I found the original version of this recipe in a ward cookbook back from my college days. I made it for Glen when we were newly married and it quickly became one of our first "staples" in our dinner menu. Each of the five kids has also grown to love it, which is an unusual occurrence in our house. Since I found myself making it so often I decided that we needed a few tweaks to liven it up and make it a little healthier (shh...don't tell the kids) . Here's my version, which although a little more time consuming, is better than the original! It's still my most kid requested meal ever.
Click here for printable recipe.
The ingredients:
Instead of using store bought crescents (too expensive and not very healthy), I make this quick one-rise-roll recipe:
1-3/4 cups warm water
3 Tbs. yeast
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar or honey (I prefer honey)
2 eggs
3 Tbs. yeast
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar or honey (I prefer honey)
2 eggs
1 Tbs. salt
5-6 cups flour (I use 1/2 whole wheat, 1/2 white)
Mix all ingredients together and knead for 10 minutes.
While kneading the roll dough, mix the following ingredients together:
2-pkgs. (8-oz. each) cream cheese (I use low fat)
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped red or green pepper
1-can cooked chicken (I use a can from Costco) OR 1-2 cups cooked, diced chicken breasts
Don't bother letting the roll dough rise. After kneading, divide the dough into four equal sections. Roll out each section of dough and with a pizza cutter slice the dough into 8 pieces. Add a heaping spoonful of cream cheese mixture onto the fat end of each piece.
Tuck in the fat end and roll towards the narrow end.
It should look something like this now:
Place rolled crescents onto greased cookie sheet, let rise for 10-15 minutes and bake at 400° for 10-15 minutes. Be careful not to overbake. You'll want to catch them just as they're beginning to brown. Makes 32 crescents or about 8-10 servings. Serve plain or with warm cream of chicken soup to use as a gravy. (I like them better plain, Glen likes it with the soup.)
We usually end up with several leftover crescents which I place into a freezer bag and throw frozen into the kids' lunches. They're perfectly thawed by lunchtime and my kids love getting something besides a sandwich.Enjoy!
