Air Fryer Pizza Bagels

When I found these pizza-flavored bagels at our local Ridley's store, I just had to try them. Through some trial and error, I figured out the perfect way to make them and I wanted to document it here for future reference, either for myself (so I don't have to keep "recreating the wheel" or for others who might want to try it). Enjoy!

*Note: If you can't find these specific bagels, this recipe would also work for any plain or savory bagel that you like.

Marsha's Air Fryer Pizza Bagels

Ingredients:

• 1 bagel, sliced in half
• pizza sauce
• toppings
• cheese

Directions:

1. Place your sliced bagel on a microwave-safe plate and top each half with sauce, toppings and your cheese.
2. Microwave for 1 minute to start to slightly melt the cheese. 
• Placing the cheese over your toppings and melting it slightly in the microwave helps prevent the moving air in the air fryer from blowing all your toppings off your bagel.
3. Transfer your bagel halves to your air fryer and cook on the air fry setting (400 degrees, no preheat needed) for 4 minutes or until cheese is golden and bubbly.

Marsha's Notes:

You can top your bagel with any toppings or cheese that you like. I used mini-pepperonis because it's what I had on hand, but full-sized would also be fine. I also used provolone cheese slices, but grated cheese would work just as well.

This is what I used.

Before adding the cheese.

After microwaving for 1 minute. See how the cheese is starting to form to the toppings underneath?

All done and delicious!

Cheesy Pizza Tortellini

This recipe was a hit with my family. The only thing I would do different from the original recipe is next time we would add some extra cheese to the pasta/sauce/noodle portion of the dish, instead of putting all the cheese on the top. So this will be our version of this. The guy who originally posted this on TikTok was doing a "griddle" version of this, but he also does a skillet version. See the original skillet recipe here: https://cookinginthemidwest.com/blog/pizzatortellini/#recipe

Cheesy Pizza Tortellini

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef or Italian sausage (we like a 1/2 and 1/2 blend)
• 1 24 oz jar of marinara sauce
• 19 oz frozen tortellini
•  mini pepperoni slices
• regular pepperoni slices
• Shredded mozzarella cheese
• parmesan cheese
• See recipe instructions for additional optional ingredients you may want to add.

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and then add your frozen tortellini. Cook as per package directions, drain and set aside.
2. Brown your mini pepperonis in a large pan/skillet. Once crispy, remove from heat and drain on a paper towel.
3. In the same pan, brown ground beef/Italian sausage in a skillet over medium high heat and season with salt, pepper, onion powder, and Italian seasoning if desired. Drain any excess grease. If you wanted to, you could also throw in some chopped onion (and/or peppers) to cook and soften along with your ground meat.
4. If desired, near the end of browning your ground meat, you can throw some extra minced garlic into the pan, like one big spoonful.
5. Add your browned mini pepperonis back to the pan, along with your jar of marinara sauce. This would also be a great time to add 1/2-1 block of cream cheese. Stir and heat through until combined and bubbly.
6. Add your cooked tortellini and stir to combine, along with a handful of whatever cheese you would like to be in the middle of your dish (like a handful of mozzarella and a sprinkling of grated parmesan.
7. Pour everything into a large casserole dish sprayed with nonstick spray.
8. Cover the entire dish with a nice layer of mozzarella cheese, and then top with your regular sized pepperonis.
9. Bake in the oven until bubbly and cheese is melted, then broil in the oven until the top layer of cheese and pepperoni is golden and crispy.

Pizza Spring Rolls

For William's birthday, he went through my cookbooks and picked some recipes for us to try. One recipe was for pizza spring rolls, which were everyone's favorite for the night.

Pizza Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

• 2 cups vegetable oil, for frying
• 4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 cup mini pepperoni slices, or regular pepperoni slices quartered
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• 20 egg roll wrappers (one package)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tsp water

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet for setting prepared spring rolls on.
2. Mix together cheese, pepperoni and pizza sauce.
3. Lay out all your egg roll wrappers on the counter with one of the points of the wrapper pointing towards you. 
4. Divide up the filling evenly between each (about 2 Tbl of filling per roll). Filling should be kind of in a line, off-center, closer to the point of the wrapper closest to you. (See Image)
5. Mix beaten egg with a small amount of water (1 tsp), and then use the egg wash to brush the edges of each wrapper before rolling.
6. Roll up like a burrito, making sure all the filling is sealed inside, first by folding up the point of the wrapper closest to you around the filling (trying to make sure things are nice and tight), tuck in the sides slightly around the ends of the filling, then fold up each of the side corners, and finally roll up the rest of the spring roll up towards the top point. (See Image)
7. Place filled rolls on prepared sheet and cover with plastic wrap and store in a cool place until ready to fry.
8. In a large, heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat, heat about 1 inch of oil for frying (about 350 degrees).
9. Place a few rolls in the hot oil, being sure not to over-crowd the pan. Fry until gold brown on one side, flip over and continue frying until the entire roll is golden. Drain on paper towels.
10. Serve with extra pizza sauce and ranch for dipping.
11. I placed my cooked rolls on "warm and hold" in the oven while cooking batches, which kept them nice and hot until serving. I also prepped my rolls earlier in the day and cooked them off at dinner time.

Pizza Enchiladas

I saw this recipe on Tiktok and had to try it. The guy called it pizza enchiladas, and everyone really liked it!

Pizza Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 1 lb hamburger or sausage
• couple handfuls of pepperonis cut in half
• 1/4 cup or so of pizza sauce
• 1/4-1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• sprinkling of Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese or so
• Any other pizza toppings you like
• Tortillas
• 1 jar pizza sauce
• Mozzarella cheese to top
• Mini pepperonis to top

Directions:

1. Brown your hamburger or sausage. A few minutes before it is done, add your cup-up pepperonis. Remove from heat. Add about a 1/4 cup of pizza sauce, ricotta, Italian seasoning, about a 1/2 cup mozzarella and any other toppings you like on your pizza. Stir to combine. This is your filling, so if you think it needs more sauce or cheese or whatever, add it now.
2. Roll up the filling in tortillas and place in a baking dish. Top with more sauce, cheese and mini pepperonis to decorate. Bake at 350 until everything is hot and melty.
3. I used three JUMBO tortillas that we had leftover from making homemade crunch wraps and it filled the pan perfectly. Everyone got 1/2 an enchilada and it was plenty.

Stuffler Waffles

My family got me a Stuffler waffle iron and we broke it out today to try and everyone LOVED it! Here is a link to buy your own (you can't make these waffles in an ordinary waffle iron, you need the deeper Stuffler) and the waffle batter recipe and ideas we used. Enjoy!

Buy your Stuffler here: https://smile.amazon.com/Presto-03512-Stuffler-Stuffed-Belgian/dp/B087QRK33P/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=stuffler&qid=1672606620&sr=8-3

Basic Waffle Batter for Stuffler

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 TBL sugar
• 1 TBL baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 3 TBL vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Preheat Stuffler with tongs inserted into unit. 
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. 
3. Whisk milk, eggs and oil in a medium bowl. 
4. Whisk milk mixture into dry ingredients just until dry ingredients are thoroughly moistened. 
5. Pour approximately 1/3 cup batter into Stuffler, coating bottom in a thin layer. 
6. Place your stuffings next and top with approximately another 1/3 cup batter. 
7. Cook for 6 minutes. 
8. Remove with the waffle insert tongs. 
9. Makes approximately 6 stuffed waffles.

Marsha's Notes:

The recipe says to cook for 7-8 minutes, but six was perfect for us. Be careful not to overstuff your waffle so they don't ooze out during cooking. It is recommended when using a sauce to "sandwich" your sauce between other ingredients so it doesn't just disappear into the batter (such as pizza sauce; sandwich it between a cheese layer and a pepperoni/cheese layer). Also, I preferred most of the waffles with a little extra dipping/topping sauce. We also prefer non-cooked strawberries, so next time we will put our fresh strawberries on top and not put them INSIDE the waffle.

The Stuffler manual had two additional batter recipes that I wanted to record here, but I have not yet tried:

Cornmeal Waffles with Cheese and Chiles

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 eggs, separated
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 Tbl vegetable oil
• 3 Tbl canned green chiles, drained
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Mix all dry ingredient together.
2. Stir in egg YOLKS, buttermilk, oil chilies and cheese.
3. Beat egg whites until stiff in another bowl using an electric mixer.
4. Fold whites into batter, leaving a few fluffs.
5. Cook waffles for 6-7 minutes.

Pecan Waffles

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbl packed brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 3 Tbl vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp maple extract

Directions:

1. Mix all dry ingredients together.
2. Stir in pecans.
3. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, oil, and maple extract together in a separate bowl.
4. Mix wet and dry mixtures together just until combined. Do not over mix.
5. Cook waffles for 6 minutes.

The Stuffler manual also recommends trying cake mixes and muffin mixes. 

Waffles we tried:

S'mores topped with Hot Fudge

Pepperoni Pizza

Ham, Cheese and Chick-fil-A Sauce

Strawberry, Nutella and Whipped Cream

Hawaiian Pizza

(Scott and Chris ate this one, so I only have the ingredients picture)

Ultimate Chocolate w/Peanut Butter

 (Lucas and William just wanted Hershey bar pieces, Nutella, and hot fudge... then they spread peanut butter on top when it was done)

Other Ideas Include: Chicken cordon bleu, chicken parmesan (with breaded chicken), chicken and waffles, trying to make them with chocolate batter, taco waffle, banana chocolate waffle, etc.

Easy Ham and Cheese French Bread Pizza

We tried this recipe last night and everyone really liked it... but full disclosure, I think I am going to do it different next time, so I'll put my ideas at the bottom for next time. I think it's going to be EVEN better! But here's the original recipe. This was to use up some leftover holiday ham.

See the original recipe source here: https://www.thekitchenismyplayground.com/2016/09/easy-ham-cheese-french-bread-pizza.html

Easy Ham and Cheese French Bread Pizza

Ingredients:

• 1 loaf French bread
• 3 T. REAL® butter, melted (or use pre-made garlic butter)
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. garlic powder (omit if using pre-made garlic butter)
• 1/4 to 1/3 c. jarred Alfredo sauce
• 1 c. chopped ham
• 1/2 to 1/3 c. REAL® shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 to 1 1/2 c. REAL® shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. dried parsley {optional}

Directions:

1. Cut French bread in half lengthwise and place cut-side-up on a baking sheet. Brush cut sides with melted butter all the way to the edges and sprinkle evenly with garlic powder. (Or just use pre-made garlic butter.)
2. Bake at 450 degrees for 4 minutes or until just barely lightly browned on the edges.
3. Remove from the oven. Spread each piece of bread evenly with half the Alfredo sauce, then sprinkle on half the Swiss cheese and chopped ham. Top each piece of bread evenly with half the mozzarella and sprinkle on dried parsley, if using.
4. Bake for 6 - 8 minutes until cheese is melty. 
5. Remove from oven and slice into pieces using a sharp serrated knife.

Marsha's Notes:

I think the French bread held up to the alfredo sauce oooookkkkaaaayyyy.... but I think a more hearty bread like a ciabatta bun would be even better and not get soggy (... even though you toast the French Bread first before you add the alfredo, it still soaked in and got wet) and ciabatta would make a "personal sized" pizza for everyone that wouldn't need to be cut, where cutting the French bread kind of smashed it a little... 

Also, next time, I would add both grilled chicken and crumbled bacon to make it more of a chicken cordon bleu recipe. That would be SO GOOD!

Update: So we tried this with the chicken, bacon and ciabatta buns last night and it was a hit!!! I just bought precooked bacon and chopped it up, precooked grilled chicken and chopped it up, and then cut the ciabatta buns in half. Everyone got two pizzas (or one total bun) and they held up so nicely to the alfredo sauce! You could also put the two buns back together after everything has cooked and have an oven sandwich instead.

Pizza-Stuffed Garlic Rolls

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Pizza-Stuffed Garlic Rolls

Ingredients:

• 2 Pillsbury Oven Baked frozen garlic dinner rolls, or regular rolls with garlic butter
• 4 tsp. pizza sauce
• 6 slices pepperoni, cut up
• 2 Tbl shredded cheddar cheese or mozzarella

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.  
2. Spray 2 regular-sized muffin cups with cooking spray.  
3. Place rolls on cutting board; let stand 10 to 15 minutes to thaw.  Make a horizontal slice in side of each roll, cutting almost all the way through and making a pocket, but leaving attached ¾ of the way around.  
4. Spoon 2 tsp. pizza sauce into pocket in each roll.  Place ½ of pepperoni in each roll and ½ of cheese.  
5. Place in muffin cups; press gently to close.  
6. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Remove from muffin cups; serve warm.

Marsha's Notes:

This recipe is a Pillsbury Dinner for Two recipe, so you can double, triple, or make as many as you want.

Pizza Sauce

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• Garlic salt to taste
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp oregano
• 3/4 tsp basil
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes 

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together until well incorporated.  (No cooking required.)  
2. Spread on pizza dough or warm in microwave to use a dipping sauce with breadsticks or cheese sticks.  Makes enough for a few pizzas, depending on size of pizza, so freeze leftovers if needed.

Pizza Dough

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

• 3 cups warm water
• 1 Tbl. salt
• 2 Tbl. sugar
• 2 Tbl active dry yeast
• 7-8 cups flour

Directions:

1. Mix in order listed.  Use enough flour to make a soft dough.  Knead dough until it is nice and smooth, and all ingredients are well incorporated.  
2. Cover dough and let raise for 30 minutes in a warm place (I like to turn my oven on the lowest temperature until preheated while I am making the dough, then I turn the oven off and use the warm oven to help my dough raise.)  
3. Form into pizza crusts to your desired thickness, or form into breadsticks.  
4. Bake at 400-425 degrees for about 15 minutes depending on the size of the pizza and thickness of the crust.  

Marsha's Notes:

This recipe makes a lot, so I will use ¼ the recipe to make two small/medium pizzas instead, or ½ the recipe for two medium pizzas and some breadsticks.

Breadsticks: 

My favorite is cheese stuffed breadsticks.  To make these... 

1. I form my dough into two 8 inch circles about ¼ inch thick.  
2. On my bottom circle I will pile a fair amount of my pizza cheese, spreading the cheese out to about ½ inch from the edge of the crust.  
3. Then I get my finger tips wet with water, run my finger tips around the edge of the dough to moisten it and help it seal and keep the cheese from leaking out during baking.  
4. Then I place my top circle of dough over the bottom circle and the cheese and I crimp the edges of the dough with my fingers to seal.  I also cut a few vents in the top of the dough to let the steam out and to keep an air bubble from forming in the middle of the breadsticks.  
5. I then take a little butter and spread it over the top of the dough, and sprinkle the dough with garlic powder, parsley flakes and parmesan cheese.  
6. Bake until golden brown.  Do not bake breadsticks with anything else in the oven, especially not anything underneath the breadsticks or the bottom layer of dough will not brown and cook all the way through before the top is done.

Fruit Pizza

I found this recipe years ago and am now copying it here from our family cookbook binder. Enjoy!

Fruit Pizza

Ingredients:

• 1 pkg. sugar cookie dough 
• 1 batch cream cheese frosting
• Assorted cut up fruit

Directions:

1. Press dough in the bottom of a 9x9 pan.  
2. Bake until done.  
3. Spread with cream cheese frosting and top with assorted cut-up fruit.  I like to use kiwi and strawberries.

Taste of Home's Pizza Grilled Cheese

Always on the look-out for something fun to get Chris excited about food, I thought I would try this idea from my "Good Food Kids Love" Taste of Home magazine that I picked up a long time ago (November 2005). Already a fan of pizza, I thought Chris would really like this. He also loves to "dip" things, so the extra sauce on the side was perfect. Thank you Taste of Home.  I probably never would have thought to try this on my own.

Taste of Home's Pizza Grilled Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 2 slices bread
• 1 slice provolone cheese
• 6 slices pepperoni
• 3 tablespoons pizza sauce
• Additional pizza sauce, optional

Directions:

1. Butter one side of each slice of bread. 
2. Place one slice in a skillet, butter side down. 
3. Top with the cheese, pepperoni, pizza sauce and second bread slice, butter side up. 
4. Cook over medium heat until golden brown, turning once. 
5. Serve with additional pizza sauce if desired. Yield: 1 serving.

Betty Crocker's Layered Pizza Dip

We had this great New Year's appetizer with friends last night.  Simple, yummy, easy to make in advance... what more could I ask for.  It's easy to adapt to your favorite pizza tastes.  Enjoy!  Original recipe from the Betty Crocker website.

Betty Crocker's Layered Pizza Dip

Ingredients:

• 1 (8-oz.) container soft cream cheese with chives and onions
• 1/2 cup chunky pizza sauce
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/3 cup finely chopped pepperoni
• 2 oz. (1/2 cup) shredded mozzarella cheese, or more
• 2 oz. (1/2 cup) shredded Cheddar cheese, or more

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In ungreased 9-inch pie pan or 1 to 1 1/2-quart baking dish, layer all ingredients in order listed.
2. Bake at 350°F. for 10 to 15 minutes or until dip is hot and cheese is melted.
3. Serve warm with bagel crisps, bagel chips or crackers.

Marsha's Notes:

I am not a big green pepper fan, so I simply left those out. But I can see how it would be so easy to add your favorite pizza toppings to this versatile dish. I also served mine with homemade bagel crisps.

Marsha's Pizza Sauce, Pizza Dough and Bonus Cheesy Breadsticks

I was reminded by a friend of ours that we have a good recipe for pizza dough/bread sticks and pizza sauce. If you like to make homemade pizza, this recipe has been quite popular for us. I haven't seen too many recipes for pizza sauce myself, so I was especially happy to find this one that works so well. Enjoy!

Marsha's Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• Garlic salt to taste
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. oregano
• ¾ tsp. basil
• ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together until well incorporated. (No cooking required.) 
2. Spread on pizza dough or warm in microwave to use a dipping sauce with bread sticks or cheese sticks. Makes enough for a few pizzas, depending on size of pizza, so freeze leftovers if needed.

This dough recipe has been insanely popular with my friends and family.  Enjoy!  This recipe came from my brother, who got is from a friend, who got it from who knows where...

Marsha's Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

• 3 cups warm water
• 1 Tbl. salt
• 2 Tbl. sugar
• 2 Tbl. active dry yeast
• 7-8 cups flour

Directions:

1. Mix in order listed. Use enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead dough until it is nice and smooth, and all ingredients are well incorporated. Cover dough and let raise for 30 minutes in a warm place (I like to turn my oven on the lowest temperature until preheated while I am making the dough, then I turn the oven off and use the warm oven to help my dough raise.) 
2. Form into pizza crusts to your desired thickness, or form into bread sticks. Bake at 400-425 degrees for about 15 minutes depending on the size of the pizza and thickness of the crust. This recipe makes a lot, so I will use ¼ the recipe to make two small/medium pizzas instead, or ½ the recipe for two medium pizzas and some bread sticks.

Additional Idea:

Bread sticks- My favorite is cheese stuffed bread sticks. To make these, I form my dough into two 8 inch circles about ¼ inch thick. On my bottom circle I will pile a fair amount of my pizza cheese, spreading the cheese out to about ½ inch from the edge of the crust. Then I get my finger tips wet with water, run my finger tips around the edge of the dough to moisten it and help it seal and keep the cheese from leaking out during baking. 

Then I place my top circle of dough over the bottom circle and the cheese and I crimp the edges of the dough with my fingers to seal. I also cut a few vents in the top of the dough to let the steam out and to keep an air bubble from forming in the middle of the bread sticks. I then take a little butter and spread it over the top of the dough, and sprinkle the dough with garlic powder, parsley flakes and Parmesan cheese. Bake until golden brown.