Holiday Brie Bites

We ended up making another recipe from Lauren Miyashiro on the delish.com.  This recipe was requested by my sister-in-law and we used the recipe for Cranberry Brie Bites as an inspiration.  These are super easy to make and taste fantastic.  You can adjust the recipe a great deal and I am sure that it will come out well.  These are really nice and look pretty on a tray.

Ingredients (makes 24 brie bites)
Cooking spray, for pan & parchment paper
1 (8-oz.) tube crescent dough (low fat works fine here)
1/2 (8-oz.) wheel of brie or slicing brie (around 4 oz)
1/2 cup Cranberry sauce, whole berry (24 tsp)
1/2 cup Nuts, chopped (can mix or match - I used pecans and almonds)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375° and grease a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. On parchment paper, roll out crescent dough, and pinch together seams. Cut into 24 squares. Place squares into muffin tin slots.
3. Cut brie into equal sized pieces (around the size of a quarter and a 1/4" thick) and place in the muffin tins.
4. Top each piece of brie with 1 tsp of cranberry sauce and around 1 tsp chopped nuts (almonds or pecans).
5. Bake until the crescent pastry is golden, about 13-15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Holiday Antipasto Sandwiches

Pam found this great recipe from Lauren Miyashiro from the delish.com website for Antipasto Squares.  We were cooking for our big holiday party and we were looking for an easy crowd pleaser  So we tried these and they were a hit.  We played with the recipe and used a lower-fat crescent roll (so it was a bit better).  Not only did they heat up well for leftovers, but they were great cold.  We will definitely make these again.  The recipe is fairly flexible, so you can add or subtract items as you see fit.  Or more appropriately, if it fits within the sandwich.  We made it in half-portions than were originally called for - and it worked out well. 

Ingredients (each recipe makes one set of 8 sandwiches)
Parchment paper
1 (8-oz.) tube Crescent dough (can be low-calorie)
4 thin slices Ham (from the deli)
10-15 thin slices Pepperoni (or turkey pepperoni)
2-3 thin slices Turkey (from the deli)
2 slices, Provolone cheese
2 slices or 1/4 lbs shredded, Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Pepperoncini, sliced and drained (adjust to taste)
Olive oil spray
1 tbs Grated Parmesan
1 tsp Oregano, dried

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Place one unrolled can of crescents on prepared baking sheet and pinch together seams. Layer ingredients on one half of the crescent roll (below the center seam).  Layer ham, half the pepperoni, turkey, the other half of pepperoni, provolone cheese, mozzarella cheese, and the drained pepperoncini.
3. Fold the top half (without ingredients) down towards the bottom to make the contents covered with dough.  Pinch the seal at the edges of to make a good seal (it does not have to be perfect).
4. Lightly spray the top with olive oil (or brush).  Then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and oregano.
5. Bake for 32-35 minutes (until dough is golden and cooked through).  Let cool for 15 minutes before slicing into 8 squares.  A pizza cutter here works well.

Enjoy with marinara sauce for dipping the edges.