These Chicken Crescent Pockets aka Chicken Muffins are one of my favorite recipes inspired by my sister!! This is my own remix of Pillsbury’s Chicken Crescent Squares, my sister made this recipe once and it was good…but was missing something to make it AMAZING! After many years of tweaks and experimentation, I’ve finally made it into a perfect masterpiece that my whole family loves.
When I first went dairy-free this was the one recipe I was SO sad about saying goodbye to, since it’s made with cream cheese and butter. I really try to limit my use of “dairy-substitutes” but this is one recipe I make an exception for and have been able to swap out some products to make it dairy-free. You obviously can choose to make it with regular cream cheese and butter or use dairy free options, either way it is DELIGHTFUL!
Chicken Crescent Pockets
Ingredients:
- 1 package (8 oz) Daiya Dairy-Free Cream Cheese, softened
- 1 tablespoon Earth Balance Dairy-Free butter, softened
- 2 cups cubed cooked chicken (I season my chicken with Montreal Steak Seasoning)
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 3 stalks of celery, chopped
- 1 tablespoon flavorless liquid cooking coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon jalapeño pepper, seeded & minced (optional) – I like a little spice to these, by seeding the pepper the spice is very subtle
- 1/2 lb (approx. half a bag) sweet baby peppers, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons dairy-free milk (I use almond or cashew milk)
- 2 cans (8 oz) Pillsbury™ refrigerated Big & Flakey crescent rolls (you only use a can and a half, so you’ll have a few extra crescents for later!)
- 1 tablespoon butter, melted
- 3/4 cup seasoned croutons, crushed
- Non-Stick cooking spray
- Large Muffin Pan (optional but highly recommend)
Instructions:
1. Heat liquid coconut oil over medium heat, add chopped onions, peppers, and celery, stirring occasionally, cook until soft and onions are translucent (about 10-15 minutes)
2. Heat oven to 350°F.
In medium bowl, mix cream cheese and 1 tablespoon softened butter; beat until smooth.
Tip: Heat cream cheese and butter into the microwave for 1 minute to soften, then beat until smooth
3. Add cooked chicken, sautéed veggies, jalapeño, salt, pepper, and dairy-free milk to cream cheese and butter mixture; mix well.
4. Spray large muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray
5. Separate dough into rectangles, firmly press perforations to seal. Once you have a rectangle, take two sides of the rectangle and firmly press edges together to seal create a little triangle looking cup. Place the cup into the muffin pan. Tip: It’s easier to make one dough cup at a time, fill, make the next cup, fill, etc.
6. Spoon chicken mixture into your little dough cup, (a few spool fulls) You want to fill the cup but don’t fill it too full or you won’t be able to close the top and seal it. Once filled, take the two edges of the dough and cross them over the top, pinch edges to seal.
Tip: It took me forever to figure out how to seal these little pockets quickly and easily, practice definitely makes perfect. You don’t have to use a muffin tin to make these, the original recipe has you seal the dough into squares, but I found using a muffin tin the easiest way to fill and seal the dough.
7. Brush tops of “chicken muffins” with 1 tablespoon melted butter; sprinkle with crushed croutons.
Tip: I toss the croutons in a food processor to crush
8. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Tip: These can get a little messy while cooking, some of the filling will start to spill out in the oven. I place the muffin tin on a baking sheet when I put it in the oven, so any overflow that falls out of the muffins will land on the baking sheet instead of making a mess in the oven!
