Move over candy—these little ghouls are about to steal the Halloween spotlight! Kids and grown-ups alike will go wild for these crispy, golden puff pastry pockets stuffed with gooey cheese, pepperoni, and sauce. They’re basically mini pizzas in costume, and the best part? You get to use your Halloween cookie cutters to make them look like ghosts, pumpkins, bats, or even little Frankensteins.
Ingredients (makes 6–10): • 1 package puff pastry • 1 package mini pepperoni or turkey pepperoni • 1 (4–6 oz.) jar pizza sauce • 1 tsp Italian seasoning (optional) • ⅓ tsp Beau Monde seasoning (optional) • 1 package shredded mozzarella • Olive oil spray
Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a baking tray. 2. Roll out both sections of pastry dough. Use your favorite Halloween cookie cutters (the bigger the better). 3. Separate into two piles by shape—each half should have 2–4 layers of dough. 4. In a bowl, stir together sauce, pepperoni, seasonings, and mozzarella. 5. Spoon filling onto one half of each cutout, then top with a matching cutout. 6. Seal edges with a fork, spray with olive oil, and bake 30 minutes until puffed and golden.
🎃 Halloween Fact: Trick-or-treating, as we know it, really took off in the U.S. in the 1950s thanks to the rise of suburbia and—you guessed it—candy companies. Before then, kids often got fruit, nuts, or even small toys instead of sweets!
👻 Spooky Serving Idea: Arrange your pastry ghouls on a platter with a small bowl of “blood” (pizza sauce or marinara) in the center for dipping. Add edible candy eyes to the tops of your ghosts and bats before baking so they stare back at your guests from the plate.
