Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

Modified from Everyday with Rachael Ray

3/4 cup flour

3/4 tsp. baking powder

3/4 cup whole milk [I used 2%, which is what I had in the fridge]

1 cup (4 oz) shredded mozzarella [I used my grocery store's Italian cheese blend as I had some in the fridge]

1 beaten egg

1 cup diced up pepperoni [okay, this used an actual pepperoni, I"m guessing....I had extra sliced from making pizza a week or so ago and used that....it wasn't quite enough so I chopped up (really small - I used my hand mincer thingie) onion and red pepper to fill it out.]

1/2 cup pizza sauce [just store bought stuff]

2 tbsp fresh basil, minced.

[sliced red pepper for dipping....I tried this, wasn't impressed....I liked it better IN the puff]

Preheat oven to 375. Great 24 cup mini muffin pan.

Whisk together the flour and baking powder. Then whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in mozzarella and pepperoni (and whatever else). Let sit for 10 minutes. Stir again and then divide batter into muffin pan.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Heat up pizza sauce and add 1 tbsp basil to it and stir. Sprinkle puffs with basil [not impressed here either, so will just do1 tbsp in the pizza sauce.]

Serves 4 [this is as a main dish...I didn't think this made it as an entree, so I"m going to use it as an appetizer from here on out, so it would serve more.]

***Freezer tip: Freeze puffs in a single layer on a baking sheet. Put in freezer bag once frozen. To reheat, bake frozen puffs for 8-10 minutes at 350 (a great a idea if you are planning a party as you can get them done ahead and reheat as needed).

***Variation: [The freezer tip was RR's, this is mine.] This really is a base puff recipe plus 1 cup cheese and 1 cup of filling. You can do anything with it - you can go to different types of pizza (so let your kids pick for a party - just make sure to precook anything that isn't already mostly cooked (like sausage)) or different flavors (you could do Mexican with Mexican cheese, spices and some peppers). So go crazy here as I plan to!

***I did this with taco meat and onions/green peppers and pepper jack cheese. Ray liked it better than the original!