The boys have been going gaga for these gluten-free Pizza Muffins. They eat them for breakfast, in their lunches, and as a healthy after school snack. Since I’ve been cutting back on my sugar intake I’m a big fan of these pizza muffins too. For me, they’re sort of like a savory cupcake. Cute and little, with adorable decorations on top –everything I want a cupcake to be, without the sugar.
In order to make the adorable miniature pepperoni slices that top these Pizza Muffins, I stacked up pieces of pepperoni and pressed down on them with the small side of a metal funnel. Works like magic!
Although my boys are now teenagers, I think they would have loved cutting out the tiny pieces of pepperoni and decorating the tops of these muffins with me when they were small children. Those were the fun types of projects we used to do together. Now when we’re in the kitchen, rather than collaborating on one dish together, we make separate dishes and collaborate on making one big meal. My favorite time with the boys is still kitchen time. I love watching them cook (and clean), and seeing them take pride in everything they make!
Pizza Muffins
Ingredients
- 1½ cups blanched almond flour (not almond meal)
- ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 4 large eggs
- ¼ cup tomato sauce, plus ¼ cup for topping
- ½ cup cheddar cheese, plus ½ cup for topping
- ½ cup parmesan cheese, plus ½ cup for topping
- 2 ounces pepperoni, plus 2 ounces for topping
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine almond flour, salt, and baking soda
- Pulse in eggs and sauce until combined
- Pulse in cheeses and pepperoni
- Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners
- Scoop a heaping ¼ cup of batter into each cup
- Bake at 350°F for 25 minutes
- Remove from oven; place 1 teaspoon sauce on top of each muffin
- Sprinkle cheese over sauce
- Sprinkle pepperoni over cheese
- Place back in oven and bake for 15 more minutes
- Cool for 1 hour
- Serve
I based this recipe on one from Pamela Salzman, a private chef in Southern California. I haven’t tried it, but I’ll bet this grain-free Pizza Muffin recipe would be incredible with various vegetable fillings and toppings such as mushrooms, spinach, or zucchini. If you experiment, please let us know what changes you make to the recipe and if you have to adapt any of the other ingredients. When you include vegetables it may be best to saute them first, otherwise they will be very wet.
I tried making these Pizza Muffins with more tomato sauce on top and preferred them with the one teaspoon indicated in the recipe. I found they became a tad soggy when I increased the tomato sauce to two teaspoons.
I haven’t tried making these Pizza Muffins dairy-free as my boys can eat cheese. If you do play with the recipe and remove the cheese please tell us how it goes! How will you customize this recipe to make your very own pizza muffin?
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Katherine says
Hi I just made my third batch of these because they’re so yummy! Just wanted to share a tip. If you’re baking them in the regular foil+paper muffin tin liners, trust me, if you peel them while warm you will peel off half of the muffin. Put them in the fridge overnight and then peel. Even then you have to be careful because some pieces you have to pick off. I just ordered a silicone pan and can’t wait to eat an entire muffin for once lol!
Another thing I do differently is that I only fill the cups halway. Otherwise they puff up to the edge and when I add the extra sauce and toppings it floats onto the muffin pan. First time I didn’t have pepperoni and it really needed that spice. Next time I want to use sausage. Eggplant plus red pepper flakes might be good too! I just love these as a snack because I can grab one and it’s very filling. It has me thinking what other savory muffins I can make.
PS even my parents who eat regular (unhealthy) food love these and couldn’t believe it was almond flour!
Elana says
Hi Katherine, so glad to hear you are enjoying these muffins and thanks for sharing your amazing ideas.
Mangofairy says
I’m allergic to egg…
Is there any substitute to replace the egg?
Elana says
Hi there, I haven’t found a good substitute for eggs. Since you can’t eat eggs here is a link to my egg-free recipes that might be helpful for you:
https://elanaspantry.com/diets/egg-free/
Enjoy!
Elana
Crystal says
have you tried to use the flax seed meal egg substitute you use 1Tbsp of the flax seed and 3 Tbsp of water to replace one egg. I have not used this with coconut or almond flour as i am just looking into going GF but have used it in making breads and using it as a base to coat chicken and what not before dipping it in flour to fry it and it has worked well for those. GOOD LUCK.
Daniel Duprey says
This is by far my favorite of the reduced carb bread-type recipes I have tried.
I accidentally added 1/2 cup of tomato sauce to the batter, instead of 1/4 cup, and it still turned out fine.
Many thanks!
Elana says
Thanks Daniel! These are a favorite in our house too :-)
Sherry says
These pizza muffins are FANTASTIC!!! Have made them and love them so tonight we are switching it up a little. We have made this as a pizza crust… . Put it on a 13X9 pan and it just came out of the oven Perfect!! We are just adding the fixins and then its going back in to finish! I am actually so excited about this. Can’t wait to eat it! Thank you for sharing this recipe Elana!!
Elana says
Sherry, that sounds incredible :-)
K2 says
Thank you for that idea. My mom has desperately missed pizza since she had to get dentures and she says the GF pizza crusts are too hard or too chewy. I think an almond flour based crust would be crunchy on the edges, still easy to chew and so much healthier than most crusts.
Elana says
K2, I have an almond flour based pizza crust in my first book:
https://elanaspantry.com/gluten-free-pizza-crust-video/
Have a wonderful day!
Elana
K2 says
Sorry I’m just now seeing this but I have that book and had forgotten about that recipe. Thank you for the memory nudge.
Elana says
K2, I’m so happy to help! Keep me posted on your Mom :-)
ali says
thanks for the recipe. my sons (16 and 19) loved them. I made them yesterday and I will make more today.
Kara says
Wow, these are amazing!!! I made them without pepperoni and without following the final steps of putting sauce and cheese on top, and they were still so yummy… Thanks!
Shalini says
Hi Elana,
Love cooking with your recepies.
I recently read an article regarding nuts- that nuts and seeds should be soaked before eating as they contain enzymes inhibitors and phytic acid.
http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/the-benefits-of-soaking-nuts-and-seeds
I loved your recepies baking with almond flour but I want to ask that almond flour we buy is not made from soaked almonds. So is it still healthy to consume ?
Please advice.
Thank you
Shalini says
Hi Elana
I found my answer :)
From someone whu also follows you. World is round :)
http://thehealthyadvocate.com/2010/07/25/how-to-make-easily-digestible-soaked-and-blanched-almond-flour-2/
Thank you.
Kate says
Look at the date on this article; it is 5 years old. You can’t get raw almonds like she refers to in a store anymore; they are all pasteurized (even if labelled ‘RAW”) To get truly raw nuts you need to purchase directly from a farm. Some almond farms have websites for ordering. If the nuts are killed via pasteurization, little will improve with soaking and they will not sprout because they are dead. In fact, soaking pasteurized nuts can cause nasty bacteria to grow on them.
Donna says
Actually, if almonds are pasteurized via steam method they can still be sprouted. If they are USDA certified organic then they do not contain any PPO which is the conventional method of pasteurization.
Beth Ann says
Truly raw almonds can be found at http://www.bridenwilsonfarms.com. I’ve ordered almonds for sprouting then dehydrating from them for years and have never been disappointed.
Stephanie says
We did these with the Daiya cheese and they turned out great. Thanks for a good recipe.
Adelina says
These are awesome!! I used left over bacon instead of pepperoni and added a little garlic powder to the mix, YUM! Great for breakfast.
Marlana Sherman says
Can this recipe be done without a food processor? I don’t have one at the moment.
Katherine says
I make most of her recipes by hand. The only difference is you mix your dry and wet separately and add the dry to the wet slowly.