Perfect Pepperoni Pizza Sticks
on May 08, 2019, Updated May 08, 2024
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Pizza just got a snackable upgrade with these buttery and filling individual Pepperoni Pizza Sticks. If you’re looking for an easy homemade pizza stick recipe that tastes fantastic, these are your winners!
Who knew pizza could get any better than its original form? Think of these Pepperoni Pizza Sticks as individual, handheld calzones. They’re amazing snacks for after-school sustenance and even make a great meal for movie nights or evenings when you’re on the go.
I can’t get enough of the combination of simple mozzarella and pepperoni, with a touch of butter, Italian seasoning, and garlic to top it all off. But if you wanted to experiment, you could turn these into various pizza flavors. Stuff them with pineapple and Canadian bacon for Hawaiian pizza sticks or a bunch of chopped veggies for a meatless option—just don’t forget the cheese!
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- A fun way to serve your family’s favorite pizza toppings in a convenient handheld crust.
- This Pepperoni Pizza Stick recipe freezes well, so these can be made ahead to have on hand for snacks and quick meals.
- An easy dough that will make you never want to buy pre-made again!
Recipe Ingredients
- Yeast – yeast labeled ‘active dry’ or ‘instant’ will both work
- Granulated sugar
- Olive oil – another light oil can be used instead, such as canola oil
- All-purpose flour
- Pepperoni
- Cheese sticks – cheese sticks make this very easy to prep, but you can sub in cheese slices or shredded cheese
- Butter – for brushing onto the sticks before baking, olive oil can be used instead
- Optional seasonings – Italian seasoning and garlic powder
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Pepperoni Pizza Sticks
- Make the dough by combining the ingredients well, kneading, and letting rise.
- Divide the dough in half and roll out, cutting into thin rectangles.
- Put pepperoni and cheese in each and enclose with the dough.
- Brush with butter or olive oil, sprinkle on seasonings, and bake until golden.
Recipe FAQs
Get creative and use other pizza type ingredients other than pepperoni! Pineapple and Canadian bacon for Hawaiian pizza sticks or a bunch of chopped veggies for a meatless pizza stick are also great options.
These pizza sticks do freeze well, so make a bunch ahead to keep on hand for snacks and quick meals. Think of them almost like homemade Hot Pockets—but better. They’ll keep in the freezer for several months. To reheat, warm them in a 425 degree F oven for about 20 minutes or until fully heated.
Really and truly, this homemade dough is hard to mess up, but if you’re tight on time, a store-bought uncooked pizza dough will also work. You can also use Pillsbury crescent roll dough.
Expert Tips
- The dough will need to be pinched and sealed well to contain the cheese. But it’s delicious with the cheese sneaking out, too!
- I think these are so much better with the melted butter brushed on the outside and Italian seasoning and garlic powder sprinkled on. It really elevates the pizza flavor, and makes them even yummier.
- Serve these as a snack with a quick pizza sauce or try my white pizza sauce recipe or add a salad to make it a complete meal for lunch or dinner.
More Yummy Pizza & Snack Recipes to Consider
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Pepperoni Pizza Sticks
Ingredients
For the dough
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 teaspoons active yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2.5-3 cups all-purpose flour
For the pepperoni pizza sticks:
- 1 package pepperoni, 3.5 ounces
- 8 string cheese sticks
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 1 pinch Italian seasoning, optional
- 1 pinch garlic powder, optional
- Marinara sauce for dipping
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, add the water, yeast, salt, sugar, and oil. Stir to combine.
- Add 2 cups of flour, and stir well to combine.
- Turn dough onto a well-floured surface and knead, adding additional flour as needed until it forms into a smooth and elastic dough. It should take about 5 minutes of kneading to get there.
- Place the dough back in the bowl and cover it. Let it rise for 30 minutes.
- When the dough has risen, punch it down, and cut it into two even halves.
- Roll one half into a thin rectangle that is about 10 inches by 12 inches. Use a pizza wheel or sharp knife to cut the rectangle into 4 even rectangles.
- Place 6 to 8 pieces of pepperoni in the middle of each rectangle in a line.
- Place an unwrapped string cheese stick on top of the pepperoni.
- Roll one side of the dough around the cheese stick, then tuck in the top and bottom, and continue rolling the dough around the cheese stick, so that the cheese and pepperoni are completely covered. Pinch the ends and seam shut well, and place the prepared pizza stick on a greased or parchment paper-covered baking sheet.
- Repeat with remaining dough, and then continue with the second half of the dough.
- Brush the pizza sticks with melted butter, and then sprinkle just a pinch of Italian seasoning and garlic powder over the tops.
- Bake at 425 degrees F. for 13 to 16 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.
- Serve hot with marinara sauce for dipping.
Notes
- If you don’t pinch and seal the edges well, the cheese will leak out. It’s delicious, just so you know. My kids like the ones with the melted cheese on the outside the most!
- Although brushing with butter and adding the seasonings is optional, I highly suggest taking that little extra step. It makes these pizza sticks especially yum.
- These pizza sticks freeze well and keep for several months. Bake as directed and then set on a baking sheet in the freezer for an hour until frozen and store in an airtight freezer bag or container.
- Serve with jarred marinara sauce or make homemade pizza sauce for dunking these cheesy sticks in!
Are these really 1700 calories for 2 pieces? I normally don’t track calories, that just seems excessive
Probably not, my tracking info gets wonky. I’ll talk a look at them. A little dough and 2 cheese sticks shouldn’t be that at all.
So it says in the program they are 174 each, so just over 300 for 2, I have no idea why it won’t show up right on my blog though.
Oh I need to make these! Love the idea of pepperoni for my family but can you imagine the possiblities! Yum!
Hope you enjoy!