Valentine’s Pizza Pockets
Valentine’s Pizza Pockets make the perfect kid-friendly dinner for Valentine’s Day! Quick to prepare in either the oven or air fryer, these heart-shaped mini pizzas will surely warm your little ones’ hearts!
Valentine’s pizza pockets are made with premade flaky or puff pastry dough! They’re so easy to assemble and will make the kids in heaven on this special day! Pop them in the air fryer or oven, and voila! It is mandatory to make kids a dinner they won’t fuzz over for Valentine’s Day! You can adjust the pizza to everyone’s taste—some with pepperoni, others with extra mushrooms—you decide! Don’t we all love a flaky heart-shaped pizza with stingy cheese?
Do I need the Special Press?
No, although useful for families! You can also use a simple cookie cutter or make a pattern with paper and cut it with a knife. The important thing here is to close the sides of the pockets correctly with the help of a fork or fingers. If you want to buy these presses, you can buy them online; I got mine in a pack of four from Amazon (check out these presses). It is great fun to have the press; the kids love participating in pressing and making their own pizza pockets!
The Basic Ingredients
The pizza base, or the ingredients that need to be in there, are the premade flaky or puff pastry dough, the tiny mozzarella balls, and a tomato concentrate (I highly recommend the Mutti one; check it out). For the rest, you can add pepperoni, ham, precooked mushrooms, or onions; you are the chef. I like the mozzarella balls because they bring this lovely stringy cheese touch we love in pizza, but it’s much lower in sodium than shredded cheese. You are making it a plus for the kids’ health. If you want to know more about fresh vs. low-moisture mozzarella, check out this link!
Flaky or Puff Pastry?
The difference between these two is not much; the puff might be folded slightly more, meaning there will be more fat and layers. Both would work for this Valentine’s Pizza Pockets recipe; even pie dough (brise) would do, although Flaky does the best job! Puff could result in a slightly deformed shape, and pie dough into a more rigid crust, but it is ultimately all possible.
Bake vs. Air Fried
I like to make recipes in the air fryer; it usually cuts the cooking time, and the result is more even. Ovens tend to cook unevenly unless you have a convection oven. Look at the video (below in the recipe card); the edges and corners of the oven-baked pizza pockets are always darker, while they are all evenly cooked in the air Fryer. Thanks to the air moving around in there. But both would do magic here!
Other Valentine’s Day Recipes
Valentine’s Pizza Pockets
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 Pre-made Flaky Dough 2 sheets of 230g (Round)
- 150 g Mini Mozzarella Balls
- 120 g Salami Ham or Bacon Bits
- 1 Egg
- 100 g Tomato Paste concentrated
Instructions
- Cut the heart shapes into the flaky dough with the help of the hand pie mould.
- Oil the hand pie press slightly. Add a flaky dough heart and push it down gently. Then, fill with tomato paste, pepperoni, and three mini mozzarella balls, cover with another layer of heart-shaped flaky dough and press.
- Once all done, make an egg wash by beating an egg with a tablespoon of water and brushing it on both sides of the heart-shaped pizza pockets.
- BAKING: Place the pizza pockets on a nonstick mat or parchment paper and bake at 200°C (400°F) for 12 minutes.AIR FRYER: Add the pizza pockets on a spotted parchment and Air fry at 180°C (350°F) for 8 minutes.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Sharing of this recipe is encouraged and appreciated. Copying a full recipe to any social media is prohibited.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Share your thoughts on it! Leave a comment or share a picture and tag me @littlenomadsrecipes on Instagram.
This is such an awesome and cute idea for Valentine’s Day dinner. My kids would love this! Thanks for sharing.
Super fast and easy to do, so you can make something more elevated for you grown up Valentine on the side!
You had me at pizza and the heart shapes are so cute. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
The pleasure is all mine!
That’s a darling pizza pocket, especially for a school lunch on Valentines Day! Love it, I would feel so loved if someome made this for me! Yum!
Oh yes! It screams ‘I love you’ this pizza pocket!
These are the pefect treat for a Valentine’s Day gift or dinner party. I would add some pineapple pieces to the pizza pocket filling. Thanks for sharing such an awesome recipe.
Delicious recipe.
These look so yummy. Great idea for Valentine’s Day. Thanks for sharing.
Can you tell us where you found the heart shaped press?
The link is in the post, I got mine 3 different shaped on Amazon.
These pizza pockets are just too cute and adorable! I want to make these for my kids!!
Let me know how it goes!
How delightful! Such a great idea
These are so incredibly cute! Totally making them for my kiddo for Valentine’s Day. Thanks for the recipe!
Glad to see you back Dana!
Such a cute idea! I like that you can make them ahead of time and freeze them. I bet they are a big hit in school lunch boxes. Why not make them year round?!
Of course, love should be year round!
I love how quick and easy these pizza pockets were to make. They made a very tasty snack.
Yes! So easy and fast, plus yummy! Who can ask for more?
Kids loved them as a surprise lunch. Excellent recipe!
Thanks! Glad they enjoyed!
These Valentine’s Day pizza pockets are perfect! They’re perfectly festive and so easy to make.
Thanks and totally agree!