So I was planning on blasting you with a Tuesday Things post yesterday, but that clearly didn’t happen. Between dinner [a grilled turkey burger with cheddar, fried egg, and BBQ sauce on a kaiser roll], absolutely maiming a batch of pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and working out [thanks, Katie!], I just didn’t have it in me.

Here’s how sick and twisted I am–I realized after the first rise time on the cinnamon roll dough that I definitely, without a doubt likely killed the yeast. It didn’t rise. At all. I had used this jar of yeast in some pizza dough, but that doesn’t rise so I can’t tell if I bought a faulty jar of yeast or not. I’d say odds point to me killing the yeast. I was pouring it in some melted butter/almond milk, and I remember distinctly thinking as I poured in the yeast, “I think this might be too hot.” Instead of starting over, oh no, I plowed ahead. Joke is on me. I continued on with my dough because I’m insane. It rolled out nice. I spread out the cinnamon filling, and proceeded to have the hardest time ever rolling it up. I was making a mess. It wasn’t rolling uniformly. It was beaten with the ugly stick more times than I could count. The smart person would have scrapped it at this point, but nope, I continued on. I tried letting it rise the second time, this time in a warmer location. Nope. Not even a budge.

So I baked them anyway.

Yeah, I’m that weird. It was like half baked cinnamon dough. They were tiny, too. They actually reminded me of the cores of most cinnamon rolls. I ate two last night, and have had at least four today. I’m too stubborn to throw them away since they’re still edible. Bizarre. But edible.

Also edible? These chicken hand pies. They were spawned from a bunch of leftovers. I had leftover dough from the garlic knots in the freezer that I had forgotten about. I had a frozen chicken thigh I could use. There was half a zucchini, red onion, and some mushrooms. If that doesn’t scream hand pie, I don’t know what does.

You could use any pizza dough, really. I totally plan on doing this again with the 15 minute pizza dough. Calzones are not a bummer. They reheat the next day, which is perfect for lunch at the office. Coworkers will wonder why you always have awesome smells coming from your office/cube.

Inspiration: Sophistimom

Ingredients

1/2 batch pizza dough of choice

1 chicken thigh, cubed

1/2 zucchini, diced

1/2 small red onion, diced

Handful of dried mushrooms

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 tablespoon of butter

1/2 tablespoon flour [I used whole wheat pastry]

1/3 cup chicken stock

melted butter for spreading on the top of the pies

Preparation

In a large pan, heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add the zucchini and onion, stirring every few minutes until the onion starts to turn translucent. Add the butter and allow to melt. Once melted, add the flour, mixing thoroughly until the flour is soaked through. Add the chicken stock, salt, and pepper. Add the chicken. Once the chicken is cooked and the broth is a thick consistency, you’re ready to prep the pies. Preheat the oven to 425° and line a baking pan with a silpat [or parchment]. Divide the dough in half, rolling one half out on a floured surface. You want it to be the size of a tortilla or dinner plate. Place the rolled out dough onto the baking pan. Spoon half the chicken mixture onto half of the rolled out dough. Fold the top half over and crimp together with your fingers or a fork [or both]. Repeat for the other half of the dough. Make 2-3 diagonal slits across the tops of the pie. Brush with melted butter. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the outside is golden brown. Allow to cool before serving because that filling is HOT! Avoid killing your yeast if you plan on making cinnamon rolls afterward.