Kids can be frustratingly picky eaters. They can also have highly entertaining quirks. My niece used to ask for pepperoni pizza and then proceed to discard all of the pepperoni. But don’t you dare suggest that she order plain cheese pizza! She did not want plain cheese pizza. She wanted pepperoni pizza. But without the “icky” pepperoni.
Un-Pepperoni Pizza.
But when you wrap pepperoni pizza into a fun, savory, pull-apart style bread, it’s no longer “icky” pepperoni pizza. And it’s quite difficult to un-pepperoni 🙂
I’ve had these Pizza Bites bookmarked for ages, so when I finally found an excuse to make them, I wanted to take it in a slightly different direction: a savory monkey bread.
A very light coating of garlicky butter-covered pepperoni pizza bites, piled into a bundt cake pan, makes for a very fun Pepperoni Pizza.
Or Pepperoni Un-Pizza.
Pepperoni Pizza Monkey Bread
You can take the long route and make your favorite pizza dough and marinara sauce, or the short route and pick up your favorite pizza dough and red sauce from the store.
Ingredients
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 4 Tbsp butter
- 2 lbs pizza dough (I used this recipe because it makes enough for two pizza)
- 6 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes (you'll need ~48 pieces)
- 48 slices of Turkey pepperoni (from 1 package)
- 2-3 cups marinara sauce, warmed, for serving
Instructions
- Heat garlic and butter over medium heat just until the garlic begins to brown. Remove from heat and let sit.
- Lightly brush the inside of a bundt pan (or other oven-safe dish) with garlic butter.
- Pull off large marble-sized balls of dough and flatten (~2/3 of an ounce, a kitchen scale makes this very easy). Top with a slice of pepperoni and a cube of mozzarella.
- Wrap the dough around the pepperoni and cheese, pinching well to seal.
- Very lightly brush the pizza ball with garlic butter and place into the bundt pan (I dabbed the pizza balls on a butter-dipped silicon brush to keep butter use low - there will be 1+ Tbsp leftover - and my hands butter free. Buttery hands make it hard to get the pizza balls to seal).
- Repeat until all of the dough is used.
- Cover and let sit for 30 minutes, while preheating the oven to 400.
- Bake for ~35 minutes, until the top is very brown.
- Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Turn out onto a platter and serve with warmed marinara sauce for dipping.
Notes
Yields: 48 pieces
Estimated time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Haha, your niece sound so funny! Yum! This bread sounds perfect for a bbq!
I thought the same thing Heather!
This recipe looks like so much fun! Definitely going to make it for my family soon. How funny, my daughter is the same way. She always wants pepperoni pizza, but then she takes the pepperoni off. 😛 Silly kids.
HA! “unpepperoni” pizza! 😉
LOVE the idea of making this into monkey bread!
Oh wow that would be amazing! I made traditional monkey bread the other day but I’ll definitely be making this one soon. Yum.
What an awesome idea! I’ve done the pizza bites, but I’ll do them this way next time for sure!
I’m a new reader, but I got so excited about this I just had to comment – this is going to be *perfect* for potlucks (and since it doesn’t advertise itself as pizza, maybe the adults can enjoy it, too)!
Yum! I make something similar, but I call mine a Pizza Bubble Ring and I roll the bites in a mixture of olive oil and Italian seasonings.
Oh. My. Gosh. This is the coolest!
This would be great to serve when friends come over to watch a football game. Can’t wait to try it!
Holy cow! My husband will go CRAZY for this. Aaaaaand I know what we’re doing for dinner on Friday night. He’s going to freak out. Thanks 🙂
What a great idea! I’ve made the pizza bites with rave reviews in their traditional form before but this brings it to a whole new level of fun. Love it!
That looks awesome 😀 I think I need to make this soon!
This looks so good! Can’t wait to try it!
This looks amazing! I’m in love:-)
Kids can be so funny when it comes to food! I am making this, but I really wish that I had some right now!
Yum, they look delicious! I am with your friend except I order non-pepperoni since I am not a meat eater. Cheese and sauce only please!
I like a slice of a black olive and a slice of mushroom instead of the pepperoni
Oh my! This is going in my binder for future use (dieting right now). This is fabulous! My husband will even love this!
I love your blog, this is my first time here. I subscribed to your RSS to keep up with your fabulous posts!
What a fun idea! Make a great appetizer for when football season rolls around again!
Oh my gosh, this looks incredible! I’ll be bookmarking this one : )
I used to take all of the sauce of pizza when I was a kid. therefore, basically stripping it of any nutritional value. I’m not sure what I was thinking. Maybe your niece just wanted the spiciness that the pepperoni leaves ON the pizza? Kids do the darndest things.
Love that you turned these into monkey bread! So much more fun to eat.
This looks amazing! 🙂
This looks yummy! I have a toddler, so I might have to try this!!
I love monkey bread and have never thought of making a savory version…I guess because I love the cinnamon/sugar version so much. This is awesome!
I cannot WAIT to make this! In fact, I think I’ll make it tomorrow. I’m thinking you could even add a little surprise element to these bites by filling some with pepperoni, some with sausage, some with roasted peppers, etc. Fun!
this looks awesome! will do for sure!
Great idea! This will get the kids going for sure.
What a great idea! This sounds fabulous! I have not yet made pizza dough, and this recipe might just be the one to get me to try it. Yum!
Um WOW!! That looks fantastic. AAAAAND the best part is that my kids are old enough to be able to help with making the little balls of… er… pizza. Which means – they are even more likely to eat it. Although, with pepperoni pizza, that’s hardly a problem.
I admit, I almost skipped over this post because I saw Monkey Bread and thought, “Not another monkey bread recipe!” Then I saw pepperoni pizza and it stopped me in my tracks! Yum!
You seriously just described my daughter! She will not eat cheese pizza…it has to be pepperoni pizza with the pepperonis picked off. She proudly offers up her pepperoni to the highest bidder. lol I will have to try this one on her and see if she still tries to pick out the pepperoni. ;o)
I thought this was going to be about just monkey bread.. LOL
just stumbled upon your blog and i’m your newest follower via bloglovin’! this recipe seems like so much fun. i can’t wait for the next family bbq or to have friends over to make this.
I think this looks like a great Sunday football party treat. How much does a single ball weigh on the scale? Thanks so much!
Approximately 2/3 of an ounce each.
Thank you so much!!
Truer words were never spoken!I’m a big fan of pizza AND sex but on a night after an eselciaply tiring, busy day at work? The pizza wins. And aren’t almost all work days tiring and busy? 😉
Great, thanks for clarifying!
Oh, your niece sounds just like my children!! This monkey bread is a fantastic idea, I think my kids would love it!
Shawnda-Thank you so, so much for posting this great recipe. I made this yesterday at the request of my other half and we loved it. He even helped me in the kitchen when it was time to make the balls for the monkey bread. I used the same pizza dough that you used and it was the best dough recipe that I’ve ever used. Being a Texan myself, I know that there is sometimes better pizza in other parts of this country 😉 and this would make a wonderful deep dish pizza!
The pepperoni monkey bread was AMAZING! I used turkey pepperoni and made my own marinara because I find jarred too salty sometimes.
Thanks again for the great recipe. Your website is wonderful! 🙂 keep up the amazing work!
Thanks, Danielle! And glad you enjoyed the dough and monkey bread!
A pepperoni pizza without the pepperoni, now thats something new. Ohh, and this looks yummy also, I will definitely try this on my sons birthday on sunday and tell you the outcome.
“Un Pepperoni Pizza” is so cute! Reminds me of my 4 year old nephew who used to ask for a “Quesadilla with NO Cheese”. We could never suggest the fact that he just wanted a warmed tortilla. I gotta make this for him.
I totally understand the pepperoni pizza without the pepperoni! I used to do that, as it would leave the flavor and oils from the meat, but wasn’t as strong as the meat itself.
I love monkey bread recipes, so I’m excited to try this (my family calls them pullaparts).
The is much more fun than the ordinary DIY flat pizza! Thanks for the great recipe.
This looks so delish! I’m 22- don’t have kids, unmarried etc. and I CAN’T wait to try this out! Thanks for sharing!
I can’t believe I am JUST now seeing this! What a great idea, Shawnda! I’ve made the regular pizza bites in a pie pan and also made them into pizza pops, but shaping them into a bundt pan…brilliant!
I made this. My hubby loved it. He talked about it on his morning radio show. So many people called in for the recipe he linked your blog to his website. South Jersey loves monkey bread and pizza. Thanks!
oh, wow…i’m totally making this for dinner this week! 🙂
made this but changed up the recipe a bit! i used refrigerated muffins (i already had them in the fridge) that i rolled flat and quartered and after dunking them in the garlic butter put them into a muffin pan to make poppers! delicious and great idea!
What a great idea! Perfect for kids or for a fun appetizer/conversation piece at a party. I definitely want to try this out!
Yum! I made some little pizza balls like these a few years ago and loved them. Making them into monkey bread is a great idea! 🙂
Thanks to show us I really like this!
I made this tonight for my family’s dinner and it was insanely delicious! We used Pillsbury pizza dough and Ragu Homemade Pizza Sauce which were great. Thank you so much for sharing this – my mom showed her gratitude by posting a link on her blog!
Just tried making these tonight. Why do you leave them out for half an hour before baking? Oh, and def use the cheese cubes. Shredded mozz as a backup does not a substitute make. They puff up real big!
I let them rise a bit before baking because I didn’t want all that handling (pinching, flattening, shaping, closing) to make dense dough. A short rise = puffy dough.
This is will be one of my “go to ” appetizer recipes for gatherings. I cheated and bought some dough from a local pizza shop. It was so simple, easy and delicious! Thank you!!
Made these tonight. They are tasty, but I made our dough pieces too big, so there is a lot of bread and just a tease of pepperoni and cheese. It was my first attempt at making my own bread and I am impressed with myself.
Yours are far prettier though!
These lok so yummy. I’m going to put these in my must try recipes. Once I try them I’ll link back to you in my Menu Monday post. Thanks for the great idea.
Another one of your recipes I think my little guys will love!
Thanks for this recipe , i would try this on this weekend
I just made this today, and it was a hit!! I had 5 hungry little kids devour this on their own. I counted the pieces left, and there were 8. Thank you so much!
in the oven right now. my mom and i made these after all we had for dinner was a salad (we needed MORE!) can’t wait to try these, my mouth is watering as i watch them brown!
IM GONNA SHOVE THIS IN MY FACE 😀
Just made this. Goddamn the little doughballs kept opening up. But fuck did it cone out tasty!
This recipe looks so good, I just bought all of the ingredients to make it for a friend’s party. I was wondering, can I bake it half way and then finish baking it when I bring it to the party, I want to serve it warm and I don’t want to have to bake it for that long at the party, my friends can’t wait haha. What do you suggest? Thanks
I made this for teenage kids and they loved it! They did tell me that they like regular monkey bread better lol – kids and sugar!! Thank you for sharing this recipe it was easy to make. I added mushrooms, olives and turkey sausage pieces.
My husband, whom I tasked with buttering duties :), and I absolutely loved these! We’re already discussing our plans for making Mystery Pizza Monkey Bread by filling each dough ball with different toppings. I am looking forward to trying even more of your incredible recipes!
What a fun idea!
Great idea! I can’t wait to try! Love your blog – lots of great ideas!
Such a cool idea 🙂 The bread looks like an evil monster hah. Looks wonderfully delicious!
I added Italian seasoning to butter for outside, very, good and easy way to make homemade pizza for grandchildren!! love it.
love the idea and its cheaper than buying pizza bites.
I like the monkey bread idea as well!!!!
Made these tonight, my kids ate every last bite. All of them! An amazing thing for us. We loved them. We will make these again for sure! They were a little time consuming but worth it!
We love this recipe at our house! We call it “monkey pizza.” It’s much beloved for several reasons: 1) it involves dipping, which is apparently a feature of the most awesome meals, 2) it’s pizza, which is just great and 3) my 2.5 year old can actually help, really help, wrap the dough around the pepperoni and cheese. This is the first recipe we’ve done where she’s actually HELPING when she’s “helping.” Yes, it was simply destined to be a fast family favorite. Thanks for sharing the idea with us!
Wow my heart is touched by such acake bread pizza thing.^^ Thx for sharing. more more more
I just made this today for my sisters birthday party. It was such a hit that she never even got to try one before they were all gone! Thanks for the recipe!
Oh My! Must make this!!! We love monkey bread, but this is a whole new level of yumm!! Thanks
Cooked this last night for my husband and I… Made it with Smart Grounds, pre-made whole wheat dough from Earthfare, and red wine marinara. It was so d*** good; thanks for the recipe!!
I would to make this for a party at a friends – do you think it could be assembled ahead? Or would everything just go icky? Thanks! Either way – Brilliant!!
I haven’t had to assemble it ahead of time, but this would be my strategy: Make the recipe, turn out the monkey bread to cool. Once it has completely cooled, put it back in the bundt pan, cover it with foil, and transport. I’d also try to warm it up in the oven for ~10 minutes if you can but it’s just fine at room temp. Good luck!
I made mine the night before upto the baking part then covered with plastic wrap and put in the fridge. Baked them off in the morning for a potluck! They were great and everyone loved them!
Thanks, Karen. I was wondering if anyone had tried the dough overnight or if I was going to have to take a chance on it working. I’ll be making these for the Teacher’s Snack Room at VBS tomorrow!
I found this through Pinterest and made for a football tailgating party……huge hit! Very yummy!
just put this in the oven with my 10 yr old twins. It was fun and gave us time to talk about the day. I also added a dab of pizza sauce in each pizza bite. Cant wait to try it. If this turns out well I will be taking it to a Halloween party tomorrow…..
Thank you so much for this recipe! I just put the pepperoni and cheese in the dough, which isn’t as cool but less time consuming for me. I linked to this post and put my spin on it at http://bethannecreates.blogspot.com/2011/10/pepperoni-parmesan-monkey-bread.html
Great idea!! I made it the other night and loved it!!!
Love this idea, have made monkey bread alone. But there are many variations, using monkey bread with cinnamon and sugar and nuts to make a sweet bread, or I guess anything you want to add to this bread to make what you want. It’s always a hit around my family!
This is such a fantastic idea!! Thanks so much for sharing!!
I featured this on my blog this past week, stop on by and grab a featured button if you’d like 🙂
http://artsyfartsymama.blogspot.com/2011/11/pinteresting-features-n-shtuff-8.html
If you cut the recipe in half how long would you bake it for? I can’t imagine a marble size piece of dough wrapping around a piece of pepperoni and a chunk of cheese. Pizza dough just doesn’t stretch. Sounds delicious though.
Sure it does! Just make sure it’s the “large marble” and not the little one 🙂 If you make half this recipe, it will fit in a pie pan/plate and you can bake for ~20 minutes, until golden brown.
Um… this will be in my belly tomorrow. Great recipe, thanks!
Made these for a movie night tonight, HUGE hit with everyone! Thanks for the great recipe!
Thank-you for sharing this on Pinterest! I made this for my family last night and they loved it! I am a new follower. Love for you to visit me@http://www.mommiesandbeyond.com
If you made this the night before & left it uncooked in the fridge & then cooked it the next morning, would it still turn out okay? (wondering for a brunch potluck)
I did, and they turned out perfectly!
If making these as a finger food for an all day family Christmas party can they be left out for a few hours to munch on or do they need to be eaten while warm??? We like cold pizza so just curious…
They’re just fine at room temp!
just wrote down the shopping list for these, the guys and the kids are going to love these can not wait awesome idea
This looks so delicious! Baking mine now…I can already smell the “yummy-ness” 🙂
They are in the oven right now! Can’t wait to take them to Bunco tonight.
This has got to be the best recipe I have ever seen….. Grandkids love it….
Thanks for sharing this! This delightful idea made my Friday Five Foodie Finds this week! 🙂
http://www.semihealthnut.blogspot.com/2012/01/friday-five-foodie-finds-12.html
I LOVE this! And you can stuff the bites with basically anything; spinach & ricotta, italian sausage… the possibilities are endless. I can’t wait to try it for my family 🙂
Amazing recipe, thank you so much. I love it! Also love your photos.
Keep on blogging!
This looks amazing! I’m definitely keeping this one up my sleeve for when I’m lacking inspiration!
I so need to make this. It looks so good!
Do you think these would freeze well??? Thinking about doing this for the freezer club I’m in. Thoughts anyone?
Turkey pepperoni has some crazy-ass sodium content. May as well stick with the real stuff. And fold a little crushed red pepper in there, too.
sorry. what is heat in celcius degree?
I’ve made this on multiple occasions and there is never enough! This may be my most favorite recipe of all time. And my boyfriend’s….and my friends’….and my family’s…and really anyone that is within grabbing distance!
We saw it on pinterest. Made it. Devoured it. Thanks so much. I posted about it here
http://www.abirdandabean.com/2012/02/pizza-pull-apart-bread.html
and linked back to you! Thanks again. Come on over and check it out. 🙂
so fun! and as someone else said, great for a casual friday night dinner–can’t wait to try it!
Made this last night for dinner (instead of our usual Friday night Pizza dinner) and it was amazingly delicious!! Thanks for the great recipe! My kids thought it was so fun to help make the little “pockets” and then to pull it off and eat it! Definitely making this next time we have a party or event! Such a great recipe! Thanks, again!
I made these!! Thanks for sharing.. But you’re pictures are way much better.. Here are mine :
http://www.devri-alem.com/sucuklu-kabarcik-ekmek-pepperoni-pizza-monkey-bread/
I’m always looking for something differant.
When I found your site, I got excited, I love too cook, and have cooked for several years, you can teach an old dog new tricks, so I’m going to try the Pepparoni Monkey Bread.
Thanks for the great sight.
I made this and it was delicious…made me start thinking of all the creative delicious things you could do with the basic Monkey Bread recipe…here I go…
My daughter and I made this tonight and after brushing the pan with garlic butter (we also added the fresh ground Italian seasonings while the butter melted) we sprinkled it with Parmesan cheese.
I’m making this for a BBQ I’m going to today. I’m going to do half cheese and half pepperoni and cheese. Wish me luck!
Good luck 🙂
I did this except with buffalo chicken and we dipped them in bleu cheese. Delicious!!
I’ve made that version before – it’s fantastic!
i’m not to much on pepperoni cause of all the grease…..would it be possible to use canadian bacon instead? maybe cut it in half since it’s so much bigger than pepperoni? but this sound’s really great i’m gonna try it!!
I use turkey pepperoni, it doesn’t have *near* the fat content of regular. If you use Canadian Bacon, you can definitely cut it in half. My husband thinks I skip on the pepperoni as it is so he’d probably ask that I leave it whole 🙂
We tried it tonight! A hit with my teen kids. We just ate it with a green salad and loved it.
Un-pepperoni, un-pizza. Planning on making this un-believably wonderful idea for my family. Thank you for the inspiration.
Can this be made with canned biscuits instead of pizza dough ?
Thanks
I’m sure it can. I’d recommend looking at the refrigerated french bread or pizza dough, too.
My girlfriend has been making a very similar version of this for several years now. It’s a huge hit with everyone. Make sure to take a piece for yourself because once you put it down it won’t last long at all.
My 6 year old does the same de-pepperoni thing. 🙂
Looks great! Could you make it ahead of time and freeze it to bake later?
This will be a great dish to serve during football games! Cant wait to try it out!
Would I be able to prep a day ahead and refrigerate until ready to be baked? Thanks!
It’s in the oven Now!!!!
Thanks so much for a great recipe. Will be making this very soon. Your niece certainly knows what she wants, very cute.
A major hit with friends!! A keeper recipe for sure. I made a vegetarian version. Some balls had mushroom with Gouda and other was a Margherita filling.
I would like to make this ahead of time, do you think it would freeze well, and would you freeze it before letting it sit for the 30 minutes
I haven’t done it that way, but if you do freeze it, you’ll want to do it before the 30 minute rest. I’d probably defrost in the fridge overnight, let it sit on the counter at room temp while the oven is preheating, and then bake it.
I was wondering if this could be refrigerated over-night and made the next day. I would assume so, but thought I would ask in case you had already tried something similar.
I haven’t done it with the assembled monkey bread but I would expect it to be fine – I’d let it come to room temp while preheating the oven.
Was wondering if you think canned/tube biscuit dough could work do ya think ???
I’m sure it would work – you might want to look at the refridgerated pizza dough or french bread, too.
Did you ever make this using chunks of string cheese? Just wondering. I have that on hand.
I haven’t but the block of low-moisture/part-skim mozzarella that I usually buy isn’t so different… aside from the stringiness.
I don’t have a bundt pan, was thinking about using my 13x 9 pan.. would the cooking time be different?
It might be 5-10 mins shorter – check on it at 20 mins and then cook ’til the tops are nicely browned.
this looks so good! i’m drooling right now! want to try this too! thanks for sharing.
What temp. do you set the oven at?
400F (step 7).
what a great idea! i would love this too
I made this today. Tasty! My food processor died just before Christmas, so I cheated and used store-bought pizza dough. I filled mine with spinach, feta and pretend pepperoni.
just made this … waiting the 30 minutes to put it in the oven wish me luck
Oh my god! You can’t be serious. I absolutely definitely have to try this. The sooner the better!
Have made this recipe twice and both times it was a big hit!!!!!
what dough did you use???
Karen, I used this dough recipe: http://www.jasonandshawnda.com/foodiebride/archives/1229
I made this over the weekend and it was good but the cheese melted out of each pep roll. It also burnt so I believe I used the wrong kind of bread. I could not find pizza dough so I bought roll dough. Did not work well. I am going to try again with a different dough and see what happens. I think I pinched off too little dough so they didnt seal well.
Do you think it would work with biscuits instead of pizza dough or do you need the dough?
I believe some others have mentioned that they used biscuit dough – I haven’t tried it. But bake according to biscuit directions for temperature.
I am going to try this on my grandchildren. It looks like great fun.
What a great idea for a birthday party. pizza bites (monkey bread) and cake balls.
A birthday party bite! fun!!! add dip and dots….ok I can keep going but I will spare you. Thanks for the awesome idea.
Just made these, actually I’m chomping on them right now, turned out beautifully. Make sure to start early, it takes a little TLC!
Just made it tonight. Delicious and easy, thanks for the tip!
I can’t wait to see how it turns. Just wondering should I have let the dough rise first if I made my own dough and then roll the little doughs for the monkey bread?
Made this recipe and it was a HUGE hit. I was asked multiple times for the recipe. Went by within minutes. Will make again and recommend this to anyone. So much fun to make too.
The combinations are endless to the fillings that could be used. A great football bite.
Thanks for the great idea. Making it today for the game!
I too do not like pepperoni on my pie.. however, the pizza doesn’t have the same taste / flavor if you only get cheese.. you need the oils from the pepperoni.. i am going to make this tonight for a Christmas party!! thanks– Merry Christmas to all……
I was thinking of making these for a party. Do you think it would be ok to refrigerate for 4-6 hours before baking?
Love this idea! If I prepped it and made it the next day would that be okay or dony our think the dough would rise?