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Hi Bold Bakers!
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE: Indulge in our Easy Pizza Cupcakes Recipe—a fusion of timeless pizza taste in a delightful, effortless-to-whip-up manner. Whether you’re throwing a bash, craving a swift bite, or crafting a kid-approved feast, these savory treats guarantee to steal the show!
- Quick and Easy: With a prep and cook time of just 20 minutes, these pizza cupcakes are an ideal option for busy weeknights or last-minute gatherings.
- Versatile and Customizable: You can easily adapt the recipe to include your favorite pizza toppings, making it perfect for any palate.
- Perfect for All Ages: Kids and adults alike will enjoy these bite-sized treats, making them a great addition to any meal or event.
You’ve seen our variety of pizza recipes, from 15-Minute Pizza Dough Recipe, Pizza Scones, Pizza Savory Pop-Tarts, to The Simplest Sourdough Pizza, Deep Dish Pizza, Pizza Monkey Bread, or even Dessert Pizza and Microwave Mug Pizza. But get ready for a twist: Pizza Cupcakes! Yep, pizza in kids’ favorite form—it’s a delicious surprise!
IMPORTANT NOTE: This recipe was improved and updated on 6/12/2024, to include explanations and substitutes of key ingredients, answers to the most asked questions, and Pro Chef Tips.
Table of Contents
- What are Pizza Cupcakes?
- Tools You Need
- Key Ingredients and Substitutes
- How to Make Easy Pizza Cupcakes Recipe
- Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips
- Make Ahead & Storage Instructions
- FAQs
- More Pizza Recipes
What are Pizza Cupcakes?
Pizza cupcakes are savory treats that take all the delicious flavors of pizza and combine them into a convenient, handheld form.
- They typically consist of a savory cupcake base filled with pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings such as pepperoni or vegetables.
- They’re perfect for parties, snacks, or anytime you’re craving a taste of pizza in a fun and portable format.
Tools You Need
- Measuring cups and measuring spoons
- Measuring jugs
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk or fork
- 12-well muffin tin (or cupcake pan)
Key Ingredients
-
All-purpose flour
- All-purpose flour has a protein content of 9%-11% to provide structure and texture to the cupcake batter.
- You can substitute whole wheat flour for up to 50% of all-purpose flour for a healthier option, but it may result in a denser texture. Or, experiment with store-bought dough such as crescent roll dough.
-
Baking powder
- Baking powder acts as a leavening agent, helping the cupcakes rise and become fluffy.
- There’s no direct substitute, but you can use baking soda with an acidic ingredient like buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream. For every 1 teaspoon of baking powder required, use ¼ tsp of baking soda.
-
Dried Italian seasoning
- Dried Italian seasoning adds flavor to the cupcakes, providing the characteristic Italian herb blend taste.
- You can substitute a combination of dried oregano, basil, and thyme.
-
Salt
- Salt enhances the flavor of the cupcakes and balances the sweetness. You can reduce the amount of salt or omit it if you’re watching your sodium intake.
-
Eggs
- Eggs bind the ingredients together and add structure to the cupcakes.
- You can use substitutes such as flax eggs from our Egg Substitute Chart. Whole milk
-
Pizza Sauce
- Pizza sauce adds flavor and moisture to the cupcakes, infusing them with a classic pizza taste.
- Check out our 5 Minute Pizza Sauce for the easiest yet freshest taste.
-
Mozzarella cheese
- It melts and creates a gooey, cheesy texture in the cupcakes.
- You can substitute any shredded cheese of your choice, such as cheddar or Monterey Jack. or, try our Homemade Mozzarella.
-
Mini pepperonis
- Mini Pepperonis add a savory and slightly spicy flavor to the cupcakes.
- You can substitute sliced sausage, diced ham, or your favorite pizza toppings for pepperonis.
How to Make Pizza Cupcakes
Prep
-
Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and liberally grease a 12-well muffin tin or muffin cups with olive oil or cooking spray. Set aside.
Make the Pizza Cupcake Batter
- Mix dry ingredients: In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning and salt.
-
Mix wet ingredients: in a medium jug, whisk the eggs and milk until blended, then mix into the dry ingredients until just combined but with a few small lumps remaining.
-
Assemble the cupcakes:
- For the bottom layer of the cupcake, fill each muffin cup with about 2 tablespoons of batter.
- Next, sprinkle some cheese in each cup followed by 2 teaspoons of sauce then another sprinkle of cheese. Finally, layer on a few mini pepperonis.
- Top each cupcake with 2 tablespoons of the remaining batter, and a final sprinkle of cheese and pepperonis.
Bake the Pizza Cupcakes
-
Bake until lightly browned and puffed, about 20-25 minutes. Enjoy while still hot!
Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips
- Instead of tomato sauce, you can use pesto, olive tapenade or any other sauce you normally like on your pizza.
- If you like pizza with a little kick of heat, add about a ½ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to either the sauce or the cupcake batter.
- Pay careful attention to the layering order for the cupcake filling. The cheese layered around the sauce helps keep it suspended in the center of the cupcake.
- You can replace some of the mozzarella with another cheese like goat or feta.
- Make dessert pizza cupcakes: First, use cupcake liners instead of greasing the tin. Then, for the batter, leave out the Italian seasoning and reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon. Add your first layer of batter to the cups. For the filling, cut a large marshmallow in half. Layer on one marshmallow half, 2 teaspoons of Nutella, two slices of banana and the remaining marshmallow half. Top with the remaining batter and bake until set.
Make Ahead and Storage Instructions
FAQs
Can I make Pizza Cupcakes gluten-free?
Yes, you can use gluten-free flour or Almond Flour Baking Mix to make Pizza Cupcakes.
Can I make Pizza Cupcakes in an air fryer?
Yes, you can make them in an air fryer.
An air fryer works like a convection oven which is fan-assisted with heating elements on the ceiling inside the baking chamber. You should lower your temperature by about 25°F(15°C) compared to the recipe, bake for a shorter time, or follow the manual instructions.
What other toppings can I add?
You can also add black olives, bell peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, diced sausage, or pesto.
More Pizza Recipes
- 15-Minute Pizza Dough Recipe,
- Pizza Scones
- Pizza Savory Pop-Tarts
- The Simplest Sourdough Pizza
- Pizza Monkey Bread
IMPORTANT NOTE: This recipe was improved and updated on 6/12/2024, to include explanations and substitutes of key ingredients, answers to the most asked questions, and Pro Chef Tips.
Try These Recipes!
Watch The Recipe Video!
Easy Pizza Cupcakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (7 ½ oz/213 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (12 fl oz/360 ml) whole milk
- ½ cup (4 oz/120 g) Pizza Sauce
- 2 cups (8 oz/225 g) shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup (2 oz/57 g) mini pepperonis
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C) and liberally grease a 12 well muffin tin with olive oil. Set aside.
- In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, Italian seasoning and salt.
- In a medium jug, whisk the eggs and milk until until blended, then mix into the dry ingredients until just combined but with a few small lumps remaining.
- For the bottom layer of the cupcake, fill each muffin cup with about 2 tablespoons of batter.
- Next sprinkle some cheese in each cup followed by 2 teaspoons of sauce then another sprinkle of cheese. Finally, layer on a few mini pepperonis.
- Top each cupcake with 2 tablespoons of the remaining batter, and a final sprinkle of cheese and pepperonis.
- Bake until lightly browned and puffed, about 20-25 minutes.
- Enjoy while still hot! Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 day or in the freezer for up to 4 weeks. Reheat when ready to eat.
Recipe Notes
- Instead of tomato sauce, you can use pesto, olive tapenade or any other sauce you normally like on your pizza.
- If you like pizza with a little kick of heat, add about a ½ teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to either the sauce or the cupcake batter.
- Pay careful attention to the layering order for the cupcake filling. The cheese layered around the sauce helps keep it suspended in the center of the cupcake.
- You can replace some of the mozzarella with another cheese like goat or feta.
- Make dessert pizza cupcakes: First, use cupcake liners instead of greasing the tin. Then, for the batter, leave out the Italian seasoning and reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon. Add your first layer of batter to the cups. For the filling, cut a large marshmallow in half. Layer on one marshmallow half, 2 teaspoons of Nutella, two slices of banana and the remaining marshmallow half. Top with the remaining batter and bake until set.
Do you love pizza as much as I do? If so you might also like my Pizza Pop Tarts, my Pizza Scones or of course just a regular but amazing Pizza Dough recipe.
Hi Gemma,
I made these today and felt that there was too much salt. I try to avoid salt and used local regular salt(my city sits on a salt mine). Since the recipe only needs 2 tsps can I leave it out. I did it in the 12 cup pan that i have at home but next time I’m going to use the 6 cup so I can add more toppings. I submitted pictures just hoping they get approved. I also posted to IG.
Absolutely amazing these were soo yum but would u know the calories in each ?
Definitely will make again!
Hi Gemma,
I’m wondering if I can leave out the salt. I felt they were a little too salty. I used regular coarse salt. I will try again probably with no salt and use my bigger pan so i can add more toppings.
Hi there
Can you freeze these?
Hi Gemma, I just made this recipe today and it is super delicious! My family and I absolutely love it! I couldn’t find those baby pepperonis, so I used the regular-sized ones and cut them into quarters. It worked great! My only note is that here in your recipe it says to bake 20-25 minutes and in your video, you say 25-30 minutes. Not a big deal. 27 minutes was perfect for my oven. Delicious and so easy! Thank you!
Made this and it was a hit with my picky eater autistic little one, can’t be more grateful. Can you freeze these for a quick lunchbox filler?
Gemma, how would I make a margherita version of this?
Hi. Gemma, can I use oregano powder instead of dried oregano? Thank you.
Hi Gemma,
Is there anything that we can substitute for Italian seasoning ? Also love your puppy. It is soooo cute. Love your recipes and thank you for sharing them with us.