RECIPE: Chicken Rolls

This has been a family favorite since my kids were little.  Originally baked in the kitchen oven.  It has also been done an uncounted number of times in a Dutch Oven while camping.

I was trying out our newly posted "Homemade Crescent Roll Dough" recipe.  I had a batch of dough that had been refrigerated over night.  I used 1/3 of the dough from the 32 roll batch recipe.  The dough was removed from the fridge and left on the counter still in a zip lock bag to warm up to room temperature (About 15 minutes).  Also see tips on refrigerating and freezing yeast dough in  our Bread Making 101 article.

The dough was then turned out on a floured pastry board and rolled in a square as much as possible between 1/8 and 1/4 inch thick.  I was able to cut (5) 6x6 inch squares.  The chicken filling was divided and placed in the middle of each square.  Then the 4 dough corners were pulled up over the filling and pinched together.  These were set in a warm place to let the dough rise (20 Minutes)

Ingredients

Crescent Roll dough to make (5) 6x6 inch squares 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick (See Dough Recipe)
      This amount of dough is about 1/3 of a 32 Crescent Roll batch of dough
1 1/2 Cups of cooked cubed chicken (Great use for those rotisserie chickens if pressed for time)
1/2 Medium Sweet Onion Finely diced
1 Garlic Clove Fresh peeled and minced
2 Tbls Butter
2 Tbls Cilantro dried flakes
1 Cup Frozen Green Peas (Canned or Fresh could be used-or substitute chopped Broccoli or steamed spinach)
Salt and Pepper to taste (start with a pinch of each
8 oz Philadelphia Cream Cheese


Topping
2 Tbls Melted Butter
2 Tbls Bread Crumbs

-------------------------------

 
Preheat oven to 375°

Dough
Roll out your dough on a floured pastry board.  Roll to about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.  You need to get 5 6x6 inch squares.  See our homemade Crescent Roll Recipe.

You can use store bought tubes of crescent roll dough too.  Using the tube type take 2 of the triangle shaped pieces of dough and pinch together to create a square.

Prep your dough squares and let them stand at room temperature while you prepare the filling.

Filling
In 2 Tblsp butter, saute the onion and garlic until just translucent.  Add the chicken, cilantro flakes, Pea's, salt and pepper.  Stir over low to medium heat until the frozen peas thaw and partially cook (if spinach is used add it just prior to spooning the filling on the dough) .  Turn the heat off and add the Cream Cheese in small chunks.  Stir occasionally until cheese softens and the mixture is consistent.  Divide and heap spoonfuls in the center of each square.  Pull up the four corners of the dough up over the top of the heaped filling an pinch together to hold the dough in place. Let the dough raise about 15 minutes in a warm place.

Topping
Just before baking the chicken squares brush the tops with melted butter.  Then sprinkle the tops with bread crumbs.

Bake at 375° for 12-14 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.  These are best served hot.  But they also make a heck of a good sandwich when they are cold.

Serves 5