Satisfy your craving for pizza anytime with these easy-to-make Crazy Puffs stuffed with pepperoni and two types of cheese. One puff makes the perfect snack, or try pairing a couple of them with sides for a complete meal.
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What makes Little Caesars Crazy Puffs so good?
What the heck are Crazy Puffs from Little Caesars? Imagine taking a Chicago-style pizza and shrinking it down to the size of a muffin, and you have the Crazy Puffs from Little Caesars. These delicious puffs are filled to the brim with gooey mozzarella and Muenster cheeses, as well as savory pepperoni slices. What you end up with is a delectable bite that is both kid-friendly and fantastic for any casual gathering.
Why you’ll love this recipe
The genius of Crazy Puffs lies in their perfect portion size and concentrated pizza flavors. Using a muffin pan creates individual servings with crispy edges and soft, chewy centers. The combination of two cheeses provides a complex flavor, while the pepperoni adds the classic pizza taste everyone loves. The pizza dough forms a perfect pocket that holds all the fillings without becoming soggy.
Crazy Puffs ingredients
For the Crazy Puffs from Little Caesars, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter – Used for greasing muffin cups and shot glasses to prevent sticking
- Pizza dough – Forms the base and walls of each puff, can be homemade or store-bought
- Low-moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded – Prevents sogginess while providing classic pizza cheese flavor
- Muenster cheese, shredded – Adds creamy richness and depth to the cheese blend
- Pepperoni slices – Provides the signature pizza meat flavor and texture
- Pizza sauce – Adds tomato base and moisture to each puff
- Italian seasoning – Enhances the overall pizza flavor with classic herbs
Ingredient notes
You can use homemade pizza dough or buy ready-made dough at the store. No pizza dough on hand, but still want to try this recipe? Try making it with frozen or canned biscuit dough instead.
Using low-moisture mozzarella is important to prevent the puffs from getting too soggy.
Finding pre-shredded muenster cheese might be challenging, but you can buy a block of it and shred it yourself.
How to make these pizza bites
To divide the pizza dough for the Little Caesars Crazy Puffs:
- Butter 12 muffin baking cups. This muffin pan from Amazon works well. You could use cooking spray instead of butter.
- Split the pizza dough into 12 equal portions and roll each portion into a ball.
- Drop one ball of dough into each of the prepared muffin cups. Cover and allow the dough to rise.
To prepare the puffs after the dough rises:
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Combine both types of cheese in a mixing bowl and set aside.
- Butter the outside of a shot glass and press it firmly into the middle of the dough balls to deflate them and create wells for the additional ingredients. You will need to re-butter the outside of the glass occasionally to prevent it from sticking.
- Press the sides of the dough well against the walls of the prepared muffin tins.
- Spoon some pizza sauce (maybe half a tablespoon; you don’t need a lot) into each dough well.
- Add two or three pieces of pepperoni into the dough cup and top with the cheese blend.Â
- Sprinkle on the Italian seasoning.
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 15 minutes or until the top of the pizza puffs are lightly browned.
Pizza Puff variations
There are endless ways to change these puffs. Here are a few options:
- Make them vegetarian. Swap out the pepperoni for your favorite vegetable pizza toppings such as onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms. Precooking the veggies ahead of time will get rid of excess moisture and keep the puffs from getting soggy.
- Go with sausage. If pepperoni is not your thing, use crumbled sausage instead. Sweet or hot Italian sausage is great here, or you can use your favorite.
- It’s okay to be a little cheesy. Switch up the cheese you use, or add more. Shredded Smoked Gouda is particularly good because it brings a smoky, bacon-like flavor to the puffs while keeping them vegetarian.
What to serve with Little Caesars Crazy Puffs
These snack-sized pizza puffs go with everything you would serve alongside a typical pizza. Here are a few suggestions:
- A salad. Light, crispy, and healthy, a side salad goes great with pizza puffs. Keep it simple with mixed greens and a vinaigrette, or get a little more fancy with a classic Caesar Salad.
- Wings. Offer your guests a variety of chicken wings to have with the puffs. Make your favorite or try something new.
- Mozzarella Sticks. Can’t get enough cheese? Why not fry up some mozzarella sticks? Don’t forget to add a bowl of tomato sauce for dipping.
How to store them
Let any Crazy Puffs come down to room temperature before transferring to an airtight container. Keep them in the refrigerator for up to three days. For longer storage, put room-temperature puffs on a baking tray and freeze. Transfer the frozen puffs to an airtight container and freeze for up to a month.
What’s the best way to reheat Little Caesars Crazy Puffs?
Five minutes in a preheated air fryer at 375°F is perfect for refrigerated puffs. If you don’t have an air fryer, try 400°F for 7 to 10 minutes.
If you are reheating frozen puffs, wrap them in a paper towel and defrost them for about 30 seconds before reheating them in an air fryer or oven.
More Little Caesars copycat recipes
Favorite pizza and pizza-inspired recipes
- CPK BBQ Chicken Pizza
- Crescent Roll Veggie Pizza
- Fried Pizza Dough
- Margherita Pizza
- Pizza Bowl
- Pizza Burgers
- Pizza Hut Cavatini
- Pizza Monkey Bread
- Pizza Rolls
- Red Lobster Pizza
- Taco Bell Pizza
Check out more of my easy Italian recipes and the best fast food copycat recipes right here on CopyKat!
Little Caesars Crazy Puffs Easy Copycat Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 13.6-ounce can pizza dough or 1 pound
- 1/2 cup shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded Muenster cheese
- 4 ounces pizza sauce
- 4 ounces sliced pepperoni
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and butter the cups of a muffin pan.
- Divide the pizza dough into 12 portions. Roll each portion into a ball and place one ball in each muffin cup. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise a bit.
- In a small bowl, combine the shredded mozzarella and Muenster cheeses and mix well.
- Butter a shot glass. Press the buttered shot glass into the center of each risen dough ball. The dough will spread up the sides of the cup, forming a cavity.
- Add 2 small spoonfuls of pizza sauce to the center of each piece of dough followed by a few slices of pepperoni. Top with cheese blend and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning.
- Bake for about 15 minutes, until the tops are golden brown.
These are delicious and I’m making the second batch right now. I used Garlic/Herb pre-made pizza dough for the first round and just omitted the herbs called for in the recipe. On this second batch I used pre-made plain pizza dough, added Italian herbs and did three slices of pepperoni in each of these. Thank you for this recipe!
These turned out great, very easy to make and delicious. Will definitely make again.