Got some leftover ham, but don’t know how to repurpose it? These easy ham and cheese bites should help switch it up in the tastiest way possible!
This is a continuation of a ridiculous series called Fun With Pizza Dough, where I make recipes out of store-bought pizza dough. To see my other creations, check out my mini calzones, quesadilla pizza, or my first recipe I ever created, just to name a few.
Christmas is 3 days away.
Where the heck did this season go?? I mean, granted, I haven’t been feeling it most of the season. But still. As I am sticking to my pointers, I feel more and more Christmasy!
We made cookies this week and boy oh boy, am I excited to eat these! I love Christmas cookies if you can’t tell. 😀
And if you didn’t know how much I love my Christmas cookies, you obviously don’t follow my Instagram stories! So do yourself a favor; pause for a second, go follow me on Instagram, and then come back to this post. 😉
Moving away from desserts…
For most of us, the meat of choice on Christmas is ham.
Even though it probably isn’t the most natural (and definitively more processed) meat, I really like the convenience of a spiral ham. I mean, I was going to cut it anyway! And the bottom where they don’t cut will make a great soup… I digress.
At my house, we ditched the whole traditional Christmas dinner a few years ago. Between spending all day slowly opening presents and eating finger foods all day, we are just tired and full. Why push it with a big dinner?
But we do keep one element of the traditional Christmas dinner– you guessed it, the ham.
It’s called the “snack ham”, and basically it gets picked off of when you want a slice. That’s it. Eat what you want, snack when you feel like it. Really, the only structured meal of the day on Christmas is breakfast!
So when we’re done with our snack ham, where should some of those slices go?
Enter the ham and cheese bites.
This is a super simple, super tasty way to use up some of your leftover ham. Feel free to get the kiddos in on the fun too by letting them stuff the dough!
This recipe isn’t just for Christmas either!
Whenever you have ham, you can make ham and cheese bites. I just figured that you’re tryna figure out how to use your leftover ham!
You should be able to use the ham slices you can get by the kielbasa or in the meat section for this recipe as well… just make sure you cut the slices in half so that they’re easier to wrap in a circle. I will get back to you on using deli meat!
What do you usually do with your leftover ham? Let me know in the comments down below!
Cheers dears!
Gem
Easy Ham and Cheese Bites
Got some leftover ham, but don’t know how to repurpose it? These easy ham and cheese hand pies should help switch up in the tastiest way possible!
Yields: 14-16 pieces
- 15 oz. (425g) pizza dough
- 6-7 oz. (170-198g) cheddar cheese, divided
- 8-9 oz. (227-255g) cooked ham slices, cut into 1" (2.5cm) strips
Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C). Lightly grease a sided cookie sheet or muffin tin. Set aside.
Take 5 oz. (142g) of the cheese and cut it into 1/2" (1.25cm) cubes. Shred the other 3 oz. (85g). Set aside.
Flour your work surface and a rolling pin. Cut off 1 oz. (28g) chunks of the dough and flour. Roll out dough until it is a very thin round, about 4" (10cm) in diameter.
Place cheese in the middle of the dough (1-2 cubes), then wrap the ham strips around it. Gather up or pleat the edges together, being sure to not rip the dough. Press the gathered up dough down so it doesnt mound up on the top. Place on your pan of choice. Place in oven for 10 minutes.
When the 10 minutes are up, Pull tray out of the oven. Sprinkle cheese on top of the bites. Place on the top rack for another 5 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and crispy. Remove from tray immediately.
Allow to cool slightly before consuming.
- Preparation time: 20 minutes
- Cook time: 15 minutes
- Total time: 35 minutes
