Description
Discover how to make delicious Spicy Bacon Jalapeño Pickle Bites with this easy recipe. Perfect for your next gathering or snack time indulgence!
Ingredients
- 2 sheets premade pizza crust
- 2 large jalapeño peppers, sliced
- 1 jar pickle chips (see notes)
- 8 oz (227 g) cream cheese, softened
- 2 tsp (10 ml) ranch seasoning (see notes)
- 1/2 tsp (3 ml) salt (see notes)
- 5 strips crispy beef bacon, crumbled
- 2 Tbsp (30 ml) pickle juice from the jar
- 2 c shredded cheese (see notes)
- 1 Tbsp (15 ml) melted butter to brush on before baking
- 1/2 tsp (3 ml) Italian seasoning (or any seasoning you like)
- 2 Tbsp (30 ml) freshly grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Begin by cutting your jalapeños into slices. This dish yields 48 bites if you use a similar-sized pizza crust as mentioned earlier. I sliced two jalapeños to have 24 pieces to fill half of my bites. Determine how many bites you want with jalapeños and prepare accordingly. You can remove the seeds to adjust the heat level; I took out most of the seeds for my kids to enjoy.
- For the filling, place the softened cream cheese in a medium bowl and stir to spread it. Gradually incorporate the other ingredients, mixing after each addition in this sequence: seasoning, salt, crumbled bacon, pickle juice, and cheese. Mix until well combined.
- Spread out two sheets of pizza crust on a cuttable surface and divide each into 24 squares. My crusts were 10 inches by 15 inches, so I cut them into 24 squares, each measuring 2.5 inches. (The photos below show just one crust sheet, representing half of the complete recipe.)
- Set your oven to preheat at 425°F and position a rack in the upper third. Lightly oil a cast iron skillet. If a cast iron skillet isn’t available, you can use a 9×13 inch baking dish as an alternative.
- Place your jalapeño slices or pickle chips onto the dough squares. I used one jalapeño slice for each jalapeño bite and two pickle chips for each pickle bite.
- Spoon about 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of filling onto each bite. Ensure all filling is used by distributing it evenly across all 48 bites.
- Individually close each bite by bringing the four corners of the dough together and pressing to seal the edges.
- Arrange the bites in a single layer within the skillet or baking dish. It’s fine if they are snug to fit them all.
- Before baking, brush the bites with melted butter and sprinkle with your choice of seasonings.
- Bake until they achieve a golden hue. I rotated my skillet several times during baking. Initially set for 30 minutes, I decided to extend the baking time to a total of 33 minutes.
- When finished, carefully take the skillet out of the oven and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Then, use a microplane to grate fresh Parmesan over the top.
- Serve your bites while hot and enjoy! I offered them with ranch dressing on the side for dipping.
Notes
- For a more subtle heat, remove the majority of the jalapeño seeds before slicing them for the pickle bites.
- Customize the flavor of the bites by using your preferred blend of shredded cheese.
- Adjust the baking duration as necessary to achieve the desired level of crispiness and golden hue.