Homemade Hot Pockets

Last night's dinner was a rare epic fail.  Last time I had my husband stop at the store for a few things on his way home from work, egg roll wrappers was on the list.  He apparently didn't remember that they would be found in the refrigerated produce section and looked in the shelf stable ethnic food area instead so he brought home spring roll wrappers instead.  Not. The. Same. Thing.  Rather than complaining, since I appreciated the effort, I figured out how to use them and attempted to make chicken spring rolls rather then my chicken egg rolls.

They exploded in the fryer.  

I'm grateful that A) it didn't cause a fire and B) I didn't have all the non-egg rolls in one basket.  I was able to extract the filling from the failed spring rolls to be frozen and saved for sometime when I have actual egg roll wrappers.

But what to do with dinner for that night?  My husband got sent off to work with an empty belly and leftovers from another night and some blueberry muffins, but what about the rest of us?  We needed to eat quickly so the kids could get their bath and get to bed since we needed to get up fairly early this morning to get my daughter in dance class, so making a whole 'nother meal was out of the question.

Frozen homemade "hot pockets" to the rescue!  I'd originally made them for my husband to take to work since they are something he could eat while working if he didn't get a chance to take a full lunch, but they came in handy for this situation too. 

These hot pockets contained some seasoned ground venison, mozzarella cheese, onions, green peppers, and tomatoes fresh from the garden.  The possibilities for what could go in them is endless:  broccoli and cheddar, provolone and tuna, pizza toppings, whatever strikes your fancy!  Because of the endless possibilities, in the actual recipe, the filling will just be referred to as "filling". 

Homemade Hot Pocket Sandwiches

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

4 1/2 tsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp yeast (or 1 pkg yeast)

1 cup + 2 tbsp very warm water

1 1/2 to 2 cups all-purpose flour

4 cups filling

Mix the wheat flour, sugar, salt, butter and yeast in a large bowl.  Add water.  Beat quickly by hand (or on low speed using a mixer of some sort if you want to be like that) for 1 minute, scraping the bowl frequently.  Stir in all-purpose flour one cup at a time, to make the dough easy to handle.  

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead about 10 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl with the greased side of the dough up.  Cover and let rise 40 to 60 minutes or until double.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces.  Roll each piece into an approximately 6 inch circle.  Scoop about 1/2 cup filling into each circle.  Fold over and pinch tightly to shut.  Let rise in a warm place 20 to 30 minutes.  Bake 20 to 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  May be served immediately or frozen after cooled.  To reheat after frozen directly from frozen state, heat in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until hot or microwave.