You know how it is when you’re a parent of kiddos with food allergies… coming up with new fun ways to feed them is difficult. In the last several weeks I’ve really tried to focus on creating new recipes for my girls. They eat well, lots of veggies and whole foods, but every so often I want them to get really, REALLY excited about dinner. Especially a dinner they can help prepare from beginning to end.
When I think back to my childhood, there are several {processed} foods that were favorites of mine, but the two I’ve been wanting to make over most were Hot Pockets and Pizza Rolls. These Grain-Free Aloha Pizza Pockets are my way of combining the two of those favorites, and of course making them healthier and allergy friendly. The girls honestly couldn’t be happier with the end result, and they are so easy to eat; they fit in small hands nicely.
The consistency of this dough isn’t like a pastry crust or a puff pastry, but it is a soft delicious dough that will holds up to its fillings (Course, if you’re looking for a perfect pastry crust recipe, I have one here: Best Gluten-Free Flaky Pie Crust Recipe). Between the girls and my husband, these Grain-Free Pizza Pockets are a hot commodity. We never have any leftover, so I often times will make a double batch. I’m not gonna lie – they are time consuming to make, but having my girls help makes the whole process move along quicker. They are great helpers, and are even more enthusiastic about eating anything they’ve helped prepare (double win for mom!). 🙂
All of OUR love,
Megan, Kylie & Abbi
Grain-Free Aloha Pizza Pockets
Ingredients
- 1 Almond Flour Tortillas recipe
- ½-3/4 cup Pizza Sauce
- ¾-1 cup diced ham or Canadian bacon
- 8 ounces crushed pineapple, drained
Instructions
- Make the Almond Flour Tortillas dough according to recipe directions.
- Form the dough into 8 even balls and place them back in the mixing bowl; cover with a damp paper towel to prevent the dough from drying out.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F).
- Roll a dough ball between 2 pieces of parchment paper into a round tortilla, about 6-6.5 inches in diameter (A tortilla press comes in very handy; just make sure you still use the parchment paper. If your dough isn’t thin enough after using the press, you can use a rolling pin to make it thinner – this is what I do!).
- Peel off the top layer of parchment paper and place about 3-4 teaspoons of pizza sauce just below the center of each dough circle. Spread the pizza sauce only on the bottom half, leaving ½ inch of dough along the edges without any sauce. This is where the pizza pockets will be sealed.
- Top the pizza sauce with a bit of the diced ham, and then some of the crushed pineapple.
- Use the parchment paper to fold the other half of raw dough over the top of the pizza filling. Press the edges to seal together, or use a fork to crimp them together.
- Optional Step: Use a pastry dough cutter, pizza cutter, or a knife to trim the edges to make them look more uniform.
- Place on a large parchment paper or silicone lined baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.
- Rotate the baking tray and bake for another 5 minutes, or until the bottoms of the pizza pockets are golden brown. The top part of the pizza pockets won’t really turn golden in color, so make sure you check the bottoms.
- Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling racks. Serve warm.
Notes
This is a very versatile recipe - you really can use whatever fillings you like. Just be careful not to fill the pockets too full, otherwise the dough will start to rip. Less is more!
I have not tried freezing these, so if you do, please come back and let us know your results.
For a Nut-Free variation: You can try substituting this Gluten Free & Vegan Spinach Tortilla Recipe for the grain-free one I call for above (you can leave out the spinach if you like). Just keep in mind, I haven't tried this myself, so if you do try it please come back and leave a comment with your results.
Aliyanna says
Another allergy mom here….my kids are totally allergic to nuts…esp almonds…..can you think of a good sub that would work as well?
We have tried pumpkin seeds…but they don’t make a fine powder…tooo oily. Allergic to most seeds. One of those things where if it tastes good….spit it out!!!! lol
Megan says
Hi Aliyanna,
This is listed above in the recipe notes section of the recipe:
“For a Nut-Free variation: You can try substituting this Gluten Free & Vegan Spinach Tortilla Recipe for the grain-free one I call for above (you can leave out the spinach if you like). Just keep in mind, I haven’t tried this myself, so if you do try it please come back and leave a comment with your results.”
😉 Megan
Hayley says
Are they allergic to sunflower seeds? Sunflower seed flour is supposed to make a good almond flour substitute.
Karen says
I made these but used my own sauce and changed up the toppings. They were a hit!!! I got thumbs up, got asked for more. Thank you Megan for sharing delicious and healthy recipes that keep us healthy!!!!
THANK YOU!!!
Megan says
You totally made my day, Karen! 😉 You are so welcome – very happy to hear they were hit!
Terri says
Megan I had made these tortillas several times and they are my go to almost everyday useful item! Thank you so much for all your hard work and for sharing your recipes. One question I do have is that when I have made these I used expandex modified starch tapioca so I think they might be turning out softer and way more pliable than what yours are. This might not be a bad thingfor the tortillas however, for the pie pocket, I can see them being to rubbery or soft. I will need it use just the typical tapioca to see if that changes it. Again thank you so much for all your help.
Megan says
Hi Terri,
You’re welcome – I’m so happy you’ve enjoyed the tortillas! I can’t use expandex because it’s modified – I have to be really careful with modified foods due to my autoimmune diseases. 😉 That said – I did recently update the grain free tortillas recipe to increase the amount of powdered psyllium husk used. It make a big difference in how pliable the tortillas were. So if you’re working off of an old copy of the recipe, please go print yourself out a fresh one!
Megan
Cindy (Vegetarian Mamma) says
You nailed this one!! Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂 I can’t wait to see what you share this week! Its LIVE!
Cindy
Sherry http://www.lifewithallergies.net says
I can’t wait to try out your recipes! My son is allergic to dairy and would be delightful for him if I can serve such wonderfully looking meals. Even I got hungry just by looking at your photos!
Megan says
Sherry, you are so sweet to say that. Thank you very much! 😉
Angie Lockard says
Hi Megan!
I made a ton of these one day and froze some. We put them in the oven at 350 straight from the freezer and had no trouble with it at all. They tasted like I’d just made them. They didn’t last long, though (not even the frozen ones). 😉
Thanks for the treat! We all love these! 🙂
Angie