Game Day BBQ Chicken Pizzettes

Look, I’ve always been in the Super Bowl-watching game for the food.

A few weeks ago, I watched a playoff game with friends. But I didn’t really watch: I ate a burrito and talked to my friends. And I played a few games on my phone when the real football fans were watching.

Burritos aside, it feels like we’ve all developed a taste for comfort food in recent years. Fried chicken and barbecue swept New York City. Most people I know would rather go out for brick-oven pizza than carefully plated seared tuna. Super Bowl day is when everyone - even the seared tuna lover - goes for wings, pizza, pulled pork sandwiches, artichoke dip, and BBQ chicken dip.

And that’s where my affiliation lies. Not with any one team, but with the glorious comfort cuisine of Game Day. Specifically, with barbecue chicken once it’s morphed with pizza and become a one-time-only event: Game Day BBQ Chicken Pizzettes. And all that works really quite well, considering that I’m taking part in the PuffectionTM Game Day Entertaining Challenge from Pepperidge Farm, which is all about the food.

To make these delicious two-bite pizzas, I cut circles of puff pastry - which you can do even before the dough is fully defrosted. In the past, we’ve posted about pizzettes with all sorts of flavors, but mostly Italian, like roasted fennel. This time, instead of tomato sauce, I shredded some white meat chicken and mixed it with a quick homemade BBQ sauce.

I spread that on each little pizza round, leaving a little bit of space for the puff pastry to balloon up and form a crust.

On top of the BBQ chicken mix went shredded cheddar cheese. Then into the oven, and in 20 minutes, we’ve got cute and tasty little BBQ Chicken Pizzas. These are great straight from the oven, but they’re also good an hour or two later.

You can find tons more puff pastry recipes, tips, and how-to videos at puffpastry.com, and you can share your holiday puff pastry recipes on Pepperidge Farm’s facebook page here.

I wrote this sponsored post in partnership with Pepperidge Farm in order to show the impressive array of finger food you can make if you keep their puff pastry in your freezer at all times. And how I love puff pastry as a brilliant shortcut for pizzettes, pigs in a blanket, and garlic knots! I only ever share sponsored content when I know and admire the product. (You can read my affiliate disclosure here if you’re interested.) Thanks, Pepperidge Farm!

**Recipe**

Game Day BBQ Chicken Mini Pizzas
Makes 30 little pizzas

If you have a favorite BBQ sauce, you can simply use that and save some time! Add the sliced whites of the scallions to the sauce before mixing with the chicken.

Ingredients

For the BBQ sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons mustard
1 teaspoon water
1/4 taspoon salt
Black pepper
Dash of hot sauce
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon whiskey (optional; use water as an alternative)
3 scallions, white parts only, thinly sliced

For the pizzettes
About 1/2 cooked chicken breast, shredded (you’ll want a heaping 1/2 cup of shredded chicken)*
One 17-ounce package Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, thawed and cut into 3-inch rounds using a cookie cutter
Salt and pepper to taste
8 ounces sharp cheddar, grated
3 scallions, green parts, thinly sliced

Note: to cook a chicken breast, place it in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then cover the pot, lower the heat, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Shred when cool. You can do this in advance, and if you make extra chicken while you’re at it, you’ll have great pre-meditated leftovers for other cooking projects.

Make the sauce: combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, just until the whiskey taste has burned off.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Arrange the circles on parchment-lined baking sheets at least 1 inch apart.

Place the shredded chicken in a small bowl. Scoop about 5 tablespoons of the barbecue sauce over the chicken and stir to combine. The mixture should be pretty saucy - add more BBQ sauce if needed. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the shredded chicken mixture onto the center of each circle, leaving a “crust” around the edges. It won’t look like much filling, but you don’t want to overload the dough. Sprinkle on on a few pinches of cheese.

Bake the pizzettes for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the edges are brown. The puff pastry circles will have puffed up tremendously! But they’ll sink down again in about a minute.

Sprinkle with the scallion greens and serve.