Your Ice Cube Trays Are The Secret Weapon For Perfect Homemade Pizza Rolls

So you want to make homemade pizza rolls. Thanks to the internet, you may be thinking about trying to recreate your favorite elementary school snack with the popular "throw your filling in wonton wraps and toss 'em in the oven" hack. However, while this recipe may make the whole process of prepping homemade pizza rolls easier, we're going to have to Obi-Wan this one. We don't think this is the pizza roll hack you're looking for. 

For one thing, because it relies on shaping your homemade pizza pockets via human hands, you'll likely be cooking up a less-than-stellar-looking variation of the childhood staple. And, most importantly, because it's made with wontons and not dough, the pizza rolls that come from this time-saving trick will likely fall short of what your taste buds are expecting. No, if you want to make some childhood nostalgia-inducing homemade pizza rolls, you're going to need to get your hands on a top-secret weapon.

The kitchen tool in question has been utilized to make instant coffee cubes, chocolate candy, and even meal-prep pancakes. We're talking, of course, about ice cube trays. Here's why this freezer must-have is the key to making perfectly shaped, dough-based homemade pizza rolls.

There is only one surefire way that chefs can create a perfectly shaped cake, cookie, or pizza roll — by using a mold. And square-shaped ice cube trays are the mold you need to turn dough into beautiful square-shaped pizza rolls. Here's how.

After combining the ingredients you'll be using as your rolls' fillings, you should prep your ice cube trays by coating them with either flour or non-stick cooking spray. Then, you can layer your rolled-out dough (we suggest using regular pizza dough for this recipe) onto the trays. Once your pizza roll base is laid, you'll need to press down the dough into pockets, then divide out the stuffing into each serving. After that, add on a top layer of dough, cut away the extra parts hanging off the ice cube trays, and seal the two dough halves together. Then, flip the pizza rolls out of the secret weapon and onto a baking sheet.

Before you bake them, you're going to want to cut the dough into single pizza roll servings. Once you've done that, you can pop the pastries in the oven at 425 degrees and get ready to enjoy some perfectly square, dough-based pizza rolls.

So now that you know the basics of making homemade pizza rolls with ice cube trays, here are some tips that will help you master the art form. If you want to take extra care to ensure your beautiful pizza rolls hold their shape, let your snack freeze in their ice cube tray before you bake them. By allowing your dough to firm up, you'll be able to prevent your pizza rolls from coming undone when you flip them onto a baking sheet. And if you don't want your pizza rolls to fall apart while they are baking, you need to be wary of putting too much filling into each portion. Just like a pie, overfilling your rolls with cheese will cause the excess ingredients to rise and make your pizza pockets pop open and spill onto the baking tray.

Speaking of homemade pizza roll fillings, with help from some ice cube trays, you can put any ingredients you want inside your homemade treats. Double mozzarella-cheese-filled and sausage-stuffed supreme pizza pastries are definitely within your reach. But if you aim to make rolls that are a near replica of Totinos' beloved pizza-influenced snack, we suggest filling your pastries with pepperoni, chicken, beef, mozzarella, and tomato sauce.