These Homemade Pizza Bagel Bites are such a fun and easy meal or snack for kids! Made with a simple Greek yogurt dough and topped with pizza sauce, melty mozzarella, and your choice of toppings, they're soft, flavourful, and come together with just a handful of ingredients. Let everyone customize their own with bell peppers, mushrooms, or pineapple for a kid-friendly meal that's perfect for lunchboxes or an after school snack!
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Bagel bites are a recipe that take me right back. We ate a lot of bagel bites growing up... (definitely not upset about it - they are delicious). But I wanted to see if I could recreate them with a homemade version and this recipe is it! Now, just a warning, this recipe takes a little more effort than my usual recipes. Anything that requires kneading and rolling dough I consider to be on the labour intensive side, BUT these are so worth it.
Table of Contents
Why You'll Love These Homemade Pizza Bagel Bites for Kids
- Uses a simple dough: The bagel dough comes together with just a few simple ingredients and no yeast required.
- Fun for kids: Let kids choose their favourite toppings, such as pepperoni, bell peppers, mushrooms, or pineapple.
- Perfect for lunchboxes: These pizza bagel bites can be packed cold or warmed and packed in a thermos for an easy school or daycare lunch.
- Freezer-friendly: Make a batch ahead of time and keep extras in the freezer for quick meals and snacks.
- Customizable: From classic cheese to Hawaiian or vegetarian, there are lots of variations for your child to make it their own!
- Packed with pizza flavour: A blend of mozzarella and cheddar cheese, pizza sauce, and Italian seasoning gives these homemade bagel bites all the flavours of pizza in a kid-friendly way!
Ingredients for Homemade Bagel Bites for Toddlers & Kids
Here are the ingredients for the base recipe for the homemade bagel bites, and then I've included topping options below.
- Four: We are making our own self-rising flour here using all purpose-flour to help give the bagels their fluffy texture.
- Baking powder: Important to help
- Salt: Supports the overall flavour and helps with the dough structure.
- Greek yogurt: Greek yogurt is key for creating the dough. It is much thicker than regular yogurt and helps give the bagels structure. I recommend using plain Greek yogurt for best results.
- Italian seasoning: Adds a little pizza flavour boost to the dough.
- Olive oil: A little olive oil is used to brush on top of the bagels to help them turn golden brown.
- Pizza sauce: Pizza sauce adds that classic pizza flavour. Use your favourite store-bought pizza sauce or homemade sauce if you have some on hand.
- Mozzarella cheese: Mozzarella provides that classic stretchy, melty pizza cheese texture that kids love.
- Cheddar cheese: A little cheddar adds extra flavour and helps the tops turn beautifully golden while baking.
Toppings
- Diced red bell pepper
- Pepperoni
- Pineapple
- Mushrooms
See recipe card for quantities.
How To Make Homemade Pizza Bagel Bites
Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and Italian seasoning to a large bowl and whisk together to combine. Add the Greek yogurt and mix together until a dough forms.
Form into a ball and place on a floured surface.
Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.
Roll each piece into a long rope.
Join the ends together to form a bagel shape with a small hole in the centre. Place on the prepared baking sheet and brush the tops lightly with olive oil.
Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden and cooked through. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.
Slice each bagel in half and place cut-side up on the baking sheet. Increase the oven temperature to 400°F.
Spread about 1 tablespoon of pizza sauce onto each bagel half.
Top with shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese and your choice of diced bell peppers, pepperoni, chopped mushrooms, or diced pineapple.
Bake for 5-8 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Let cool slightly before serving.
Hint: It is important to use Greek yogurt for the dough. If you only have regular plain yogurt, I have used it in a pinch, but it requires quite a bit more flour (about ½ to ¾ cup extra) and the dough is much stickier to work with. I also found the bagels turned out a bit denser than when made with Greek yogurt.
Substitutions
- Self-rising flour: If you do not have self-rising flour, you can make your own by combining 1¾ cups all-purpose flour with 2½ teaspoons baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt.
- Toppings: Try diced bell peppers, chopped mushrooms, pineapple, cooked chicken, pesto, or any of your family's favourite pizza toppings! Finely chopping toppings works best for kids and helps them stay on the bagels while baking.
Variations
- Cheese Pizza Bagel Bites: Skip the toppings and simply use pizza sauce and cheese.
- Veggie Pizza Bagel Bites: Top with finely diced bell peppers, mushrooms, olives, or any of your favourite vegetables.
- Hawaiian Pizza Bagel Bites: Add diced pineapple for a sweet and savoury twist.
For other pizza-inspired lunch ideas, check out my easy Pizza Muffins!
Storage
Store leftover pizza bagel bites in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
To reheat, place in a 350°F oven, air fryer, or toaster oven for a few minutes until warmed through and the cheese is melty. I don't recommend microwaving them as they get quite soft.
These pizza bagel bites also freeze well. Allow them to cool completely, then transfer to a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat directly from frozen or thaw overnight in the refrigerator before warming.
Lunchbox Tip
These homemade pizza bagel bites are great for lunchboxes! Pack them cold with an ice pack, or toast them up first in the oven or air fryer and place them in a preheated thermos to help keep them warm until lunchtime.
Here is an example lunchbox I packed with the bagel bites. I included a fruit and veggie (the strawberries and carrot sticks), and two fun sides (the muffin and goldfish crackers).
Need more lunch box ideas for your toddler!? Check out my post on 15 Cold School Lunch Ideas as well as my Easy Toddler Bento Box Lunch Ideas!
What To Serve With Pizza Bagel Bites
These homemade pizza bagel bites pair well with a variety of fruits and vegetables to create a balanced meal or snack. Here are a few ideas:
- Sliced cucumbers, carrot sticks, bell peppers, or snap peas
- Apple slices, grapes, or berries
- Dipping sauce like marinara or ranch
For lunch, I like pairing these pizza bagel bites with a fruit and vegetable, such as strawberries and carrot sticks like in the image below, or berries and bell peppers.
And if you need more toddler lunch ideas, I have a full round up post on Healthy Toddler Lunches for Home, Daycare, and Preschool!
FAQ
Yes! These pizza bagel bites can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Simply reheat before serving or enjoy them cold in a lunchbox.
You can! Allow the pizza bagel bites to cool completely, then store them in a freezer-safe container or bag for up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven, air fryer, or toaster oven until warmed through.
These pizza bagel bites are easy to customize. They can be enjoyed plain with just the cheese mixture, or try diced bell peppers, chopped mushrooms, pineapple, or any of your child's favourite pizza toppings.
Recipe
Homemade Bagel Bites for Toddlers and Kids
Ingredients
- 1¾ cup flour plus a little more for flouring the surface.
- 2½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 cup Greek yogurt plain
- 2 tablespoon olive oil to brush on top of bagels
- ½ cup pizza sauce
- 1½ cup mozarella cheese
- ½ cup cheddar cheese
Toppings
Vegetarian Pizza Bagel Bites
- ¼ cup red bell pepper finely diced
- 2 tablespoon mushrooms finely diced
Hawaiian Pizza Bagel Bites
- ¼ cup pineapple finely diced
Pepperoni
- ¼ cup pepperoni finely diced
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and Italian seasoning to a large bowl and whisk together to combine. Add in the Greek yogurt and mix until a dough forms.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead gently until smooth. Form into a ball.
- Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.
- Roll each piece between your hands into a long sausage shape, then join the ends together to form a bagel shape with a small hole in the centre. Place on the prepared baking sheet and brush the tops lightly with olive oil.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until lightly golden and cooked through. Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Slice each bagel in half and place cut-side up on the baking sheet. Increase the oven temperature to 400°F.
- Spread about 1 tablespoon of pizza sauce onto each bagel half. Top with the mozzarella and cheddar cheese blend and your choice of toppings.
- Bake for 5-8 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Let cool slightly before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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