Pumpkin Shaped Pizza Bites

October is here!!! This is the start to my favorite time of year, so I thought we’d kick things off with a super cute themed recipe – Pumpkin Shaped Pizza Bites! These little guys are pizza dough stuffed with a cheesy mixture and baked into the shape of cute little pumpkins. A simple mix of vegan butter and spices give them that perfect orange color. And besides being cute, they taste AMAZING!

Step One: Dough & Twine

I am using pre-made pizza dough because…it’s just a lot easier. But feel free to make your own from scratch! I can usually find pre-made dough at just about every grocery store in the fridge or freezer section. And since it is cold, the first thing you need to do is let the dough rest until it is room temperature.

The other prep step is the twine. I actually tried this recipe out last year and it totally failed. And the reason for that was the twine. Not the type of twine, but not doing this next step.

Cut twine into 2 foot pieces and then place them in a small bowl. Add just enough olive oil to coat them and let them sit while you prep everything else. This will make it 100% easier to cut the twine off at the end…trust me!

Step Two: The Filling

While the dough is resting, you can prep the filling. Here is what you’ll need:

• olive oil 
• garlic
• shallot 
• salt & pepper 
• vegan cream cheese 
• sun-dried tomatoes 
• Italian seasoning
• basil leaves

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the garlic, shallot and a pinch of salt & pepper. Allow to cook until the edges are slightly browned – approx. 3-5 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl add the garlic, shallots, cream cheese, tomatoes, Italian seasoning and basil. Mix until combined. Taste and add salt if needed. This filling is so freaking tasty!

Note: You can obviously do any type of filling you want and I encourage you to try out different variations! Some I have on my mind are pesto & spinach, vegan sausage & marinara or jalapeño & cream cheese.

Step Three: Assemble

Take the room temp dough and cut it into 6 pieces. Take one piece and gently stretch it out into a circle-ish shape – no need for perfection here.

Take 1/6 of the filling and place it in the center of the dough. Wrap the dough around the filling and pinch it together until you have a nice little ball.

Take one piece of twine out of the oil and gently wrap it around the dough, like you would with a present. Go back and forth until you have 8 quadrants. The trick here is not to tie the twine too tight. Remember that the dough will expand in the oven, so you don’t need to make more than a slight indentation in the dough. (You can see exactly how I do this in the step-by-step video below).

Cut off the excess twine and place the finished pumpkin on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have 6 little pumpkins.

Step Four: Brush & Bake

As if these aren’t already cute enough, we’re going to take them to the next level and make them orange. And no need for artificial dyes. Instead we’re using a spice mix!

Melt some vegan butter in a small bowl and add smoked paprika, turmeric and garlic powder – the garlic powder is less for color and more for flavor!

Whisk together and brush each pumpkin with the mixture. No need to brush the bottoms – those will brown in the oven anyways.

Pop the pumpkins in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

Step Five: Cut & Serve

Take the pumpkins out of the oven (they should look adorable at this point) and let them cool for 5-ish minutes. Once they are cool enough to handle, cut the twine and gently unwind it from the dough. Because we soaked the twine in oil and didn’t press it too tight, the twine should come off pretty easily.

Once all of the twine is gone, it is time to serve. I went ahead and topped these with tiny little basil leaves to create the “stem”. An unnecessary step, but we’re already being super cutesy with this recipe, so why not go all the way?

Serve them while they are still warm – although I won’t lie, I ate some of these cold and they were still delicious.

These pumpkins are cute (have I said that enough), delicious and just super fun to make. I highly recommend!