Pizza Skulls Are the Deliciously Spooky Snack You Need This Halloween

4.8
(6)

Nothing not to love here! They’re so fun and festive—perfect for your next Halloween party.

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5 golden-brown pizza skulls, one broken into revealing a cheesy pepperoni interior, served with a marinara dipping sauce.
2
Active Time:
20 mins
Total Time:
45 mins
Servings:
6 servings

These festive skull-shaped pizza bites went viral on TikTok—and for good reason. They’re cheesy, saucy, the perfect amount of crispy, and incredibly festive for Halloween. What’s not to love?

Whether you want an appetizer for your Halloween party or a fun, quick dinner before trick-or-treating, you need to know how to make these pizza skulls using store-bought pizza dough and your favorite pizza toppings.

5 golden-brown pizza skulls, one broken into revealing a cheesy pepperoni interior, served with a marinara dipping sauce.

Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

How To Make Pizza Skulls

To make the viral pizza skulls, you’ll need a special skull mold pan to get the correct shape. Our recipe developer Nicole Hopper recommends Nordic Ware’s Haunted Skull Cakelet Pan because it’s heavy-duty and has the right amount of depth for the pizza-stuffed dough. However, you can find many other skull-shaped pans at retailers during the Halloween season—and most will work, as long as they have large skull shapes so you can fit all that filling!

You’ll find the full recipe below, but to make pizza skulls, you’ll start by cutting the store-bought pizza dough into six squares. Then, lay the dough over the skull molds and fill them with mozzarella, pizza sauce, pepperoni, Parmesan, and Italian seasoning. Once all six are filled, you’ll fold the dough together and tightly seal it so no filling escapes in the oven—though, if it does, it’ll just make the pizza skulls that much scarier. Bake the pizza skulls until they’re lightly browned and serve with any dipping sauces you like. 

What To Add to Pizza Skulls

This recipe calls for traditional pizza ingredients including mozzarella cheese and pepperoni, however, you can fill the skulls with any toppings you normally add to pizza. 

Just make sure the toppings are chopped small enough to fit inside the skulls—and don’t overstuff the dough. Our test kitchen recommends one tablespoon of each topping maximum.

How To Store Pizza Skulls

You can store pizza skulls in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to two days. Reheat them in the oven at 350 degrees F until warmed through.

Editorial Contributions by Bailey Fink

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Ingredients

Original recipe (1X) yields 6 servings servings

  • 1 (13.8-oz.) can refrigerated pizza crust dough (such as Pillsbury)

  • 4 1/2 ounces low moisture part skim mozzarella, shredded (about 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp.)

  • 3/4 cup pizza sauce, plus more for serving

  • 6 tablespoons mini pepperoni (from 1 [5-oz.] pkg.)

  • 1 1/2 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (about 6 Tbsp.)

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning

Directions

  1. Gather all ingredients.

    all ingredients to make pizza skulls gathered on a kitchen counter.

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

  2. Preheat oven to 400℉. Working on a clean surface, roll out dough to a 15- x 10-inch rectangle. Cut dough into 6 (5- x 5-inch) squares.

    prepared dough, rolled out, and cut into 6 equal sized rectangles.

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

  3. Working with one piece of dough at a time, lay one square of dough in one cavity of a nonstick 6-cavity skull-shaped cakelet pan.

    a single rectangle pressed into the skull pan

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

  4. Fill the dough by layering 1 tablespoon mozzarella, 1 tablespoon pizza sauce, 1 tablespoon pepperoni, 1 tablespoon mozzarella, 1 tablespoon pizza sauce, 1 tablespoon mozzarella, 1 tablespoon parmesan, and 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning in the center of the dough square.

    skull pocket being filled with marinara, pepperoni, and cheese.

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

  5. Fold sides of dough together and pinch tightly to seal, trimming and discarding any excess dough if necessary.

    dough rectangle folded over filling and pressed to seal.

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

  6. Repeat filling and sealing process with remaining dough squares and remaining cheese, pizza sauce, pepperoni, and Italian seasoning.

    all six skull molds filled, ready to bake.

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

  7. Bake in preheated oven until baked through and lightly golden, 16 to 18 minutes.

    six pizza skulls, baked golden-brown, cooling in the pan.

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

  8. Carefully remove baked skulls from pan and transfer to a serving plate. Let cool 5 minutes before serving with additional pizza sauce for dipping, if desired.

    6 golden-brown pizza skulls on a white platter.

    Dotdash Meredith Food Studios

Nutrition Facts (per serving)

298 Calories
12g Fat
35g Carbs
12g Protein
Nutrition Facts
Servings Per Recipe 6
Calories 298
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 12g 16%
Saturated Fat 5g 23%
Cholesterol 24mg 8%
Sodium 705mg 31%
Total Carbohydrate 35g 13%
Dietary Fiber 2g 7%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 12g 24%
Vitamin C 4mg 4%
Calcium 191mg 15%
Iron 2mg 13%
Potassium 215mg 5%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

** Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-) Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.