These Pepperoni Pizza Twists might be a kid-approved dinner, but parents will love how easy it is to customize to everyone’s tastes! Use homemade pizza dough or your favorite store bought brand in a pinch. Serve with warm pizza or marinara sauce and some veggies for a dinner everyone will love.
We are no strangers to pizza ‘round these parts. Every Friday night is homemade pizza night while we gather in the living room for a movie. It’s about the only time we allow the kids to eat a full meal in the living room and it’s become a family tradition we can’t imagine ditching.
After making pizza dough every Friday for the last decade (almost) I can make it in my sleep. I’ve included my recipe below but feel free to use your own favorite recipe or grab some from the store if you want to make this meal in less than 30 minutes. The dough takes about 45 minutes to an hour to rise so all together it will be about 90 minutes from start to finish for these if you go the homemade dough route.
Want to make your own sauce? You can find my recipe here. We make a large batch of this sauce about every two months or so because we never want to risk running out! If you don’t have a jar on hand or want to make your own, throw it together in the slow cooker all day or in a large pot on the stove and let it simmer while you make the twists. Like your sauce a little chunkier? Skip blending the diced tomatoes!
Pepperoni Pizza Twists Ingredients
- flour
- yeast
- water
- oil
- salt
- sugar
- pepperoni
- mozzarella cheese
- butter
- Italian seasoning
- pizza or marinara sauce
Tools used for Pepperoni Pizza Twists
- Stand mixer w/ dough hook
- I use my KitchenAid mixer for making dough. I’ve had my mixer for nearly ten years with zero issues and we use it 2-3 times each week.
- Pastry mat
- I prefer rolling my dough out on a pastry mat to help contain the mess and this one that I use also has measurements so I can roll my dough out to the correct size and cut my twists evenly. The mat also helps contain the toppings that might slide out.
- Large baking pan
- These mega cookie pans from Wilton are my favorite for making large batches of food, but I also like these airbake pans. All will work well for this recipe but I prefer the mega cookie pans because I can fit the entire batch on one pan.
- Rolling Pin
- You could attempt to stretch the dough into the right shape with your hands but a rolling pin will be significantly easier.
- Pizza Cutter
- A knife could be used for slicing apart the dough for twists but the pizza cutter is slick for sliding through in easy, fluid motions.
Pepperoni Pizza Twists
Equipment
- Stand mixer
- Rolling pin
- large cookie sheet
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
- 3 cups all-purpose flour plus extra for dusting
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp dry active yeast
- 8 oz warm water 110* F
- 1 tbsp oil vegetable, olive, or canola work well
Pepperoni Pizza Twists
- 72 slices pepperoni
- 2-3 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
- 2 tbsp butter melted
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
Instructions
Pizza Dough
- Add flour, salt, sugar, and yeast to a stand mixer fitted with dough hook.
- Turn mixer on low and slowly add warm water and oil.
- Knead until dough pulls away from bowl and forms a ball. Dough should be soft and slightly sticky, but still able to be handled easily.
- Let rise for 45 minutes in greased bowl or until doubled in size.
Pepperoni Pizza Twists
- Preheat the oven to 425*F (400 for dark coated pans) and prepare your baking pan with non-stick spray or a silicone baking mat.
- After dough has risen, cut the dough in half and roll one half out on a floured surface or pastry mat to 24” x 8”. It doesn’t need to be exact, but this will help you cut the twists into approximately 2” x 4” strips.
- Spread out an even layer of cheese, followed by toppings, then more cheese on half of the long side of the dough. You don’t want to fill the twists too full or the toppings will all fall out.
- Fold over the top side (empty half) of the dough to cover the toppings and pinch the dough together gently. Cut 12 strips, approximately 2 inches wide each, with a pizza cutter.
- Gently lift a strip and twist while holding one end in place. Set on the prepared baking sheet. Toppings will fall out. Do your best to tuck them in the twist.
- Repeat the twisting step with remaining strips then repeat the whole process with the other half of the dough. You should have 24 twists.
- Mix together the melted butter and Italian season and brush over twists.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with warm pizza sauce or marinara.
What are your favorite pizza toppings?
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Is this the same dough as your regular pizza dough?
This dough came out perfect for me. My husband loved the dough. My kids thought this meal was awesome. I did use more melted butter then your recipe and will likely do it that way again.
Yes, this is my normal pizza dough recipe 🙂 It’s the only one I use. I’m so glad everyone loved it! And feel free to go crazy with the butter. I never know exactly how much I’m going to end up using so I usually just list a reasonable amount and figure people can do their own thing if needed 😉