These Mini Football Pizzas are an adorable game day snack that kids will not only love making but also enjoy eating! They're made with THREE simple ingredients and are a nutritious game day snack all kids will love!
Throwing a pizza party? Check out these appetizers that pair well with pizza!
I am happy to share that I partnered with Dairy Council of Florida to bring you this delicious game day snack!
This recipe is such a fun appetizer or snack to make for your next game day tailgate!
I had my sons help me prepare them which they loved. They had so much fun cutting out shapes with the dough and smothering them with pizza sauce!
All I had to do was help them cut the cheese into strips for the laces. If your kids are a bit older, they could 100% assemble them by themselves with maybe some help popping them in the oven!
Just make sure you have plenty of string cheese available because the kids will be snacking on it the entire time while making these cute pizzas!
- Crescent Dough: Grab your favorite store-bought crescent dough! Make sure you grab the crescent SHEETS not the crescents themselves. You can find them in the refrigerated section of your grocery store.
- String Cheese: The mozzarella cheese sticks are super easy to cut into strips to replicate football laces. Plus, kids love snacking on string cheese and it's full of nutrients!
- Pizza Sauce: They sell many varieties of pizza sauce or marinara sauce in the store. You can always make your own homemade sauce if you want!
- Italian Seasoning (optional): The ingredients are oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary and sometimes marjoram.
- Pepperoni (optional): Only one of my boys loves pepperoni but having it as an optional add on is a great idea. You can even cut the pepperoni into strips too!
📝Instructions
To make these mini football pizzas, there are a couple things to keep in mind.
- Thaw your crescent dough first if it's frozen. Unroll the sheet onto a floured surface preferably a cutting board.
- Use your football cutter to cut out 9-12 mini footballs.
- Top each football with a spoonful of pizza sauce and spread to the edges leaving a bit of an edge.
- Bake in the oven at 375 degrees F for 7-8 minutes.
- While waiting, cut your cheese into strips long and short.
- Remove pizzas and add cheese "laces" to each football.
- Pop back in the oven for 1-2 minutes or until the cheese melts. Serve hot!
👨🍳Expert Tips
- Keep your crescent dough as COLD as possible! Working with cold dough will make it much easier to cut and transfer.
- Make sure you bake your dough first. If you skip this step, your cheese will burn and crust will be undercooked.
- Cut your laces long enough so they look like laces when melted.
- Make the vertical laces shorter on the ends to look more realistic.
- Cut your pepperoni into mini circles using a piping tip and add them to the sauce if you prefer.
- Add cheese underneath the pizza sauce if your kids love more cheese.
🏈Your Football Cookie Cutter
You can use any football cookie cutter you have but make sure it is at least 4" wide. Too small and the pizzas will be too tedious to assemble.
This is the football cutter I found to be the perfect size for mini pizzas. It's 4.5" and very inexpensive!
I like the ridges the cutter has on TOP so the outline of the dough isn't just oval shaped. It adds more dimension.
Feel free to use any cookie cutter you want! You can use the cheese to form any shape inside or simply added shredded mozzarella cheese to your pizza.
FAQ's
Yes but you will need to make sure your dough is rolled very thin. Also make sure you prick the dough before baking to prevent large bubbles from forming.
Definitely! A football helmet or jersey would be perfect!
Mozzarella cheese is the best because it tastes good and melts easy however you can use cheddar, fontina or swiss if you prefer.
Other Kid-Friendly Tailgating Appetizers
Mini Spinach Ricotta Calzone Bites
Cheesy Garlic Italian "Dunkers" (Using Pizza Dough)
How To Make Pizza Cones (with Pepperoni and Ricotta)
Do you love BINGO? Get my FREE Super Bowl 2022 bingo cards here to play during the game!
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Mini Football Pizzas (with Crescent Dough)
Ingredients
- 1 sheet crescent dough
- 6 oz. pizza sauce
- 2-3 sticks mozzarella string cheese
- Italian seasoning (*optional)
- pepperoni (*optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Lightly flour cutting board and unroll cold crescent dough. Cut out 9-12 mini footballs using football cookie cutter.
- Place footballs on baking sheet and spread a spoonful of sauce over each football. Spread to edges leaving a slight border. Bake for 7 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cut mozzarella cheese into 9-12 (2-3") strips and 63-108 mini ½" strips. (Get your kids to help with this!)The mini strips are for the vertical laces. Each football should get 7-9 laces.
- When pizzas are slightly cooled, add 7-9 vertical strips evenly spaced apart onto each football. Top with one long horizontal strip.
- Place back in the oven for 1-2 minutes. Serve hot!
Recipe Notes
- Keep your crescent dough as COLD as possible! Working with cold dough will make it much easier to cut and transfer.
- Make sure you bake your dough first. If you skip this step, your cheese will burn and crust will be undercooked.
- Cut your laces long enough so they look like laces when melted.
- Make the vertical laces shorter on the ends to look more realistic.
- Cut your pepperoni into mini circles using a piping tip and add them to the sauce if you prefer.
- Add cheese underneath the pizza sauce if your kids love more cheese.
Tried the recipe? I'd love to hear your thoughts below!