We all know the drill. Scrambling to get lunches packed, breakfast eaten, teeth brushed, clothes on, maybe showered. There is a lot to do before leaving the house for work/school in the morning! One of the ways I try to streamline that process for our household is to prepare breakfast foods over the weekend that can go into the freezer to be pulled out throughout the week. Muffins, mini-frittatas, spinach pop-outs, waffles, pancakes, oatmeal, I make them all. But even with all of that variety, my kids have been starting to get a little sick of the offerings. So I wanted to come up with a different option: breakfast pockets.
That’s right. I wanted to come up with homemade hot pockets (a treat I was never allowed to have as a kid, but that’s a story for another post).
I love these pockets! While they do require a bit of work (about 30 minutes of active time, plus time for baking, etc.), they are so flexible and are an awesome vehicle for getting some more vegetables and protein into the mix. Another added bonus: they are very portable! This makes them great for families who eat breakfast on the go.
My favorite thing about these pockets, though, is the flexibility. Do you like eggs for breakfast? Throw them in the pocket! Veggie or real sausage? A great addition! Got leftover vegetables. Delicious! You can really stuff them with anything you like. You could even make them sweet with fruit filling—I bet they’d be amazing with apples and peanut butter inside, for example. You can really make them from whatever you’ve got knocking around that sounds appealing to you, all you need to do is make up about 3-4 cups of filling and you are good to go.
Some of the combinations that we have tried so far and have enjoyed are:
- Eggs, broccoli, mushroom, & cheese
- Veggie breakfast sausage, egg, and cheese
- Egg, broccoli, black beans, and cheese
- Broccoli, ham, and cheese
As you can see, the options are endless so you’ll never get sick of them. Gotta love that!
- DOUGH (if this step is too much, you can always use store bought pastry dough):
- 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt
- ½ cup (8 tablespoons) cold, unsalted butter cut into cubes
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup very cold water, plus more as needed
- FILLING:
- 1 ½ cup broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)
- ¾ cup grated cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, Monterey jack)
- ½ cup black beans
- 4 eggs
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- pepper, to taste
- EGG WASH (optional):
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- To make the dough, combine flours and salt in a medium bowl and mix well. Using a pastry blender or your fingertips, blend butter into the flour mixture until it’s roughly the size of small peas.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together egg and water. Pour over dry ingredients and mix with a fork until dough begins to come together. If still shaggy, add additional water to help the dough come together, 1 tablespoon at a time. Dump out onto a well-floured surface. Knead dough a few times and carefully gather together into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes, preferably one hour.
- While the dough is chilling, prepare the filling. Put the broccoli into a medium sized, microwave-safe bowl and add about 1 tablespoon of water. Microwave for 2 minutes, or until slightly softened.
- Drain and chop the broccoli.
- Melt the butter in a medium-sized skillet. Once it is melted, crack all four eggs into the pan and scramble with spatula or wooden spoon. Salt and pepper to taste.
- Put the broccoli, scrambled eggs, cheese, and spices into a large bowl and mix well.
- Preheat the oven to 400 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- While the oven preheats, remove the the pastry dough from the refrigerator and place it onto a lightly-floured surface and divide into twelve equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
- One by one, roll each ball flat, into a circle about 4-5 inches in diameter. Place about ¼ cup of the filling onto the circle and fold over to form a half-moon shape. Pinch the sides together to seal and place them on the baking sheet.
- When all twelve are made, brush all of them with the egg wash (optional) and then bake them for 25-30 minutes, until turning golden on top.
- To freeze the empanadas: cool to room temperature and place into a freezer bag. When you want to defrost one microwave for 45 seconds, or until warm through.
Leave a Reply