Sweet Pizza Pockets (Peanut Butter & Jelly)

Sweet Pizza Pockets stuffed with Peanut Butter and Jelly (jam!) make a fab American inspired snack or dessert. Use store bought pizza dough and they’re ready in just 30 minutes. But be careful, they’re hotter than a pop tart fresh out the toaster!

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I wasn’t really planning to create a recipe for sweet pizza pockets. But as these things tend to happen in life, I found myself with 3 packets of ready rolled pizza dough and wanted to create something that wasn’t…well pizza!

As soon as I started thinking about what would make a quick, easy and creative filling, I knew that I would be looking towards America for inspiration. And then it hit me – PB&J! That’s peanut butter and jelly to me and you. And when I say jelly, of course I really mean jam.

Bingo, I tried it and I wasn’t wrong, they’re delicious!

What Is a Pizza Pocket?

A pizza pocket is basically a small filled pasty type bake made with pizza dough. At its simplest, pizza pockets are small calzones which are folded pizzas.

Both pizza pockets and calzones are more often than not filled with savoury fillings revolving around cheese. Like pizzas! But just like dessert pizzas are a thing, dessert pizza pockets are also getting more and more popular.

Pizza pockets are far more of a popular and common snack in North America than they are here in the UK. Lets change that because they’re simple to make and very flexible.

What is the Difference between Pizza Pockets and Hot Pockets?

Nothing! Hot Pockets are simply an American brand of pizza pockets. They have both dessert hot pockets and the regular kind. Hot pockets are microwaveable and just like a McDonalds Apple Pie or Pop Tart, they tend to be nuclear hot when freshly cooked.

The closest things that we have in the UK are something like a Findus Crispy Pancake or a Greggs bake.

How to Serve PB&J Pizza Pockets

They are best eaten fresh and warm but fresh and cold is good too. The real key here is fresh. I found that because pizza pockets are made from a yeasted bread dough, they do go stale in just a couple of days.

These sweet snacks really don’t need an awful lot of accompaniment. They are little hand held pies with a soft filling. However as I like to be a little bit “extra”, I have been known to make a little peanut butter and jam dipping sauce.

To make this all you need to do is warm roughly equal quantities of peanut butter and milk and mix them until they’re a fully combined and smooth. Unless you’re using crunchy pb in which case the peanut lumps are to be expected! You can then mix in a little of your jam until it is just sweet enough for your taste.

To British this otherwise incredibly American snack up, serve with hot custard powder custard!

Make Sweet Pizza Pockets into a Feast

I truly believe that you can make any dish into a proper feast! Whether thats a feast for one after work on a Tuesday, a casual feast for four on a Friday evening or a feast for 12 for a special occasion!

Pizza pockets would make a great addition to a snack board. Imagine a platter packed with Popcorn Snack Mix, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chocolate Cornflake Cakes. Perfect for a kids sleepover, movie night or even the dessert section of a buffet or picnic.

Don’t forget to head over to my Feast Collection pages to find all of my tips and tricks to help you host a fun and stress-free feast. Plus remember to check out my recipe index to create your own awesome Feast!

Ingredients for Peanut Butter & Jelly Hot Pockets

Pizza Dough

I used a 400g packet of ready rolled pizza dough to make 8 pizza pockets. Most supermarkets now sell ready made pizza dough in the chiller section next to their puff pastry.

Using ready rolled means that these snacks are ready for the oven in about 10 minutes as you unroll and use the dough straight from the fridge. Please make sure you are buying dough and not a pizza base!

If you would rather make homemade dough, you can use the recipe in my Roast Dinner Pizza recipe. The amount of dough in that recipe will make roughly 12 pockets so you can use the serving adjuster to scale up or down as needed.

Peanut Butter

It does not matter if you use smooth or crunchy peanut butter. Nor does it matter if you choose a standard American style peanut butter or a whole nut type version. I used just a regular ol’ smooth peanut butter in my recipe. But I do love the fancy kind too – I use it in my Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake.

You could substitute another nut butter if you prefer or need to.

Jam

Smooth strawberry jam is my favourite jam of all time. I used my Homemade Strawberry Jam in this recipe because that’s what I had in the fridge. You can use homemade or store bought – whatever tickles your fancy.

As for flavour, you can use your favourite. I would tend to caution you to stick towards something on the sweet side – probably a red fruit based jam. I think the flavours of strawberry or raspberry etc complement the peanut butter best.

In the US, grape jam is very popular and is very regularly used in combination with peanut butter. I’m personally not a fan but if you want to try for a more authentic Americana experience then you could give it a go.

Sugar

The only added sugar in this recipe is a sprinkle on the glazed dough after it is folded. I like to use regular, granulated sugar as the crunch that it provides is part of the experience.

I would advise that you avoid using caster/superfine sugar or any of the brown sugars except demerara. Demerara sugar would be a great alternative as it is also very crunchy.

Be Flexible

The world really is your oyster with a recipe like this.

If you take the basic concept of a folded piece of pizza dough with a filling, you can go crazy experimenting with sweet and savoury fillings. Obviously if you go savoury, don’t sprinkle the sugar!

Make it Vegetarian or Vegan

Both the fillings of the Peanut Butter and Jelly Pocket are suitable for vegans.

The pizza dough that I bought from Asda is suitable for vegetarians and vegans. But not all dough may be vegan suitable so please do check the label.

All that then remains for a vegan option is to switch the egg wash for a plant based milk wash. It won’t be quite as shiny but it’ll help the sugar to stick and that’s the main aim.

Make it Allergy Friendly

This pizza pocket recipe is free from dairy.

Gluten Free: To make gluten free pizza pockets, you will need to start with gluten free pizza dough. You may be able to source a shop bought version but otherwise you will need to make your own.

You will also need to use a gluten free flour to dust your board or worksurface to stop the dough from sticking.

Nut Free: Whilst peanut are not technically nuts, peanut allergies are still common. Of course avoiding the peanut butter is key. Anyone with a peanut allergy will know what else they are allergic to and what the best alternative for them is.

You can substitute another nut butter if possible. Otherwise sunflower seed butter is a great and totally nut and peanut free alternative.

Egg Free: Simply replace the egg wash with milk or a plant based milk.

Please note that this recipe may contain other allergens not referred to above and any variations suggested have not been tested unless otherwise stated. For more information regarding any dietary information provided on this website, please refer to my Nutritional Disclaimer.

Equipment Notes for Sweet Pizza Pockets

The beauty of sweet pizza pockets is that they require very little equipment.

You will need a baking tray of some kind. A good large knife will help cutting the pizza dough easier.

I like to use a silicone fish slice to move the folded pockets onto the baking tray. But any old spatula or even a large wide knife would do the job.

A handy flour shaker makes dusting your board nice and evenly very easy. A silicone pastry brush is my preferred method for glazing the unbaked dough. You can use a regular nylon brush or even a clean paint brush if you don’t have one.

A comprehensive list of the equipment used to make this recipe is included in the main recipe card below. Click on any item to see an example. There are no hard and fast rules so many items can be sensibly substituted to achieve the same results.

Get Ahead

This recipe takes 10 minutes to put together and another 20 in the oven. If it is at all possible, I would recommend cooking them fresh. If you can’t serve them so they are still warm when being eaten, the same day really is best.

The actual filling of the dough can be done a little further in advance – up to a day providing they are covered and stored in the fridge. You could also freeze them and bake from frozen but note that you will need to increase the cooking time.

Leftover Dessert Hot Pockets

As I’ve mentioned, these hand held snacks really are best on the day of baking and only really last for a couple of days. Giving them 20 or 30 seconds in the microwave will refresh them a little.

You can freeze the cooked pockets but if you think you won’t get through a full batch, I would recommend freezing them unbaked rather than baked. It can be done however.

Sweet Pizza Pocket Tips

Do be fairly generous with the dusting of flour if the dough is especially sticky. If it really looks like it might be a struggle, you can lay the dough directly onto the lined baking sheet. Just be careful that you don’t cut through the liner.

I’ve specified 1 tablespoon each of peanut butter and jam for each pocket in the recipe. Err on the side of generosity. You don’t really need to measure accurately. A technical tablespoon of peanut butter is really just a normal scoop with an everyday teaspoon. Same goes for the jam.

Just don’t be too generous with the filling or you will struggle to seal the dough without serious leakage.

CAUTION! The filling will be very hot so please don’t bite straight in. Even when the crust is cool enough to pick up, the filling can still scald.

Don’t forget to let me know in the comments if you try making this recipe – I want to know what you think and if you made any substitutions, how did it turn out?

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The Recipe

Sweet Pizza Pockets Recipe (Peanut Butter & Jelly)

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Sweet Pizza Pockets stuffed with Peanut Butter and Jelly (jam!) make a fab American inspired snack or dessert. Use store bought pizza dough and they’re ready in just 30 minutes. But be careful, they’re hotter than a pop tart fresh out the toaster!

5 from 7 votes

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KEEP SCREEN ON

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Servings 8 pockets

Author Chloe

Equipment

• Wooden Board
• Sharp Knife – Large
• Measuring Spoons
• Baking Tray – Medium
• Silicone Fish Slice
• Silicone Pastry Brush

Ingredients

 

MetricUSA Measurements

 

0.5x1x2x4x

• 2 tbsp Flour for dusting
• 400 g Ready Rolled Pizza Dough - Or fresh prepared dough
• 8 tbsp Peanut Butter - Crunchy or smooth
• 8 tbsp Strawberry Jam - Or flavour of your choice
• 1 Egg
• 1 tbsp Sugar

Instructions

 

• Turn the oven to 180c fan | 170c | 340f. Line a large medium baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
• Dust roughly 2 tbsp Flour onto a board. Unroll and lay out 400g Ready Rolled Pizza Dough onto the board.
  
• Use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Cut once from side to side. Then once vertically down the middle. Then two more vertical cuts, one on each side.
  
• Spoon 8 tbsp Peanut Butter onto the dough. Place 1 tbsp onto each piece of dough – position it in the middle of one half. You will be folding the dough on itself.
  
• Spoon 8 tbsp Jam on top of the peanut butter. Again you need 1 tbsp per piece of dough.
  
• Fold each piece of dough in half. Use your fingers and side of your hand to press down on all 4 sides of the dough to seal it together.
  
• Use a spatula to move each pocket onto the lined baking tray. You may need to flour the spatula depending on how sticky the dough is. If you are struggling to release the dough, use a sharp knife on its side to slide under the dough to release it.
  
• Use a fork to press around all 4 edges of the pockets. You need to press hard enough to seal them well but not so hard that the form goes all the way through.
  
• Beat 1 Egg in a small bowl and thoroughly wash each pocket with a brush.
  
• Sprinkle roughly 1 tbsp Sugar over the pockets.
  
• Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
  
• Serve warm but don’t dive straight in or you will burn your mouth!

Nutrition (Approx)

Serving: 1pocket | Calories: 290kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 449mg | Potassium: 128mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 2mg

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