DIY mini heart-shaped pizzas

Pizzeria! We were having the time of our life making these mini heart-shaped pizzas. My daughter wants a pizzeria set and little play area, that’s how into it she was. I’m now daydreaming of making something pink and white checkered with a cute chef hat and some paper plates! It’s too much fun watching a little one discover how much she loves to cook. I was absolutely amazed because this was the first time she was actually making us dinner. I was assisting but really she made dinner for the fam.

I use a simple pizza dough recipe from Moosewood Cookbook, of course. (my fav.)

Pizza Dough:

1 cup warm water

2 Tbs. honey

1 1/2″ dry yeast

dash of salt

3 C flour

Oil

I typically use olive oil but any oil I have works to coat the final dough ball slightly, to leave in the bowl in a warm place to rise. I mix the yeast and honey and warm water until it dissolves. Then I add everything else and mix it. Then I knead the dough for 10 minutes and put in a bowl up high (that is covered with plastic wrap). If I just cover it with a towel it gets a little crispy. It rises double the size. I love pizza dough when it rises and is all bubbly and full. Such a reward for a tiny bit of work!!!

Note: roll this dough very thin, you will be so happy with the outcome. My pictures show it pretty thick and it was yummy but the thinnest heart we did was by far the best. So, seriously, stretch that dough out, roll it and roll it some more. And check it frequently in the oven to see if the bottom is golden and not burnt and the top isn’t getting too crispy. These tips will make for a splendid evening of fun. And if your child did the work, he/she will be very proud. Mine was and it was adorable and because she put the mushrooms on herself, well by golly, she ate them too! I was amazed.

I put out minimal toppings which next time I would add olives and tomatoes, onions and bell peppers. My daughter would have had a blast adding all kinds of things but we sort of did this on a whim. We did mozz. cheese, mushrooms and pineapple and sauce. Still great. We could have doubled the number of hearts if we rolled it out better. She wanted to keep going so next time!

You cut them out with a regular cookie cutter after rolling it thin. We use minimal sauce but still cover the pizza red. I avoid tomatoes because they are so wet. Maybe a few cherry toms but that’s it for me. Torn-up ham deli meat would be yummy.

Cook time:

450 degrees

10-15 minutes. Watch the oven. Check them every 5 minutes just in case. My oven runs hot and I always decrease times by 5-10 minutes. Just cook until golden and not doughy anymore. You will know. But watching the oven makes for a lot less disaster and if your kid did the work, they would be devastated to have it be burnt and trashed.