Wicked Easy Hot Pockets

I've been trying to catch up on all my fellow bloggers' posts, working in alphabetical order in my reader (grins), trying not to miss a single delicious post. It's taking me a while and I'm about halfway down my reader. In the meantime, when I see something that looks too good to resist, I have to linger and ogle and aaah over it, and before you know it, depending where I am at in my day and what I have in the fridge and pantry, I am in the kitchen whipping it up.

That's the way it was when I saw Lori's (Lori's Lipsmacking Goodness)  post for Wicked Easy Hot Pockets. It was lunchtime, I was starving, and these looked too good to resist.  I checked my sundries and had everything I needed and before I knew it, I was putting these into the oven.

One bite into these, and both Ole Sweetie-Pi and and I knew that these were a keeper.  The biscuit is tender, flaky, and good!  And the filling can be whatever you want it to be.  I  modeled my sandwich after a now-defunct local Italian restaurant's panini sandwich they called "Cement Shoes."  Their version was loaded with pepperoni, salami, turkey, cheese, onions and peppers, and you had to unhinge your jaw to eat it.  I knew there wouldn't be enough room in the hot pockets so I omitted the onions and peppers, but now wish I had found a way to add them or at least a little pizza sauce. I brushed the tops of mine with melted butter and added some grated Parmesan cheese.  Oh my!   These hot pockets are delicious and filling!

Wicked Easy Hot Pockets

(Discovered on Lori's blog, Lori's Lipsmacking Goodness)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 pound (one stick) cold butter
2/3 cup buttermilk

Filling:  Whatever you like!

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray or oil a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, measure flour and add the baking powder, baking soda and salt to the flour;  combine thoroughly.  Dice the butter and add to the flour mixture. "Cut" in the butter using a pastry blender or two knives until you  have a coarse crumb texture.

Make a well in the flour mixture.  Pour in the buttermilk and stir until moistened and knead a few times to make a smooth dough being careful not to overwork the dough.

If you choose a round shape, use a large cookie cutter or drinking glass to cut out your shape Gather up the scraps and reroll the dough as necessary until you have an even number of circles.)

Roll the dough into a rectangle about  3/8" thick.  Slice the dough in half down the long way, and then cut across .(I had 8 rectangles, but actually these were kind of large so perhaps you'd like to make more, smaller, rectangles, just remember you need an equal number.)  After cutting,  using your fingers, slightly flatten the edges all the way around as you'll be doubling the layers.

Now here is where you can get creative.  What's your favorite hot pocket?  You can add pretty much whatever you want here, keeping in mind not to stuff it too much or you'll never be able to get the top layer of dough over and around the filling.  (I rerolled the top dough a little larger than the bottom so there would be "stretch room" as my pocket filling was pretty thick.) Keep the filling away from the edges of the dough as you want a tight seal of pastry..

Once you have your filling in place and the top layer of dough on, go around the edges with a fork and press the edges together.  Piece top layer with fork to vent steam.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden.

Lori, this will be joining our family favorites, a real keeper!  Thank you for sharing your discovery!