Homemade Pizza Pockets

  A few weeks ago, we needed to hurry home from church on Sunday to get a few things done around the house. We live about an hour from church and you can imagine the appetites we work up on the way home.

Even if you eat a big breakfast you will still be FAMISHED by lunchtime. So we try to bring a snack for the way home or we might hit Little Caesars and completely demolish one pepperoni and two cheese pizzas in the blink of an eye. Anyways, I thought I might try making pizza pockets and see if we could be spared a stop on the way home and the I-might-chew-off-your-arm-if-I-don't-eat-now disease that occurs if you wait too long to eat lunch on Sundays.

 These were a hit and I think we may end up having them again soon. (All of them were eaten except for one that an onion-hater accidently bit and discovered that there were onions and [gasp!] green peppers inside...)

You can add sausage, ham, onion, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, etc. too!

Pizza Pockets:

Makes about a dozen

Dough:
4-5c. flour
1 1/2c. warm water
1/4c. oil
2 Tbsp. yeast
1/4c. sugar
1 tsp. salt

Fillings:
pizza sauce
mozzarella cheese
pepperonis
sausage, sautéed onions, peppers, etc. (optional)

1 egg, beaten

1. Mix the warm water and yeast together and let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. In the bowl of a mixer, combine the 4 cups of flour, oil, salt, and sugar. Pour in the yeast and water mixture and knead until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. (You will probably need to add the remaining cup of flour to it.) Place the dough into a greased bowl and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.
2. Preheat the oven to 375F and lightly grease a cookie sheet. Roll out a small ball of dough into a rectangle (about the size of a small baseball/large golf ball) about a 1/4in. thick. On one half of the rectangle, spread pizza sauce, sprinkle on the mozzarella, and top with pepperonis. Fold over the other side and pinch together the seams. Place it on the cookie sheet and poke a clean fork through the top a few times. Brush with the egg and when the pan is full (the pockets should be at least an inch away from each other so they don't rise and collide while baking) bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.

Coffee Cake!

    Doesn't everyone need a good, moist coffee cake in their lives now and then? (Specifically, every other Saturday morning?)

 

This was so yummy! (It almost tasted like a real cake!) I think I ate two or three pieces at breakfast and another piece and a half as a snack later...

 

 

Coffee Cake Recipe:

Serves 8-10

 

1c. butter

1 1/2c. sugar

4 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

4c. flour

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 1/2c. milk with 1 tsp. of lemon juice added to it

 

 

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. In a mixer bowl cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, beating well after each addition, and the vanilla.

2. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in another bowl and add to the butter and sugar mixture. Add the milk/lemon juice and stir until no streaks of flour remain.

3. Grease a 9x13 or 12in. round cake pan (I grease the pan, line the bottom with wax paper, and then grease it again. I think I've been traumatized by cakes not coming out in one piece, so I have to take safety precautions. ;) ) and pour the batter in. Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few crumbs attached.

 

~Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction (I love this site!)