I'm not a dessert person. There, I said it. Growing up, I had to be forced to take a bite of birthday cake for "good luck." I don't salivate at the thought of sweets, and I won't eat your leftover cookies in the faculty room.
One of our traditions was to make Christmas cookies for Santa each year. Because I'm artsy fartsy, I loved using different colored icing, piping gels, and sprinkles to create beautiful cookie Christmas trees, Santas, stockings, snowmen, etc. The problem with our tradition was that the cookies would go to waste. Just the thought of chomping down on a sugar cookie covered in overly sweet icing makes me shudder. (I know you may be shaking your head while reading this, but I feel just as disgusted with people who leave the pickle uneaten on their plate. UGH)
So two years ago, I came up with the idea to continue our cookie tradition but with pizza dough instead! Same cookie cutters, same decorating step, different ingredients! If you're a savory sucker like me, try these unique pizza cookies! They can be made for any holiday or occasion. 👍🏼
Our first batch ever-- Christmas 2016. Ingredients: Papa Sal's pizza dough, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, jarred pesto, banana peppers, and pepperoni. As you can see, we got a bit creative!
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This year, it was almost 9pm on Christmas Eve, I was full from dinner, and worn out from my calamari making adventure earlier. Although we used less ingredients and made them less ... thoughtfully 😆 ... they were my favorite batch we've made in terms of taste.
Christmas 2018. Ingredients: Papa Sal's pizza dough, Victoria marinara sauce (the only jarred sauce brand I actually really enjoy), Prego basil pesto, and shredded sharp white cheddar. Quick and flavorful.
Roll out the dough, and use the cookie cutters. Place the shapes on a greased baking sheet.
Bake the "cookies" for about 5 minutes at the temp listed on your instructions. They will be a bit puffy when you take them out. We just used our hands to flatten them down a bit. 😇 Then, decorate!
Now they go back in the oven for about 8-10 more minutes or until you think they are done/fully cooked.
Again, not beautiful this year, but DELICIOUS nonetheless. Enjoy!!!
