Pepperoni Rolls
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Pepperoni rolls— the West Virginia state delicacy. Soft, juicy, spicy, these rolls are the perfect blend of cheese, meat, and bread that’ll make you say, “Wild and Wonderful!”. Rather than buying pre-made biscuits or bread rolls, we will be making our own dough, using Bread Flour and Milk to make sure that our rolls have shape and sweetness to really enhance the overall flavor of the spice and fat.
These little morsels are best served with a pizza sauce. Check out my Pizza Sauce recipe for inspiration!
Watch the recipe video on how to make Pepperoni rolls (and learn about their history) here!
Active time: 30 minutes | Inactive time: 1 hour and 45 mins
Total time: 2 hrs and 15 minutes
Servings: makes 20 rolls
Bread Roll Ingredients
1 cup milk, warmed
½ tsp white sugar (4 g)
¼ oz active dry yeast (1 packet)
5 cups bread flour (or all-purpose flour) (760 g)
½ cup white sugar (100g)
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
½ cup butter, melted
Pepperoni Roll Filling Ingredients
1 8 oz package pepperoni
6 oz of mozzarella cheese, shredded
Egg Wash Ingredients
1 egg
Italian seasoning, for topping
Red pepper flakes, for topping
Preparing the bread dough
Warm the milk. You can use a microwave for a minute, in 30 second increments (be sure to stir in between)
Dissolve in the ½ tsp of sugar, and then mix in the yeast. Let stand for 5 minutes. The yeast should become rather frothy.
Combine the flour, ½ cup of sugar, salt, yeast mixture, eggs, and melted butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a dough hook, mix on low (2-3 out of 10) for about 8 minutes, until the dough is well-formed and there is no extra flour at the bottom of the bowl.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead a few times, forming it into a rough bowl. Oil a large bowl with olive oil and place the dough in it. Give it a turn in the bowl to coat the dough with oil, then cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 1 ½ hours, or until doubled in size.
Filling, Rolling, and Baking the rolls
While waiting, line a cookie sheet with foil and oil the surface with olive oil. When there are about 15 minutes left of rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Once the dough has risen, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 20 even pieces.
With your fingers, press the dough into a rough square about 4 inches long per side. Lay 3 pepperoni along one edge of the dough square. Place a pinch of mozzarella cheese on top of the pepperoni, then overlap another layer of 3 pepperoni next to the first row (on top of the cheese). Roll the dough around the pepperoni, making sure that they stay within the dough. Pinch the dough together to seal the roll, then pinch the edges shut as well. Place seam-side down on the greased baking sheet.
Repeat for the rest of the dough pieces. You may need to prepare a second baking sheet.
Beat the egg and mix in the seasonings. Brush the tops of the rolls with the egg wash.
Bake the rolls in the oven for 17 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly brown and the top is golden. Let cool and enjoy!
Ingredients/Items used in this recipe
Bob’s Red Mill Bread Flour: https://amzn.to/2LHKNpp
OXO multi-purpose scraper & chopper: https://amzn.to/3sHXdy7
KitchenAid Stand Mixer (3.5 quart): https://amzn.to/3p6CH81
Nordic Ware Aluminum Baker’s half sheet pans: https://amzn.to/3pgF8Vu
