It’s National Junk Food Day 2020, and what’s one of the most popular junk foods out there? That’s right, it’s pizza. However, this is not a normal pizza recipe, sorry for the folks who were looking for one — this ain’t it. This week, I wanted to change it up a bit by baking buns stuffed with pizza! These pizza buns taste just as good as a regular pizza. They have all the same characteristics of a pizza just stuffed into a bun. It’s a super-tasty savory bun, perfect for parties, picnics, or snacking on the go!
I originally wanted to make something different, but I found that the method I was trying was too difficult to explain on a blog. But I still wanted to make something that was still pizza-like and junk "foody". Thus this recipe was born. Trust me, this is way easier to make than the original idea I had.
In these, I stuffed it with vegan cheese, vegan pepperoni, vegan sausage, smothered in melty butter and spices, and baked to golden perfection! These make enough for a party, so I would suggest grabbing a friend, family, or even have your kids involved in shaping these! So get creative! Have fun with it!
Top Tips:
- Use tomato paste instead of pizza sauce. Tomato paste is basically tomato sauce that has been cooked for several hours and reduced to a thick, red concentrate. This is perfect for these buns because the water has been cooked out and it will prevent the buns from exploding.
- Cook the vegan pepperoni and sausage beforehand. Since these are not real meat (obviously), they will not cook properly in the buns. I used Beyond Sausage for this recipe, what I like to do is remove the skin and fry up the sausage filling. And to my surprise, it actually tastes pretty good! I actually prefer cooking it this way than in the sausage form. Which makes for a really good pizza topping!
- If you don’t want to make the bread dough, you can certainly use premade dough. Just ensure that they are vegan and that they can fit the amount of filling that will be made.
If you enjoyed this recipe as much as I did, let me know what you think of it in the comment section! And don’t forget to rate it. You can also share and tag me in your recreations on Instagram @flouredframe or on Pinterest @flouredframe. Happy cooking!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Pizza Buns
These pizza buns taste just as good as a regular pizza. They have all the same characteristics of a pizza just stuffed into a bun. It’s a super-tasty savory bun, perfect for parties, picnics, or snacking on the go!
Equipment
- Liquid measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Damp cloth or plastic wrap
- Large skillet
- Mixing bowls
- Rubber spatula
- Bench scraper or knife
- 2 Rimmed baking sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Wire cooling rack
Pro TipIf a recipe calls for it, use a food scale to weigh ingredients in grams for the best results! Use the options below to toggle between cups or grams.
Ingredients
Bread:
- 250 grams Non-dairy milk (warmed at 100°F, I used soy)
- 2 teaspoon Active dry yeast
- 500 grams Bread flour (see notes)
- 100 grams Granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon Garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon Onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon Dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon Black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon Paprika
- 113 grams Vegan butter (cubed and softened at room temp)
- Marinara sauce for dipping
Filling:
- 85 grams Tomato paste
- 85 grams Vegan pepperoni (I used Yves)
- 2 Beyond Sausages (I used Hot Italian, defrosted)
- 1 package Miyoko’s Vegan Mozz
- ½ teaspoon Dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon Chili flakes (add more if you want the heat)
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
Toppings:
- 2 tablespoons Bread crumbs
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon Onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon Paprika
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons Melted butter
Instructions
Bread Dough:
- Combine the warm soy milk and active dry yeast and mix until combined, set it aside for 10 minutes to activate.
- Add in the bread flour, sugar, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, black pepper, and paprika, in the bowl of the stand mixer and mix to combine.
- Add the yeast mixture, and softened butter to the dry ingredients, and with a dough hook, start mixing the ingredients on the lowest speed, about 3-5 minutes. Until it forms a shaggy dough, then increase the speed to medium and continue to knead the dough for 10 minutes. It should be smooth and elastic, and when you poke it, it bounces back.
- When the dough is ready, transfer it to a work surface, and shape it into a round taut ball. Place the shaped dough into a large lightly oiled bowl (or just use the same stand mixer bowl). Cover with a damp cloth or plastic and allow it to rise in a warm spot for 1-2 hours, or until doubled in size.
Filling:
- While you wait for the dough to rise, make the filling. Cut the pepperoni into quarters and remove the casing from the beyond sausages. Heat up a little bit of oil on a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the Beyond sausage filling, and break it apart in the pan. Cook until crispy and golden. Remove from the pan and set aside. Next, cook the pepperoni until golden around the edges. Allow both to cool.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the Miyoko’s mozzarella, tomato paste, oregano, chili flakes, salt, cooked sausage and pepperoni. Set aside until ready to use.
Assembly & Baking:
- Prepare 2 baking pans by lining it with parchment paper and set aside.
- When your dough is done rising, punch down the dough, and divide it into 18 equal-sized pieces. Working with one dough ball at a time, while covering the rest with a damp cloth, flatten the dough with a rolling pin, about 3 inches in diameter. Flip it over, so that the smooth side is down and the rough side is up. With your fingers flatten and gently stretch the edges of the dough about ½ inch more so that you have thinner edges and a thicker center.
- Scoop out about a tablespoon of the filling and place it in the center of the dough, make sure to leave about a ½ inch border of dough bare. Pull up edges of dough to cover the filling and pinch seams together. Flip it over so that the seam side is down, and use your hands to move it around in a circle to encourage the dough to tuck into itself. This will help make sure the seam is sealed. Repeat for the rest.
- Place the buns on the prepared baking pans, leaving about 2 inches in between, and cover with a damp cloth. Place in a warm spot and let it rise for another 30 minutes.
- While you wait, preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, combine the bread crumbs, salt, onion powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Then, in a small microwaveable bowl, heat up and melt the butter. Set both aside.
- When the dough is ready, brush the tops of each bun with butter. Then sprinkle a little bit of bread crumb mixture. Place one baking pan in the oven at a time and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove the buns from the oven, allow to cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling down. Serve with some marinara sauce and enjoy!
Notes
- Measure your flour correctly. I test my recipes, 100% in grams. A common reason baked goods fail is incorrectly measured flour. I always recommend using a scale for accuracy when baking. This greatly improves your chance for success and lessens room for error.
- If you’re measuring by cups, avoid scooping the measuring cup directly into the flour. This tends to pack the flour into the cup, resulting in too much flour and a very dense or gummy finished product. Instead, aerate your flour (fluff it with a fork or spoon) and then spoon it into your measuring cups, leveling it with your finger or the back of a butter knife. Keep in mind though, that this method is not guaranteed to be accurate.
Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below & tag @flouredframe on social!
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