After-School-Snack: Pizza Muffins

Pizza Muffins

As an after-school-snack or for an at-home-tailgate party or a quick lunch with a crisp green salad, these frozen mini pizzas are ideal since they are made ahead and ready to go.  It only takes about 30 minutes to thaw and I often pull the pizzas out the night before and thaw in the refrigerator.  These Pizza Muffins are a staple in my freezer.

1 ½ pounds ground beef

Salt & pepper

¼ cup chopped onion

15 ounces pizza sauce

¼ cup chopped mushrooms

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon oregano

6 split English muffins, toasted

1 ½ cups mozzarella

In a large skillet, cook the ground beef and onion, and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in the sauce, mushrooms, sugar and oregano and cook for 5 minutes more.  Spoon about a ¼ cup of the beef mixture onto the toasted muffin and sprinkle each top with the mozzarella. Place the pizza muffins on a baking sheet and place in the freezer for 1 hour.  Transfer the frozen muffins to a sealed plastic bag and keep frozen until use.  When ready to eat, pull the number of muffins you want to serve from the freezer and thaw in the refrigerator. Return the remaining muffins to the freezer.  Place the muffins on a baking sheet and bake in a 350 oven for approximately 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.