I don’t know if you’ve been following my cooking adventures on Facebook, but over the holidays I spent a lot of time baking. When I uploaded a picture of the kolachki, one of my friends commented that the raspberry wrapped treats looked like pizza bites, not a sweet pastry. As you can probably imagine, it started me thinking. Adapting the dough wouldn’t be that hard…

I added it to my ‘to-do’ list (which is more like Santa’s naughty or nice list these days) and promptly forgot about it, until the other day when I was in the grocery store and discovered a new product on the shelves: PHILADELPHIA Italian Cheese & Herb Cooking Creme

It was as if the universe was sending me a message, one that was shouting: MAKE MINI PIZZAS! So I did.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 10 ounce package Italian Cheese & Herb Cooking Creme
• 1 8 ounce package regular cream cheese
• 2 sticks of butter
• 4 cups of flour + a bit extra for finishing off and rolling out the dough
• pizza sauce or spaghetti sauce
• cheese
• any toppings you’d like
• 1 round-mouth drinking glass
• something to bake on

Here’s how you make them:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Blend the two types of cream cheese and the butter. You’ll want them softened before you try this.

Add four cups of flour and mix well. I usually do this by hand, as it ensures the smoothest mixture, but I’ll let you decide on your favorite method.

Once the dough has a smooth, elastic consistency, drop it onto a lightly floured surface and roll it out. The thinner you get it, the crispier the dough will be.

Using your glass (or whatever else you have handy, like a cookie cutter) cut out the round pizza bases and transfer them to a baking sheet. Lining the sheet with parchment will help crisp the bottoms without burning them, but if you don’t have any on hand, you can use aluminum foil or even bake them on a baking stone.

Top with the sauce, cheese and any toppings you want.

Pop them in the oven and bake them for 10-15 minutes – the dough should crisp up and tan nicely.

They were possibly the tastiest after-school snack ever consumed in this house. In fact, they were so appealing to the kids that my youngest even stole one of his sisters little pizzas, risking her wrath for just a few more bites of that cheesy goodness.