Do you know any kids interested in baking and cooking? If so, you know helping them out in the kitchen can be an extremely fun and rewarding experience. They’re always ready to attempt new recipes, experiment with unfamiliar ingredients and throw together different flavors and textures with a level of daring most adults don’t have.

Of course, a kid’s interest in the kitchen will usually only extend so far. It’s easy to get them interested in making things like desserts, pizza, macaroni and cheese and other treats. They might be less eager to attempt vegetable soup or other less exciting dishes.

If you’re trying to encourage an interest in cooking in a kid you know, it might help to come up with a few kid-friendly recipes for them to try. The possibilities here are endless, and you can easily come up with a treasure trove of recipes that will interest any kid.

To help you out along these lines, we’d like to share some recipes that will not only teach you how to make pizza rolls at home, but also how to bake pizza rolls for kids. Kids, especially very young kids, may not be able to manage the recipes entirely on their own, but this makes it a great opportunity for you and your kids to work together. As a bonus, the pizza rolls are a delicious treat to share together afterward.

Guidelines for Cooking With Kids

If you aren’t used to cooking with kids, it can take a little practice to get used to, but it’s also a fun activity. Kids are almost always eager to get their hands messy and try new things. Here are a few things to keep in mind so both you and the kids have a fun and safe time cooking together.

1. Keep Kids Away From the Oven

This is the most important kitchen safety rule. Kids can help with prep work and even cleanup, but the oven is the adult’s job. You might let kids set the timer, or turn on the oven light to look through the door, but be careful to keep them far away when the oven door is open. You can bend this rule once the kids are older and more responsible, but it’s still important to be careful and keep an eye on them.

2. Be Careful With Sharp Knives

Next to the oven, sharp knives are the biggest hazard kids are likely to encounter while cooking with you. Kids can help you chop ingredients, but be careful to keep them away from any of the large and very sharp knives. If the kids are extremely young, it might be best to keep all knives out of their reach. Teach kids the proper way to hold knives and other safety techniques, and always keep a close eye on them as they use these tools.

3. Let Kids Measure and Stir

Whether it’s cookie dough, pancake batter or anything in between, kids will almost always want to stir it. They might struggle once you’ve added the flour and the dough becomes heavier, so you may need to take over at that point. Either way, this is a great opportunity to give them some hands-on experience.

In addition to stirring, kids are great at measuring out ingredients. It’s also a chance for them to do a little math when it comes to doubling or halving recipes. If they’re very young kids, however, you might want to casually double-check them on their measurements, just to be sure.

4. Seize the Teachable Moments

Cooking together is supposed to be fun, but there’s no reason it can’t also be educational. Take this as a chance to explain how to read a recipe, grease a pan, crack an egg and more. Chances are, the kids will have even more fun when they feel like they’re learning things and getting better every time they attempt a new recipe.

How to Bake Healthy Pizza Rolls for Kids

Of course, a significant part of teaching kids about cooking and food also involves teaching them about nutrition and healthy eating. If you can teach kids to cook healthy foods, they’re more likely to carry on with healthy eating habits for their entire lives. That’s why, no matter how delicious pizza rolls are, it’s always a bonus if you can make them just a little bit healthier.

If you’re trying to focus on cooking healthy foods with your child, give this veggie pizza roll recipe a try. One serving of this tasty recipe contains 14 grams of protein, 30 grams of carbohydrates and three grams of fiber.

The Ingredients

For the sauce, you’ll need:

• ¼ cup of spinach
• ½ green bell pepper
• ¼ cup white mushrooms, sliced or whole
• ½ onion
• 1 red tomato
• 1 carrot
• 1 zucchini
• 1 cup marinara or spaghetti sauce

To make the crust, you’ll need:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 ¼ teaspoon yeast
• 1 ½ teaspoon sugar
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup warm water
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 ½ cup mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Start by chopping up the veggies. If the kids involved are old enough to use knives safely, this is a great way to get them involved. If not, they can help you by measuring how many veggies you’ve chopped and how much more you still need.

Choose your preferred blend of the veggies listed until you have two cups total of chopped vegetables. Sauté them for three or four minutes, or until they’re partially tender. Blend them on high with the marinara sauce until everything is mixed well.

In a large bowl, add one cup of flour, sugar, salt and undissolved yeast. Whisk these ingredients together with the olive oil and warm water. Let the kids do the mixing, but be prepared to take over if the stirring gets too hard. They may also enjoy helping by measuring out ingredients and adding them to the bowl. Keep mixing until everything is well blended.

Gradually add in the rest of the flour until the mixture becomes soft, pliable dough. It should form a ball and have a slightly sticky texture as well. Sprinkle flour onto your kneading surface and begin kneading the dough until it feels elastic and smooth. This is one of the best parts of the recipe to let the kids help with. Give them a few instructions, and let them try to knead the dough out for themselves.

Once you’re finished kneading the dough, place it in a bowl — lightly greased to prevent sticking — and cover it with plastic wrap. Let it sit for a half hour or so in a warm place. During this resting period, it should rise to almost double its original size.

Set your oven to preheat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Take the dough out of the bowl where it has been rising and put it on your re-floured workspace. With a rolling pin, roll the dough out into a rectangular shape that’s roughly 12 by 10 inches and about half an inch thick all the way around. Let the kids help with this part, and take the opportunity to teach them how to properly use a rolling pin.

Next, spread the sauce and veggie mixture out over the dough, being careful to leave a half-inch border around the edges free from sauce. If it seems like you need more sauce than the recipe calls for, go ahead and add that on until it looks right. Sprinkle the whole pizza generously with mozzarella cheese.

Let the kids help as you carefully roll the pizza dough up into one long log roll. Slice it carefully into small, even rolls. The number of individual rolls you end up with will vary based on how thick your slices are, but it should be somewhere between eight and 12.

Place the slices on a well-greased muffin tray and bake them for 15 to 20 minutes, or until they’ve turned a light golden-brown.

How to Make Traditional Pizza Rolls for Kids

While it’s always good to know the healthy options, and it’s great to instill these habits in your kids, there’s also a time and a place for a traditional treat. Even if you only treat yourself to these yummy pizza rolls on special occasions, it’s worth knowing the recipe.

These pizza rolls are a more traditional take on the recipe and are so tasty both adults and kids will enjoy them. Best of all, the recipe is easy enough that your kids can either make it themselves with supervision, or they can help with some of the steps, depending on how old and experienced they are.

Ingredients

• 1 can Pillsbury classic refrigerated pizza crust
• ½ teaspoon of garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil
• 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, shredded
• ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese, shredded
• ½ cup of pepperoni, chopped
• 1 cup of marinara or spaghetti sauce

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Open the can of Pillsbury dough and place it on a lightly floured working surface. Press the dough out into a roughly rectangular shape. The kids can easily help with this step, although you may need to step in if it doesn’t seem to be going well. Make sure to keep the dough on the floured workspace, or it’ll start sticking to the counter or table.

Once the pizza crust has been well shaped, sprinkle it with garlic salt, cheese, basil and chopped pepperoni. Try to spread these toppings around so they aren’t clumped together, and will be evenly distributed among the individual rolls once you’ve cut them up.

Starting on the long side of the rectangle, carefully roll the dough up into one long log roll. This is an easy step to let the kids help with, as it’s fun and simple to do. Next, slice it into roughly one-inch slices, although you can make them slightly larger or smaller if desired.

Place the rolls well apart from one another on a greased baking sheet and bake them for 10 minutes, or until they begin to brown on top. If your children are very young, keep them away from the oven. Perhaps instead, they might enjoy setting the timer or keeping watch as the rolls bake. For best results, serve these with warm marinara as a dipping sauce.

An Alternative Way to Make Pizza Rolls for Kids

This recipe is fairly similar to the previous recipe, but it has a few differences in method that make it worth mentioning. As with each of the first two recipes we’ve talked about, there are plenty of good opportunities here for your kids to get involved and help.

Ingredients

• 1 can Pillsbury classic refrigerated pizza crust
• Marinara or spaghetti sauce
• Pepperoni
• Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Grab a cookie sheet and line it with aluminum foil so the entire bottom is covered. Spray the foil with cooking spray to provide an extra layer of protection against sticking.

Crack open the can of dough, or let the kids do that part. Carefully spread it out onto the cookie sheet so the dough is in a rectangular shape and filling the bottom of the cookie sheet. Bake this bare pizza dough for five minutes. Be careful to keep the kids away from the oven, but you might ask them if they’d like to set the timer.

Once the dough has baked, remove it from the oven and set it on the counter. Carefully lift the foil with the dough still on it out of the tray, being sure to keep any kids well away from the hot cookie sheet. Let the dough sit for a few minutes to cool off.

Let the kids add whatever toppings they like. Spread sauce evenly across the dough, sprinkle some cheese on top, layer on pepperoni and anything else they want. Encourage them to have fun with this part and get creative.

When the kids are satisfied with their toppings, help them roll the dough into one long roll. Center the roll on the foil, and put it back into the cookie sheet. From there, it goes back in the oven to bake for another 10 and 15 minutes, or until the top turns golden-brown.

Let the roll cool before cutting it into slices and serving.

Take the Whole Family to Giordano’s

Cooking with the kids is fun, but everyone deserves to get out of the kitchen occasionally and treat themselves to a restaurant. After you’ve learned how to make pizza rolls for kids, why not celebrate by treating yourself and the kids to pizza at Giordano’s? If you’re feeling a little tired of pizza, we have plenty of other options on our menu as well, such as salads, pasta and a full kids’ menu.

Our sit-down restaurant experience is completely kid-friendly, and we also offer pickup and delivery options if you’re pressed for time or just feel like staying home. Check out our full menu online and start planning your next order from us.