Mini pizzas are one of the most popular finger foods in Italy. They are usually served as a fun, crunchy starter, or during birthdays, buffets, and gatherings.
Making pizza biscuits is actually very simple, and you can add your favorite toppings for a fun evening with your family.
What to expect
Mini pizzas, also known as pizza biscuits, or "pizzette" in Italian, are bite-size pizzas that are served as a starter or as finger food for buffets, birthdays, or other events with many people.
They are made with a simple proofed dough and can be topped with any topping, just like regular pizza.
Mini pizzas are the perfect starter or easy dinner for an evening with family and friends, as they are fun to make.
They are so tasty, crunchy, and light and everyone will absolutely love them. And if you have any leftovers, you can eat them as a tasty snack the day after.
Ingredients and substitutions
For the pizza dough
- Flour: you can make mini pizzas with any wheat or spelt flour. We like to use half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour.
- Water: lukewarm tap water.
- Yeast: you can use instant dry yeast or active dry yeast in the same quantities. You can also use fresh yeast, but in this case, you'll need 3 times more fresh yeast than dry yeast.
- Sugar: just a teaspoon to help activate the yeast and facilitate proofing.
- Salt: optional.
For the toppings
You can use any toppings of your choice, just like for regular pizza. Here we use three toppings:
- Marinara sauce: with diced canned tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic, and capers.
- Artichokes: with marinara sauce, artichoke hearts, and black olives.
- Potatoes: potatoes, rosemary, red onion, salt, pepper, and olive oil.
Instructions
Make the dough
To a small container goes ½ cup or 120 grams of lukewarm water, one teaspoon or 3 grams of instant dry yeast, and a teaspoon of sugar. Stir and set aside for a minute.
To a bowl, we’re adding 1⅓ cups or 200 grams of flour. We like to use half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour but you can also use 100% all-purpose flour.
Add a pinch of salt and the water with the yeast and combine with a spatula till the flour absorbs the liquid.
Now, we transfer to a worktop and knead with our hands for about 8 minutes. If the dough is too wet and sticks to our hands we add more flour until it doesn’t.
We should aim for a smooth, soft and springy dough.
After kneading, we make a dough ball and put it in a lightly oiled container, or in one dusted with flour if we are trying to avoid oil.
Cover with a plate turned upside down, then put it to proof in a warm corner of your kitchen until it doubles in size. It should take one to two hours.
Shape the dough
After proofing, we transfer the dough onto a worktop, fold it on itself 4 times to add some structure, shape it into a ball, and roll it out with the help of a rolling pin.
Dust the worktop with flour and roll out the dough down to about 3 to 4 millimeters.
The shape here is not important, but it’s important that the dough is quite thin. Mini pizzas should be light, thin, and crunchy, not thick and bready.
Next, we use a small glass or a round cookie cutter of about 2.7 inches or 7cm, to cut out the mini pizzas.
We’re trying to cut out as many discs as possible, then transfer them onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Put together the dough scraps and make a dough ball without kneading it too much, roll it out again, and cut it.
Repeat this process until you run out of dough. You should be able to make 28 mini pizzas.
It sounds like a lot, but consider that each person will eat at least 4 pizzette as they are really small and thin and you can also eat them the day after if you have some leftovers.
Can you make pizza biscuits with store-bought dough?
Then, if we are really busy and can’t make the dough from scratch ourselves, we can always use store-bought pizza dough.
The one I got was very soft and moist, impossible to shape into mini pizzas, so what I did was, I shaped it into a ball first to give it some structure, waited 10 minutes for the gluten to relax, then rolled it out, and cut it into mini pizzas.
Marinara sauce topping
Now, once the pizzette are on the baking sheet we can add our toppings.
At this time we can also preheat the oven to 480F or 250C.
Our first topping is a simple marinara sauce.
To a bowl add half a can of diced tomatoes, a couple of pinches of oregano, one thinly sliced clove of garlic, a pinch of salt, and a couple of twists of pepper.
Optionally we can also add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.
Crush and mix the tomatoes with a fork, then take a spoon, and add some of the marinara sauce to the center of the mini pizzas.
To make the sauce stay in, apply some pressure with your fingers in the center of the pizza.
Artichokes and olives topping
Marinara sauce is delicious on its own but is also perfect as a base sauce for other toppings.
In this case, as a second topping, we added some artichoke hearts. Slice the artichokes thinly, then add them on top of the marinara sauce.
Then to make the flavors pop, I like to add capers or black olives on top of the pizzette.
Now, our first tray of mini pizzas is ready to be baked in a preheated oven at 480F or 250C for about 8 minutes, or until the pizzette start to brown on the edges.
Potatoes and rosemary topping
While the first tray is in the oven, we can prepare the second tray, which we top with potatoes, rosemary, and red onion.
All you have to do is peel the potatoes and cook them in the microwave at full power for 4 minutes or until soft. Now slice the potatoes then finely slice a red onion.
Like before, press down the pizzas in the center to make them fit the toppings then add about a slice of potato on top of each mini pizza.
Season the potatoes with a tiny pinch of salt and pepper, then add a pinch of thinly sliced red onion on top of the potatoes.
Finally, top the pizzette with a few needles of rosemary, we can use fresh or dried rosemary, and in this case a tiny drizzle of olive oil. We tried without oil but they turned out too dry.
Bake the pizzas for about 8 minutes, then take them out of the oven and arrange them on a serving platter or on a cutting board and enjoy.
Get ahead
Tip 1: Prepare the dough the night before, or in the morning, and put it in the fridge for 8 to 20 hours max.
Tip 2: You can also prepare the toppings in advance and keep them in the refrigerator for up to a day.
Make it yours
Make this recipe yours by changing the toppings and using your favorite veggies. Any vegetable work on top of pizza, for instance thinly sliced mushrooms would be perfect.
You can also add grilled veggies on top, such as grilled zucchini, aubergines, or red peppers, but in this case, you've got to grill the vegetables first.
Dinner menu ideas
Serve these mini pizzas as a starter with your favorite plant based meal, for example:
- Oven-baked chickpea stew as a main, or
- Italian bean stew
- Tofu cacciatore
- Tofu in pizzaiola sauce
- Cauliflower rice with lemon and parsley as a side.
- Vegan lemon bars as a dessert.
Similar recipes
If you like plant-based appetizers as much as we do, take a peek at some of our easiest vegan starters:
- Tofu cream cheese
- Vegan egg salad
- 3 ingredient vegan ricotta
- Tomato confit
- Roasted bell peppers
- Steamed artichokes
- Caramelized onions
What are your favorite finger foods for game nights? We're curious, let us know in the comments below!
Storage
Just like regular pizza, mini pizzas are best eaten straight out of the oven.
However, if you have leftovers, you can definitely keep them for a couple of days in a paper bag, then reheat them in the oven or under a broiler for a few minutes.
Recipe
Mini pizzas - Fun and crunchy pizza biscuits
Equipment
- 1 small glass or round pastry cutter 3 inches or 7 cm in diameter.
Ingredients
DOUGH
- 1⅓ cups flour (half all purpose and half whole wheat) + 1 tablespoon for kneading
- ½ cup water lukewarm
- 1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 pinch salt
TOPPING 1: Marinara Sauce (for 28 mini pizzas)
- ½ can (7 ounces) diced tomatoes
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 twists pepper
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 clove garlic
- 28 small capers
TOPPING 2: potatoes and rosemary (for 28 mini pizzas)
- 3 medium potatoes
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- 1 medium red onion
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
TOPPING 3: artichokes and olives (for 28 mini pizzas)
- 1 marinara sauce from TOPPING 1
- 1 jar (12 ounces) artichoke hearts
- 14 pitted black olives
Instructions
Make dough
- To a small container, add the lukewarm water, instant dry yeast, and sugar. Stir and set aside for a minute.
- To a bowl, add the flour. I like to use half all-purpose and half whole wheat but you can also use 100% all purpose flour.Add a pinch of salt and the water with the yeast. Combine with a spatula till flour absorb all the liquid.
- Transfer to a worktop and knead with your hands for 8 minutes, dusting your worktop with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. You should get a smooth, soft but springy dough.
Proof dough
- Shape the dough into a ball, then put it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a plate turned upside down and let proof in a warm room till it doubles in size. It should take from 1.5 to 2 hours.
While the dough proofs prep the toppings
- TOPPING 1: Marinara sauceTo a bowl add canned diced tomatoes, oregano, salt, pepper, and finely sliced garlic. Crush and mix the sauce with a fork and set aside. Optionally you can add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.
- TOPPING 2: Artichokes and olivesPrepare the marinara sauce as described above. Drain the artichoke hearts, then cut them in thin slices (julienne) and set them aside.Cut the olives in half and set them aside.
- TOPPING 3: Potatoes and rosemaryWash and peel the potatoes, then cook them in the microwave at full power for 4 minutes or until soft. If you don't have a microwave, you can steam or boil the potatoes.Sliced the cooked potatoes and set them aside.Finely slice the red onion and set it aside.
Shape the mini pizzas
- After proofing, transfer the dough onto a worktop, fold it on itself 4 times, make a ball, and roll it out with the help of a rolling pin. Roll it out to about 3 to 4 millimetres, or 0.12 inches, thin. The shape is not important.
- Use a small glass or a round cookie cutter of about 2.7 inches or 7cm, to cut out the mini pizzas.Put together the leftover dough, roll it out again, and cut it. Repeat until you run out of dough. You should be able to get around 28 mini pizzas with a 2.7 inches or 7cm cookie cutter.
- Transfer the mini pizzas onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, then apply your favourite toppings.
Add Toppings
- TOPPING 1: Marinara sauceApply some of the marinara sauce with a tablespoon on each mini pizza. Add a caper in the centre.
- TOPPING 2: artichokes and olivesApply the marinara sauce first, then add a pinch of sliced artichokes in the centre of the mini pizza, and half olive on top.
- TOPPING 3: potatoes and rosemaryAdd a slice of the potato in the centre of the mini pizza, add a pinch of sliced onion on top, season with salt and pepper, then add three rosemary needles on top of each pizzetta and drizzle with some olive oil.
Bake
- Bake in a preheated oven at 480F or 250C for 7 to 9 minutes, or until your mini pizzas are golden and crispy on top.Arrange on a serving platter or on a cutting board and enjoy while still warm and crunchy.
Video Recipe
Nutritional Values
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