Bake a batch of easy Pizza Muffins for the flavor kids love in an easy-to-eat (and reheat!) format. These healthy muffins have a dose of shredded carrots for extra nutrition and are an easy lunch option to pack or serve at home.
Pizza Muffins
My kids love pizza, like most kids, and we have it often—but I also try to use the flavors in other foods. These Pizza Muffins have many of the same ingredients as pizza and subtle pizza flavors, but are also easier to pack in a lunch and work really well to make ahead and freeze for future days for easy toddler meals.
They are a fun savory muffin to have in the mix, and there are so many options for how you can customize them for your own kids.
Clearly these do not taste exactly the same as “real” pizza, which my kids do like to point out, but they have similar yummy flavors—and are much less messy to eat.
Ingredients You Need
You’ll need these ingredients to make the muffin recipe for kids.
- Milk: I use whole milk in my baking, but any milk will work here.
- Grated carrot: This blends into the batter nicely and adds a dose of veggies. I prefer to shred the carrots myself on a box grater so they are finer, but you can also buy shredded carrots from the store.
- Shredded mozzarella cheese: For classic pizza flavor.
- Grated Parmesan cheese
- Melted and slightly cooled butter, or neutral oil
- Diced pepperoni: This is optional, but adds nice flavor.
- Eggs: This helps the batter bind together and be light and fluffy. (See the Notes at the end of the recipe for the egg-free option.)
- All-purpose flour and whole wheat flour: The mix gives a pleasantly fluffy texture with some of the fiber and whole grains from the whole wheat flour.
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Pizza seasoning: This is found in the spice aisle of most supermarkets. You can use Italian seasoning if you can’t find it, but the flavor of pizza seasoning is excellent in the muffins.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here’s a look at the process involved in making this recipe. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full information.
- Stir together the wet ingredients in a large bowl.
- Fold in the dry ingredients, reserving some of the pepperoni.
- Portion out into a greased muffin tin and top with pepperoni.
- Bake and serve or store.
TIP: You can make these as mini muffins. You’ll want to adjust the timing to 12-14 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Frequently Asked Questions
These easy pizza muffins are made with pantry staples like flour and baking powder, plus carrots, eggs, milk, cheese, and more. You can play with the optional ingredients to make them exactly how your kids like.
We prefer them warm and like to heat them briefly at home or pack them in a thermos if packing for school.
Sure, just omit the pepperoni.
Can I freeze these muffins?
Sure! Just be sure to let them cool completely, then store in a zip top plastic storage bag for up to 3 months. This is a great recipe for lunch to keep on hand since you can easily warm them up and tuck them into a thermos to go or serve for lunch at home.
How to Store
To store, let cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Heat briefly for 15-30 seconds in the microwave to serve.
Best Tips for Success
- You can make these as mini muffins. You’ll want to adjust the timing to 12-14 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Egg-free: Omit eggs. Increase milk to 1 ¾ cups. Increase baking soda to 1 teaspoon. Proceed with the recipe as directed. (This works really well!)
- You can warm briefly and pack in a thermos for lunch.
- Substitute the carrots for broccoli if desired. Just use the tops of the broccoli, avoiding the stems, and finely cut up or chop.
- Use all of one type of flour if that’s what you have.
- Omit the pepperoni to make them vegetarian.
- Serve with warm marinara sauce if desired for dipping.
Related Recipes
I’d love to hear your feedback on this recipe if you try it with your kids, so please comment and rate the recipe below.
Pizza Muffins (with Veggies!)
Ingredients
- 1½ cups milk
- 1 cup grated carrot
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup melted and slightly cooled butter or neutral oil
- ¼ cup diced pepperoni, plus 2 tablespoons diced pepperoni (optional)
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2½ teaspoons pizza seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Marinara or pizza sauce (warmed for dipping, optional but recommended)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and grease a standard muffin tin well with nonstick spray.
- Add the milk, carrot, cheeses, butter, pepperoni (reserving the 2 tablespoons), and egg to a medium bowl. Stir together.
- Stir in the flours, baking powder, baking soda, pizza seasoning, and salt.
- Divide batter among the prepared muffin tin, using a heaping ¼ cup in each. Top each with pepperoni.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. (There may be some melted cheese on it, though!)
- Let cool in the pan for 2-5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. You may need to use a paring knife around the edges of the muffins to help remove them from the pan.
- Serve slightly warm.
Equipment
Video
Notes
- To store, let cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Heat for 15-30 seconds in the microwave to serve.
- To freeze, let cool completely. Transfer to a zip-top plastic storage bag, remove as much air as possible, and freeze for up to 3 months. Warm one at a time on a heat-safe plate in the microwave for about 30-60 seconds or until warmed through
- Egg-free: Omit eggs. Increase milk to 1 ¾ cups. Increase whole wheat flour to 1 cup. Increase baking soda to 1 teaspoon. Proceed with the recipe as directed. (This works really well!)
- Look for pizza seasoning in the spice aisle. McCormick and Tones make it, and there are specialty brands, too, like this one that is very good. It is widely available.
- You can make these as mini muffins. You’ll want to adjust the timing to 12-14 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
- You can warm briefly and pack in a thermos for lunch.
- Substitute the carrots for broccoli if desired. Just use the tops of the broccoli, avoiding the stems, and finely cut up or chop.
- Use all of one type of flour if that’s what you have.
- Omit the pepperoni to make them vegetarian.
- These have the most pizza flavor if served with warm marinara or pizza sauce for dipping.
Nutrition
This recipe was first published July 2020.
I veganized this recipe and it turned out really well. These will be great for kids lunches.
These are absolutely perfect. My daughter loves them and I’m going to make them again for her school lunches.
I’m so glad to hear it!
Planning on making these for my 1 year old. How do you suggest putting spinach in these in place of pepperoni?
I would roughly dice up about 1/4 cup and stir it into the batter.
These are really good. I think I added too many chili flake so they were a bit spicy which my son did not like, but I sure did! They froze very well too. They remind me of a pizza biscuit but in the shape of a muffin. Will make again even if it’s just for myself.
Could I put a bit ground turkey instead of pepperoni?
Sure, I think I would precook it though.
What is the best way to reheat after frozen?
You can do them in the microwave directly from frozen for about 30 seconds or let them thaw in the fridge or room temp and heat for about 15 seconds or so
I made these today for my 17 month old. She loved them! Thank you for another option that’s not too messy. I can send these for lunch at daycare.
These are so easy to make! They are still light despite all the savory ingredients. Perfect for my 2yo.
Do you think it would work with GF flour?
They work really well with a gluten-free cup for cup style of flour
These are so good! We subbed oat milk for the milk because it’s what I had on hand. I also used all all purpose flour, and oregano and basil for the pizza seasoning. I think next time I will add a little garlic powder. My cheese hater didn’t notice the cheese, and I didn’t point it out. Great recipe for travel. I’m packing some with veggies and fruit for a heavy car snack to tide over for a late dinner.
Hi there! These are SO good, but my preschooler doesn’t like the carrot / broccoli texture. Is it possible to omit? Also wondering if you had any ideas to transform these into a breadstick?
Hi- I think you could likely just omit the veggies. I haven’t made these in breadstick form so I’m not quite sure how the time would change though the baking time would be less. Let me know if you try that!
Thanks for explaining in simple words how to make these Simple Pizza muffins that kids will love so much.
These are so good! My toddler is hit or miss on eating them but my husband and I love them so much we made them for a brunch we hosted! Great recipe for adults too.
Winner! We used a pizza spice recipe we made due to an allergy to capsaicin in red pepper flakes. Due to another issue, gluten intolerance, we used Cup4Cup gluten free flour. We made no other changes, and they are delicious.
The cheese- is that for flavor or does it help bind it together? I also need to make it dairy free so was thinking to just skip the cheese and use nutritional yeast, but didn’t know if I needed to figure out a binder.
It’s a little bit of both but I don’t think there will be an issue with them holding together if you omit it. You could use a df shredded cheese too if you wanted to.