Pizza Muffins
Looking for a quick and easy snack or meal for your kid that they are guaranteed to love? Then look no further than these quick, tasty Pizza Muffins! These muffins offer a fun approach to introducing kids to different kinds of veggies and toppings, in a format they know and love. Perfect for toddlers and big kids!
Medically reviewed and co-written by Jamie Johnson, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), and Lauren Braaten, Pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT).
Pizza Muffins
Does your kid love pizza? And muffins?
Then these pizza muffins are going to be a winner in your house!
Delicious moist muffins filled with a veggie and topped with cheese and any topping your little one prefers.
With these pizza muffins, you can take pizza anywhere – little muffin pizzas make for an easy, mess-free way to pack lunches on the go or for school. They’re customizable and come together quickly for busy weeknights.
If you are looking for more easy and healthy muffins for your little one, then be sure to check out our easy and healthy Banana Muffins, Blueberry Avocado Mini Muffins, Spinach Muffins, or these delicious Veggie Muffins. You can also find more recipes and information in my best-selling cookbook Little Foodies: Recipes for Babies and Toddlers with Taste.
Reasons to Love Pizza Muffins
- toddler, kid and adult-friendly
- easy to make
- can customize with different add-ins
- great for school or packed lunches
- healthy
- freezer-friendly
- great for lunches on the go
- can be made gluten and dairy-free
- naturally nut-free
Ingredients
Make sure to read the recipe card below for full ingredients and instructions!
- Flour: I like to use white whole wheat flour for this recipe, but you can use whole wheat flour, a mixture of 50/50 white and whole wheat flour, an all-purpose, or gluten-free one-for-one flour.
- Butter/Oil: to make the muffins nice and moist. You can use melted butter or a mild oil such as coconut, avocado, vegetable, or olive oil.
- Milk: you can use any milk you like in this recipe. Dairy milk works well, but make them dairy-free by using almond, oat, or cashew milk.
- Cheese: use mozzarella, Italian, or pizza blend shredded cheese.
- Shredded Carrots: completely optional to add, but they aren’t noticeable and perfect for adding a little texture and extra nutrients.
- Egg
- Italian Seasoning
- Garlic Powder
- Baking soda and powder
- Toppings: see the list below
- Pizza sauce: a thicker store-bought or homemade pizza sauce or pesto sauce will work.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375° F. Spray or line a muffin tin.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and carrots.
- Add in the milk, eggs, half of the cheese, and oil and whisk until just combined. DO NOT overmix.
- Scoop the batter into the muffin tin, roughly 3/4 the way full.
- Top with a tablespoon of pizza sauce.
- Add cheese to the top of each muffin.
- Add any toppings
- Place the muffin tin into the oven, and bake for 18-20 minutes or until just golden brown.
- Let cool for 5-10 minutes, and serve.
Pizza Muffin Health Benefits
They may not sound like it, but the name is deceiving! These pizza muffins actually do have some health benefits!
- They are full of carbohydrates needed for energy.
- Carrots provide fiber for healthy digestion and vitamin A for eye health.
- These muffins have protein and calcium thanks to the milk and cheese.
Tools Needed
10 Great Toppings
Make these pizza muffins your own by adding a few toppings. You don’t need too many toppings on each muffin to give it great flavor, which can also be helpful for kids who are picky about toppings.
- mini pepperoni
- sliced olives
- diced red, yellow, orange or green peppers
- small chunks of ham
- cooked bacon
- sliced spinach
- chopped broccoli
- diced mushrooms
- cooked sausage crumbles
- corn
- cooked shredded chicken
- diced artichoke hearts
- sliced basil
- feta
- dare I say, pineapple chunks
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. All the ingredients are vegetarian, just skip the meat-based toppings.
Yes! Pizza muffins freeze very well up to 3 months.
Definitely! Just adjust the baking time to 8-10 minutes for mini muffins.
How to Store and Freeze Pizza Muffins
Once the muffins have cooled completely, store them in an airtight container. They will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.
To freeze the muffins, place the muffins into a freezer zip-lock baggie or stasher bag and place in the freezer. They will keep for up to 3 months frozen.
Thaw frozen pizza muffins overnight in the fridge or by gently warming them in the microwave.
Cooking with Kids
Toddlers
- Toddlers can help measure and put the ingredients into the bowl.
- They can help mix the ingredients together.
- Toddlers can help scoop the dough into the muffin pan.
Kids
- Preheat the oven.
- They can pick out and measure all of the ingredients.
- Kids can help mix the ingredients together.
- They can help to fill the muffin cups with the batter.
- Once filled, kids can carefully put the muffin tin into the oven (with adult supervision) and remove once baked.
Tips for Making the Best Pizza Muffins
- Do No Overmix: I can’t stress this point enough – do not over mix the muffin batter, if you do they won’t rise in the oven and will become dense and hard. The dry ingredients should be just combined with the wet ingredients.
- Preheat Oven: Ensure the oven is fully preheated so the muffins cook through evenly.
- Let Cool: let the muffins cool for about 10 minutes before enjoying them and let them cool completely before storing.
- No Sticking: make sure you generously grease the muffin molds or use muffin liners so that the muffins don’t stick to the pan.
- Veggie Options: you can omit the carrots, or add in chopped broccoli or grated zucchini instead if you prefer.
- Serve: we love to serve these muffins with a side of warm pizza sauce or ranch.
Get the recipe: 20-Minute Pizza Muffins (hidden veggie!)
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 cup finely shredded carrots (optional)
- 1 cup milk
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 1 cup Mozzarella, Italian or Pizza Blend Shredded Cheese, divided
- 1/4 cup pizza sauce
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375° F. Line or spray a muffin tin.
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and shredded carrots (if using).
- Add in the milk, eggs, butter, and 3/4 cup shredded cheese and mix until just incorporated.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin tin, filling 3/4 way to the top.
- Spoon 1/2-1 tbsp of pizza sauce on top of the muffins.
- Sprinkle on the remaining cheese and parmesan.
- Add any toppings on top of the cheese.
- Place the muffin pan into the oven for 18-20 minutes or until just golden.
- Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transitioning the muffins onto a cooling rack. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
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4 Comments on “Pizza Muffins”
How much salt do you suggest. I didn’t see it on the ingredients list. Thank you.
I just made these and they have potential. I definitely didn’t add enough salt so the muffin was bland but the topping was good and the muffin had good texture and the carrot was completely hidden.
Hi! I’ve been using your recipes for exactly 1 year now, ever since my girl turned 6mo. Thanks to your flavor packed recipes, she LOVES all kinds of seasonings and spices (people laughed when I said I put curry powder or ginger in her purees, but they don’t laugh anymore now that my toddler is less picky than theirs haha). I’ve been meaning to leave feedback since forever, and I will eventually look up every recipe I’ve used and give proper 5 star ratings to all of them, but I wanted to quickly/finally just leave SOME sort of massive thank you for you. You rock!
(Also the amount if salt really is missing from this recipe but I’m going to add 1tsp and hope for the best.)
Awww! Thank you for all of your kind words! I am so happy to hear that you have been using our recipes and that your little one has loved the recipes. ❤️
Pizza muffins – sorry about that, I deleted the salt from the top ingredient list. Through all of my testing (my kids eat these all the time) that these muffins didn’t need added salt because of the cheese. If you want you can add in 1/2 tsp to the batter, but I don’t think it needs it. Hope it helps.