Easy Chicken Crescent Rolls

This is a quick dinner that uses up leftover turkey or chicken.  From my mom.

INGREDIENTS

• 3oz cream cheese, softened

• 2 T butter, melted

• 2 cups diced cooked chicken or turkey

• 1/2 t salt

• 1/4 t pepper

• 2-3 T milk

• 1 T chopped chives (or a bit of onion seasoning and dried parsley)

• 2 cans crescent rolls

• 1 T melted butter

• 2 T seasoned bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS
1.  Blend cream cheese and butter in a large bowl.
2.  Add chicken, salt, pepper, milk and chives.  Mix well.
3.  Separate crescents into triangles, spoon chicken mixture at base of each triangle and roll up.
4.  Brush the top of each crescent with butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
5.  Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (egg-free) & Cookies

This is Curly's favorite!  She loves to make and eat cookie dough and she loves that I let her with this egg free recipe.  These make great cookie dough balls for chocolate fondue too!  Just make them extra small and freeze them ideally for at least an hour before dipping.  Adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe: Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies {Egg-Free} YIELD: MAKES 2-3 DOZEN COOKIES

INGREDIENTS
 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips work best

DIRECTIONS
If you're making cookies and not just dough, preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and line baking sheets with parchment or silpat liners.

Put the flour in an even layer in a large 12-inch skillet and, over medium heat, cook it, stirring often, until it’s golden.  Remove from skillet and let cool.

In a large bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer, cream together the cream cheese, melted butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Mix in the vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients and mix until mostly incorporated by a few dry streaks remain. Add the chocolate chips and mix until combined and no dry streaks remain. Roll the dough into 1 to 1 1/2-inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten each ball slightly with the palm of your hand (just barely press, you don't need to flatten it all the way).

Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes until the edges are just barely golden brown. Let the cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

If you just want cookie dough bites to eat, use your cookie scoop to measure onto a baking sheet.  Smooth dough into balls by rolling with your hands.  Then press slightly so they are like little disks.  Freeze for about an hour before removing form baking sheet and putting in a freezer safe container.

Sausage Cornbread Dressing

This recipe has become a tradition with the East Coast Bylund Thanksgivings...I look forward to it more then anything else (besides pie of course!)  Recipe adapted from Our Best Bites.



Ingredients:9×13″ pan of regular cornbread (I usually make this buttermilk cornbread recipe 3 days beforehand.
16-19 ounces Italian sausage, sweet or mild
1 large onion, finely chopped4 stalks celery, finely chopped1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and finely chopped 3/4 c. chicken broth1/4 c. melted salted butterSage (2 teaspoons rubbed sage or 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh chopped sage)Rosemary (1/2 teaspoon dry or  1 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary leaves)Thyme (1/2 teaspoon dry or 1 teaspoon thyme leaves stripped from the woody stems) 1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (plus more if necessary)Tabasco sauce to taste

Instructions:Make the cornbread, 2-3 days beforehand, and leave on the counter to dry out.

Preheat oven to 375.

Crumble the pan of cornbread into a  very large bowl. Set aside.

*(Note this step can be done 1-2 days ahead of time and then just refrigerate the pre-cooked sausage and the onion/celery/apple mixture).  Crumble the Italian sausage into a hot skillet and brown it over medium heat. Transfer the crumbled sausage to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.  If there are 2 tablespoons of rendered sausage drippings in the pan, add the chopped celery, apples, and onions. If not, add enough olive oil to have around 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan and add the chopped ingredients when the oil is hot. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent and fragrant. 

Add the onion/celery/apple mixture to the crumbled cornbread. Add the sausage and chopped herbs and toss until combined. Add the chicken broth and melted butter and toss to combine well. Season with salt and Tabasco to taste.

Press the cornbread mixture into a 9×13″ pan and bake for 30-40 minutes in the preheated oven or until the top is golden brown. Serves about 12.