Chicken Squares

Here is a recipe from my husband's side of the family. As I may have mentioned before, my mother-in-law is an amazing cook. She found the inspiration for this recipe in a magazine when my husband was a baby. It's evolved over the years into a family favorite, which my husband made for me for the very first time this week. Let's just say, I'm a believer in Chicken Squares now. The crusty, flaky, buttery pastry opens to reveal a molten hot filling of creamy, cheesy, fragrant chicken. Be careful, because these little babies are additively good.

Chicken Squares

2 tubes of 6 Pillsbury crescent rolls
1 10-ounce can of chicken breast meat, drained
(note: 1 cup leftover cooked chicken, shredded, will also work)
8 ounces of cream cheese
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
Dash of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Apply cooking spray to a large baking sheet and set aside.

Roll out the crescent dough and divide into rectangles, pinching the seam of the 2 triangles together to form oblong rectangles of dough.

In a medium bowl, combine chicken, cream cheese, onion, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper, creaming the ingredients together.

Spoon a dollop of the chicken mixture onto one side of each crescent rectangle. Fold one end of the rectangle over the filling to form a square. Pinch the dough together around the edges to seal, and place the squares on prepared sheet.

Bake the chicken squares for 20-25 minutes or until the crescent rolls are golden brown. Serve immediatly with rice and peas. Yield 6-8 chicken squares.

(Or if you're like me and don't like peas, then you can have green beans instead!)

Edit/Update: I have gotten so much great feedback on this post, that I wanted to share with you some of the variations and ideas I've heard about from readers who have experimented with it!

• adding bell peppers or other veggies to the filling
  
• adding shredded Swiss cheese to the filling
  
• adding ranch seasoning mix to the filling
• adding fresh herbs to the filling
• adding bleu cheese crumbles and Texas Pete Hot Sauce to the filling
  
• using broken-up meatloaf and shredded sharp cheddar cheese as the filling
• using taco-seasoned ground beef and Mexican cheese as the filling, serve with guacamole and sour cream
• using ground beef hash as the filling, serve with ketchup
• using ricotta, spinach, and chicken as the filling
• using cheddar, ham, pineapple as the filling
  
• using granny smith apple, cheddar, bacon as the filling
  

The possibilities are endless!!! I'd love to hear what else you come up with, dear readers - I love hearing from you when you've tried my recipes. I especially enjoy hearing about how each reader adds their own creative tweak to these recipes! Feel free to post comments or to email me!