Pepperoni Rolls- Ultimate Adventure Snack

Pepperoni rolls are a delicious and convenient portable snack. Cheap and easy to make, these pepperoni rolls really come in handy and we always have them around.

If you are looking for another on-the-go snack, check out Peanut Butter Energy Balls.

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What are Pepperoni Rolls?

Growing up and living in Southwestern Pennsylvania, I’m no stranger to pepperoni rolls. I remember as a kid, they were served in the cafeteria or kids had them packed in their lunches. They made appearances at picnics, sleepovers, and sporting events. It’s common to find a tray of them served at a party and they are sold at our local grocery stores.

I took them for granted because it wasn’t until I moved away from home that I met so many people who had never heard of pepperoni rolls and they weren’t around. My midwestern husband had never encountered pepperoni rolls until we met. Trust me, he knows all about them now.

Only later in life did I learn they originated in West Virginia as an easily transported meal for coal miners. Sheer brilliance in my opinion as I’m always looking for on-the-go food for my family and our activities.

Why Pepperoni Rolls are a Great Snack

Pepperoni rolls are inexpensive and easy to make. They are an incredibly convenient snack, but they can easily be served for lunch, dinner, or party appetizers. You can eat them cold, at room temperature, or heated up. They are easy to handle and pack, and they store well in the freezer to have around for when you need them.

We use them for a number of purposes in my family, such as hiking, riding bikes, picnics, lunch at the playground, camping, and road trips. Packing snacks for outdoor activities keeps my kids motivated to participate longer. We love to whip these out at our target or turn around destination such as an out and back hike to a waterfall, reaching an overlook, a picnic at a playground after a bike ride, etc.

This is my sister’s recipe. She always has them around for her hungry grade school children. She packs them for school lunches when she’s in a bind and uses them for snacks after school, or for snacks in between activities with their busy schedule. She’s even shoved them in her kid’s pockets when they go up the ski lift.

They can easily take over the kitchen. So if I’m making pepperoni rolls, I like to make a big batch and then store them in the freezer so I can easily grab and go when I need them. If I pull them out of the freezer in the morning, or sometimes even an hour beforehand, they are thawed by the time we get to where we are going.

My mom, sister, and I typically pick a rainy day to make a large batch of these. My nieces and nephew are now at an age where they like to help too. It’s fun to spend time with everyone in the kitchen. Everyone can have a job and you can sort of form an assembly line. Someone can count the pepperoni into piles, someone can stuff and roll the pepperoni rolls, someone can “paint” the egg wash, etc.

Variations

Let’s go over the few ingredients for this basic version. You’ll need frozen dinner rolls, pepperoni, flour for your working surface, a few eggs beaten with water for an egg wash on top, and cooking spray.

This recipe is very basic, practically bread and pepperoni. They are delicious in their basic form, but they can be jazzed up for more deliciousness with cheese, seasonings, and other pizza toppings. There are also so many variations in the way these can be made.

I use frozen bread rolls mostly as a shortcut, but you can also get a shortcut from Pillsbury crescent rolls or pizza crust, or frozen bread dough. You can also make your own dough.

I use pepperoni slices, but I’ve seen sandwich-sized pepperoni sliced up, pepperoni sticks, and pepperoni bites used.

Cheese is definitely a delicious addition to consider. Mozzarella, cheddar, or pepper jack are great options. You can probably use any cheese you prefer.

You can include other ingredients such as pepperoncini, mushrooms, sausage, etc.

Some people put cheese inside, some people put cheese on top. My sister started sprinkling fixings on top like oregano, garlic powder, and parmesan cheese.

The possibilities are endless.

How to Make Pepperoni Rolls

Thaw your frozen bread dough according to the package instructions (usually 3-5 hours). I like to let my dough rise overnight. Spray baking sheets or casserole dishes with cooking spray then arrange the rolls spaced out allowing them to double in size. Then, cover them with plastic wrap. The package instructions say to spray the underside of the plastic wrap with cooking spray to prevent sticking. I typically skip this step. I don’t mind if there is some sticking because I’m just going to roll them out anyways.

I find it very helpful to count out piles of pepperoni slices before I start to make the rolls so I know there are enough pepperoni slices for the number of rolls I want to make.

I purchased a 5 lb bag of pepperoni at Sam’s Club. I used a few pepperoni slices before to make homemade pizzas. I counted out piles of 10. I was short on the number of rolls I wanted to make, so I took a few slices off the top of a few piles to make new piles. It worked out to be about 8 to 9 slices per pepperoni roll.

The 5 lb bag seemed to work well for 108 rolls (3 bags of 36 ct). You can certainly make more or less than 108 rolls. I’m not exactly sure how much pepperoni to purchase. But I would recommend planning for 8-12 pepperoni slices per pepperoni roll.

Separate the expanded rolls with a pizza cutter. Flour your working surface and roll the dinner roll dough out roughly into the shape of a circle about 4 inches in diameter.

Tip: When I lived as a traveling speech therapist, there were times I hardly had any common kitchen utensils, such as a rolling pin. I peeled the label off a 14 oz aluminum can (like for diced tomatoes or canned vegetables), and used the can to roll my dough.

Arrange the pepperoni slices in a line down the center within the edges of the dough. Dip your fingertips into some water and tap around the edges. This will help keep them sealed.

Roll the dough and pepperoni so the pepperoni runs the length of the pepperoni roll.

Place them seam-side down on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Cheese: If you are going to do cheese, I would suggest a certain tucking technique so the cheese doesn’t ooze out. Arrange half of your pepperoni in a line down the center. Place the cheese on top. Then place the other half of the pepperoni on top of the cheese so the cheese is sandwiched in between the pepperoni.

Roll the ends in first (where the pepperoni ends), and then roll the pepperoni rolls (again so the pepperoni runs the length of the roll). Then, pinch the ends shut.

Whether or not you decide to include cheese, the next step is to beat an egg with some water. Brush the tops with an egg wash before placing them in the oven.

Bake them at 375 degrees for 18 to 22 minutes. You are looking for the dough to bake and for some golden brown color on the tops and bottoms, but you just want to make sure the bottoms don’t burn.

Transfer them to a cooling rack. Cool slightly if you plan to enjoy them immediately. Allow them to cool completely if you plan to store them in the freezer otherwise, they may get soggy. I store mine in freezer bags. I don’t know how long they last in the freezer because truthfully they don’t last long enough in my family to know.

I hope you make a batch of these. Leave a comment or tag me on Instagram @adventureswkelly. How do you make your pepperoni rolls? Are you new to pepperoni rolls? I want to see pepperoni rolls take over your kitchen, and more importantly, I want to see lots of happy pepperoni rolls going out on great adventures!