on the crust, top it with mozzarella cheese, add crispy bacon, tomatoes, & onions, and then top it off with a mix of cheddar, provolone, and parmesan cheese---it is yummy! I always switch out the onions for pineapple...now that is my kind of pizza!

We have homemade pizza pretty often at our house. I usually try to recreate the PM BBQ Chicken using what I have on hand and we all love it!

* BBQ Chicken Pizza *
1 batch of your favorite pizza dough (I won't post my recipe on here cause it's really not that great...)
1/2 c. favorite BBQ sauce (we had Kraft on hand)
1 c. cheese (we had coldy jack on hand)
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded (I only use one chicken breast because too many toppings on the pizza with make it kind of soggy/doughy)
2-3 pieces of bacon, cooked and crumbled
pineapple pieces, to taste (but don't do too many...soggy doughy pizza, remember?)
Onions, to taste (not pictured...but I did sprinkle some onion powder on top for taste)
Tomatoes, to taste (not pictured...we didn't have any on hand)

Roll out crust and place on pizza stone or pan. Bake at 425* (or whatever temperature your dough recipe states) for 10 minutes. Pull crust out of oven and top with BBQ sauce, chicken, 3/4 the cheese, the rest of the toppings, and the rest of the cheese on the top. Bake for another 7-10 minutes or until crust is browned. Enjoy! I like to dip mine in ranch dressing :)

* Calzones *

Back when I worked at Papa Murphy's in Logan, UT, we got free pizza basically whenever we wanted it. My hubby and I were newly married and (what we thought was) poor (now with 2 kids and a house payment, we really know what poor is) and pizza was on our table for dinner at least twice a week. Plain old pizza was great...we could put any toppings we wanted on it and the possibilities were endless...but it got old. Then we went through a CALZONE phase---and it was delicious! What's not to like about a pizza folded in half? Especially for someone like me who loves the crust!

Fast forward to a few weeks ago...we had dinner with a few couples in our ward and our neighbor Rachel made THE YUMMIEST calzones! I got the recipe from her and you must try it!

* Calzone Dough *
1 1/2 T. yeast
1 c. warm water
1 T. sugar
1 T. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
2 3/4 to 3 1/4 c. flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in sugar, oil, and salt. Add 1 cup of flour. Beat. Mix in enough flour to make dough easy to handle. Knead until smooth and elastic. Let rise 30 minutes. Divide dough into 6 equal parts.

* Pizza Sauce *
8 oz can tomato sauce
4 oz can mushrooms, drained
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 tsp. oregano
1 clove garlic crushed

* Toppings *
1-2 c. cheese
1 egg, beaten
pepperoni
canadian bacon
olives
ground beef
bacon
pineapple
tomatoes
mushrooms
(basically anything you want)

Roll each piece of dough into 7 inch round circles. Spread sauce over half of each circle leaving 1 in on sides. Top with whatever toppings you choose. Carefully fold dough over filling. Pinch edges. Place on greased cookie sheet and let rise 15 minutes. Prick tops of calzones with a fork. Brush tops with beaten egg. Bake at 375* until golden brown for 25 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes.

* Stromboli *

I found this recipe at The Sisters Cafe and it has become a "regular" at our house. I change it a little bit (basically just the toppings) and my family loves it!

*Stromboli*1 Rhodes bread dough (I used Rhodes wheat bread dough sometimes)
1/4 lb ham, sliced (I use any pizza toppings I have on hand...pepperoni, ham, olives, pineapple)
1/4 lb hard salami
1/2 c. provolone
1/2 c. mozzarella cheese (I use the cheese that I have on hand...usually colby jack)
1/2 tsp dried basil, divided
1/2 tsp dried oregano, divided
melted butter or olive oil ( I use vegetable oil)
cornmeal

Set out bread dough to thaw. Once thawed, spread the dough out on a cookie sheet. Layer the toppings along the middle of the dough going lengthwise. Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp each of basil and oregano then layer on cheeses. Sprinkle with remaining basil and oregano. Wet edges of the dough and fold over the long edges and roll up the ends. Brush olive oil over dough and sprinkle lightly with corn meal. Carefully flip stromboli over and repeat on other side. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-22 minutes. Serve with hot spaghetti sauce and ranch dressing for dipping. Enjoy!

* Stuffed Pizza Rolls *

We love pizza in this house! I found this recipe over at Our Best Bites and knew we had to try it...and we weren't disappointed! It was very easy and yummy!

Stuffed Pizza Rolls*1 roll refrigerated pizza dough (or make your own--I just used my old standby pizza dough recipe)
*marinara/pizza sauce
*2 T. grated Parmesan cheese
*1 T. olive oil or melted butter
*1/2 t. garlic powder
*1 t. dried Italian seasoning
*mozzerella cheese (I used the cheese we had on hand--colby jack)
*Pizza toppings of your choice: (ex: ham and pineapple, pepperoni slices, sausage, etc.)

Preheat oven to 400*.

Roll your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough to about 12" by 8". Cut it into 24 squares. (Using a pizza cutter makes it easy!)

Place cheese and desired toppings on each square. (Note that you're not putting the marinara sauce on the dough--it's for dipping after)

When all of your dough squares have cheese and toppings on them, carefully lift up each square and wrap the dough around the toppings. Pinch to make sure each ball is sealed shut and then place them seam side down in a lightly sprayed pie or cake pan (or similar sized dish).
Brush the tops of the dough balls with olive oil or melted butter and then sprinkle with the garlic and Italian seasoning and top with Parmesan cheese. (In lieu of the Parmesan, garlic, and Italian seasoning you could substitute this garlic bread seasoning.)

Cook them in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top...Doughs vary, so I'd check them after even 10 minutes. Serve with warm pizza/marinara sauce and enjoy!