Eighth Sheet Pan Pizza Appetizers
The Eighth Sheet Pan is about 9-1/2 inches long and 6-1/2 inches wide, an excellent size for making mini appetizer pizzas. The recipe is sized for two eighth-sheet pan pizzas. Since these are appetizers, we will make them more interesting than a typical main dish pizza. We use Sharp Provolone cheese and Fontina Cheese on our pizza appetizers. For meat toppings, pepperoni on one and Spanish Chorizo on the other.
Dough Ingredients for Eighth-Sheet Pan Pizza
I am keeping the instructions brief, assuming you have some experience in the kitchen. I use grams for the critical ingredients, which are best in exact amounts.
300 grams of pizza flour
180 grams of water
1/2 tsp brown rice syrup
3/4 tsp active dry yeast (for overnight, cold fermentation)
16 grams of vegetable shortening
1/2 tsp sea salt
Note the recipe yields a little more than 500 grams of total dough.
Instructions for Eighth Sheet Pan Pizza Dough
Using a 2-cup measuring cup, warm the water to 120°F. Dissolve the brown rice syrup in the warm water, add the yeast, and stir well.
Place the mixture in a proofing oven at about 90° F for 15 minutes. It will froth well.
Add the flour to a stand mixer along with the salt.
Add the frothed yeast and water mixture to the mixer bowl.
Using a spiral hook or standard dough hook, run the mixer for 3 minutes on low speed, then stop.
Add the vegetable shortening to the dough, incorporating it by hand with a small rubber spatula.
Run the mixer on medium for an additional 3 minutes.
Spray a 2-quart container with avocado oil or coat it with olive oil.
Form the dough into a ball, place it into the container, and cover it with a dish towel soaked with warm water and rung out.
Place the dough in a proofing oven at 90°F for 45 minutes. It should be about double in size.
Punch down the dough and reform it into a ball. Place it back into the container with a lid on it and refrigerate overnight for cold fermentation.
Note: You add the shortening after the first 3 minutes to allow the gluten to develop. If you start with the shortening in the flour, it will coat the flour, inhibiting the gluten formation.
Ingredients for Two Sheet Pan Appetizer Pizzas
500 Grams of Pizza Dough
7 oz Pizza sauce
4 oz Shredded Fontina cheese
4 oz stick pepperoni
4 oz Spanish Chorizo
Assembling the Pizza Appetizers
Half the cold fermented dough. Form half the dough into each of the eighth sheet pans. I prefer to coat the pans with olive oil and add some coarse cornmeal. I personally like the texture of the cornmeal, and it aids in removing the pizza from the pans.
Spread 3-1/2 oz of pizza sauce onto each of the pizzas.
Place 2 oz of Sharp Provolone cheese onto each.
Place 2 oz of shredded Fontina cheese over the sharp provolone cheese.
Dice about 2 oz of stick pepperoni, topping one of the pizzas.
Dice about 2 oz of Spanish Chorizo to top the other pizza.
The eighth sheet pan pizzas are ready for cooking. On the left is the pepperoni, and on the right is the Spanish Chorizo. Both have shredded sharp provolone cheese over a layer of sharp provolone cheese sliced discs.
Cooking Pizza Appetizers
Pre-heat the oven to 400°F
Place the sheet pan pizzas appetizers onto the center rack.
Cook for about 20 to 25 minutes. In my oven, I cook for 23 minutes until the cheese bubbles and begins to brown.
Cut the Eight Sheet Pan Pizzas once lengthwise and three times on the width. You will get eight pieces.
These eighth-sheet pan-size pizza appetizers feature Sharp Provolone and Fontina Cheeses. The meat toppings are pepperoni on one and Spanish Chorizo on the other.
Savory Pizza Appetizer Recipe Summary
The eighth-size sheet pan is an excellent size for making pizza appetizers. The pan yields eight small slices that are easy to pick up off a tray and eat as a Hors d’œuvre. You can also serve them on the table on small plates as an appetizer.
The dough recipe for making two eight-sheet pan pizzas yields about 500 or 250 grams per pizza.
Sharp Provolone and Fontina cheese are an excellent combination for pizza appetizers for a pizza topping cheese blend. Shredded Fontina cheese melts well for use on a pizza and is best applied over the harder sharp provolone.
For pizza appetizers, meat toppings, pepperoni, and Spanish Chorizo are excellent, but use them separately, each on its own pizza.
For the pizza sauce, I use a “boosted” or improved store-bought pizza sauce to add an extra savory flavor profile to the appetizers.
If serving a larger crowd, you can use my Pizza Dough with Malt Syrup recipe, which is a double batch of pizza appetizer dough.
