Date Night Dinners - Pot Pie Bites

5/16/2014 tringel 0 Comments

Brenden and I have been talking about making pot pies for weeks. Each week when date night comes around we bring up the idea once again, but somehow convince each other that we should save it for the next week. It is either going to take to long, or we don't have the ingredients, or one of us is in the mood for something else, whatever the reason, it usually means we will not do pot pies that week. Well this was the week. We finally found a pot pie recipe that was simple, quick, and wouldn't break the bank (although we have never made pot pie before so this could be true for all recipes). Most importantly, this recipe left out the hassle of making or at least using pie dough.


Using Pinterest, of course, we found this neat recipe for pot pie bites. These little delights are made using biscuits (umm, win right there) rather then pie, and are great for measuring individual servings - 1 biscuit, 1 pot pie, 1 serving. Easy Peasy.


We decided to cook out own chicken since we had some waiting for us in the fridge, but the original recipe used cooked chicken to make it even easier. We then heated all of the other ingredients and spooned the mixture into the biscuit dough. Closing the biscuits was the hardest part. We had to make sure the dough was stretched enough and the scoop was the perfect size for each biscuit. Brenden took over scooping duty since I am notorious for over stuffing everything. On taco night, half my taco is usually eaten off my plate because all of the toppings are squished out after the first bite or two. Although Brenden worked at a pizzaria, I took over the dough stretching. Let's just say...he has some dough issues to work out. I found that holding the stretched biscuit in the palm of my hand and having the filling scooped into the center worked best. It made it easier to ensure everything stayed inside while pinching the dough closed. But, if you don't want to get as messy a counter fork will do (just make sure you cover the surface with flour so your dough doesn't stick).
I was extremely impressed with how well these came out. We had popped the filled biscuits in the oven, crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. We were nervous filling would quickly seep out the edges of the biscuits they baked or that outside would bake faster then the inside and we would be left to eat raw dough. Happily, this was not the case. The outsides were perfectly golden with the right amount of crisp. The inside dough was cooked fully and the filling remained intact, was not dry and had a fantastic ratio of mixings in each bite. We also made an unusually smart choice (for us) of checking on the pot pies halfway through the baking process. Our source recipe called for these to bake for 30-35 minutes. When we checked at 15, they were almost perfect. We let them bake a few minutes longer to ensure a cooked inside, but took them out after 17-18 minutes to prevent the bottom from burning. I am guessing the cooking time depends on the brand of biscuits, the strength of your oven, and the thinness you spread the biscuits to. We made ours about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick while spreading. But in any case, my one recommendation would be to check while baking. It will make you a very happy camper.

Pot Pie Bites
Recipe adapted from yummyhealthyeasy.com, Easy Hand Held Pot Pies

Ingredients

• 1 package Pillsbury Grands Biscuits
• 3 thin sliced chicken breasts
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1-10.5 oz can cream of chicken soup
• 1-10.8 oz bag mixed frozen veggies, microwaved
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a skillet, cook the chicken completely.
2. Once cooked through, remove the chicken to cool until able to handle.
3. While chicken is cooling, add the onion to the same skillet and cook on medium heat until soft.
4. As the onion cooks, shred the chicken.
5. When onion is tender, turn the heat to low and add the chicken back into the skillet along with the soup veggies and seasonings to heat everything.
6. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
7. Open the package of biscuits, take one biscuit and pull the dough with your hands to flatten and spread.
8. Place a small scoop of the chicken fill in the center of the dough.
9. Fold the dough around the mixture, to make a half circle shape and pinch the dough closed with your fingers or a fork.
10. Place the filled dough on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking oil.
11. Repeat steps 7-10 until all of the buscuits are used.
12. Place baking tray in oven and cook for 15-18 minutes or until the outside is golden brown and the middle is cooked.
13. Remove from oven and serve. Eat right away, but be careful, the middle is hot!