Buffalo Chicken Crescent Puffs

Contest: 44th Pillsbury Bake Off T0p 100 Finalist - entered by Beth Dumell

Saturday night was my friend Tammi's birthday party. Everyone was asked to bring something, I took these things and they were a huge hit! HUGE! I dare to say they may have been the best thing there, rivaled only by the Rolo Turtle Pretzels. I have to take moment to discuss the Rolo Pretzel. It is so stupid, but sooo good! Take square snack pretzels, the ones that look like little square tennis rackets, then put a Rolo on top and a pecan on top of that. Bake them long enough to melt, about 3 minutes. The Rolo melts into the little squares in the tennis racket and make a perfect salty, sweet, bite size snack. Ridiculously addictive.

I think this recipe has a pretty good shot and if the party guests from Saturday night were voting Ms. Dumell would be a millionaire today. I felt like it was creative use of the Pillsbury product. Dipping the balls in butter and Panko is key to making these bites more than just an average app. It was a bit hard to wrap the dough around the little cheese balls, but otherwise an easy recipe. I'll make these again. Good luck Beth, I think you have a good chance!

Buffalo Chicken Crescent Puffs by Beth Dumell

INGREDIENTS

12	oz cream cheese (from two 8-oz packages), softened
2	tablespoons Louisiana hot sauce or other red pepper sauce
1/3	cup crumbled blue cheese (1 1/2 oz)
1/4	cup finely chopped celery
1	cup finely chopped cooked chicken breast
2	cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® Place ’N Bake® refrigerated crescent rounds (16 rounds) or 2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1/3	cup LAND O LAKES® Unsalted or Salted Butter, melted
1	cup plain or chicken-flavored panko-style bread crumbs

DIRECTIONS

1.	Line cookie sheet with sides with waxed paper or cooking parchment paper. In medium bowl, mix cream cheese and pepper sauce. Stir in blue cheese and celery. Stir in chicken until well blended. Shape mixture by tablespoonfuls into 32 (1 1/2-inch) balls; place on cookie sheet. Refrigerate 20 minutes.
2.	Meanwhile, heat oven to 350°F. If using crescent rounds, remove from package, but do not separate rounds. If using crescent rolls, remove from package, but do not unroll. Using serrated knife, cut each roll evenly into 16 rounds; carefully separate rounds. Press each round to 3 inches in diameter. Place chilled chicken mixture ball on center of each dough round; shape dough around ball to cover completely.
3.	In shallow dish, place melted butter. In another shallow dish, place bread crumbs. Dip dough balls into butter, then roll in bread crumbs. Place 2 inches apart on large ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 17 to 22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes. Serve warm. It was hard to close the dough around the balls completely, but the good news is - it doesn't matter! The cheese does not ooze out. Makes a tiny window to peek inside.