Pepperoni PIzza Roses

Photo by Jamie Plain

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be all chocolates and candy hearts — sometimes the way to a kid’s heart is straight through the snack cabinet. These adorable Pepperoni Pizza Roses look fancy, but they’re secretly super simple. Kids can help layer, roll, and build their own “roses.” Once baked, they puff into fun, golden blossoms filled with melty cheese and crispy pepperoni petals.

They’re perfect for parties, after-school treats, or a fun Valentine’s dinner the whole family will actually eat. Because nothing says love quite like pizza. 

Ingredients

›› 1 tube refrigerated crescent dough or crescent dough sheet

›› ½ cup pizza sauce

›› 1–1½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese

›› 1 package pepperoni slices

›› Flour, for dusting

›› Nonstick spray, for muffin tin

Instructions

Prep the pan:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly spray a 6-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray.

Roll out the dough:

Lightly flour your counter and unroll the crescent dough. If using regular crescents, pinch the seams together to form one large rectangle.

Cut the dough into 6 long strips (about 1½–2 inches wide).

Build the roses:

Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce over each dough strip.

Sprinkle with mozzarella.

Along the top edge of each strip, overlap pepperoni slices so the tops of the circles stick slightly off the edge — these become the “petals.”

Roll it up:

Starting at one end, roll each strip tightly into a spiral.

Pinch the bottom to help seal, then place each roll into a muffin cup, pepperoni petals facing upward.

Bake:

Bake for 18–22 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown and the cheese is bubbling. If the pepperoni edges start to brown too quickly, loosely tent with foil.

Cool & serve:

Let cool for 5 minutes, then gently lift out of the muffin tin. Serve warm with extra pizza sauce for dipping.