Chicken, Broccoli and Cheese Pockets

When I was in high school, I ate Hot Pockets all the time for lunch. I thought they were good. When I graduated from college and got a job as a paralegal, I switched to Lean Pockets. But I still ate them nearly every day.

And then I grew up, went to law school and had children of my own. And I haven't eaten Hot Pockets in years.

But I had a sudden craving the other day for a Hot Pocket. Random, I know.  And I thought, how hard can it be to make something like that? I had this can of seamless crescent roll sheets in my fridge because I saw it at the grocery and thought they looked neat. I had thought that I would make some sort of dessert with them, but I just never got around to it.

The pockets were a huge hit with my husband and my kids. And believe it or not, they homemade ones taste a little better than the frozen version.

This could not be simpler.

Steam a 10 oz. box of frozen chopped broccoli according to the directions on the package. You'll only need half of it, so the other half of it can be your kids' dinner vegetable.

Boil a chicken breast until cooked through. Chop it up.

Grate some cheddar cheese. About a cup.

Measure 1/4 cup of mayo and some salt, pepper and garlic powder. The garlic powder is a must.

Unroll the dough. If you get the seamless sheets, you don't have to pinch together the annoying perforated lines of normal crescent rolls. Life is too short to be annoyed by crescent roll dough.

Cut it into four (relatively) equal portions like this.

Take the chopped chicken, the chopped broccoli you cooked, the cheddar cheese and the mayo to hold it all together and combine it all to make the filling. Season it with the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Don't leave out the garlic powder. It adds a lot of flavor. Have I already said that once?  Oh.  Have I mentioned that I love garlic?

Okay, now your mixture will look like this:


Divide the filling equally among the four pieces of dough. Fold the dough over the filling and squeeze the sides together to make a pocket like this:


They sort of look like empanadas.

I used parchment paper on my baking sheet to ensure no stickage occurred.  Bake until nice and golden brown like this:




They will be gooey, cheesy and delicious inside like this:

Do you like my flower power plate?  I got these plates as a wedding gift.  My wedding was eight years ago
this week.  Wow, time flies.

Yum! Make you some homemade hot pockets soon!!  And serve them on a plate you got for your wedding.  They taste better that way. 

Chicken, Broccoli & Cheese Pockets
1 8 oz. package seamless Crescent dough sheets
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup chopped cooked chicken (about 1 chicken breast)
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped broccoli, cooked (you'll need about 1/2 of a 10-oz box of frozen chopped broccoli)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Unroll the dough and cut it into four equal portions. Mix remaining ingredients together in a bowl. Divide filling equally among the four squares of dough, fold the dough over the filling and make a pocket by pinching the sides together.

Bake for 20 minutes or so until golden brown.