Pillsbury night

So recently there have been numerous recipes being passed around Facebook and I keep coming across recipes that involve Pillsbury products, namely their crescent rolls and biscuits. A girlfriend and I got together one night to test them out and see if they really were as delicious as the pictures made them out to be.

The first recipe I attempted was a monkey bread. I took two rolls of Grands biscuits with flaky layers and cut each biscuit into quarters. I greased a tube pan since the end result will be a sticky mess. I took each of the biscuit pieces and coated them in a bag that held a mixture of granulated sugar and cinnamon. Then each piece was evenly placed in pan.

                                                

The next step was to take 3/4 cup of butter and mix it with one cup of packed brown sugar. Once the two are mixed together evenly, it gets drizzled over the top of the coated biscuit pieces in the tube pan.

Bake this concoction in the even at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes and then let it rest for about ten minutes. Turn upside down a plate and release from pan to serve. It's gooey and delicious. 

The second recipe I attempted is a taco ring and used two packages of Pillsbury crescent rolls. This is hard to describe how to do, but my picture probably shows it best. Pull the dough triangles apart and place them end to end in a circle so the long point is pointing to the outside (looks like a sun). Then brown a pound and a half of 90/10 ground beef (the less fat the better). Once it is browned add a package of taco seasoning and 3/4 cup of water to the ground beef and cook down til meat is thoroughly seasoned. 

Take the ground beef and place it on the crescent circle so that it is on the fat part of dough that is completely covered. Then take a mixture of shredded cheese (preferably a taco cheese or Mexican mix) and sprinkle it over the top of the ground beef. Then fold the points of the crescent rolls back over towards the inside of the circle .

Bake at 375 degrees for the length of time on crescent package. I forget, but I'm thinking it is right around 18 minutes. And of course you could add re-fried beans, olives, tomatoes, etc to the inside, but keep in mind that the more you stuff the ring, the fatter it will be and more difficult to "seal" the circle. Best way to serve it when it comes out of the oven is to put your lettuce, tomatoes, and sour cream in the middle of the ring.

I apologize. We were very eager to eat our ring when it came out and I forgot to get a final picture of the ring itself, but did manage to get a picture of the lowly piece of ring that was left for the next day. This was probably my favorite savory Pillsbury creation of the night.

The next recipe I tried was more for my daughter since she isn't a fan of taco meat. However she does like pizza. So at the suggestion of my girlfriend we decided to make a pull apart pizza ring. I used the same tube pan as the monkey bread, but oiled it well with olive oil. I then made a mixture of olive oil, dried basil, dried oregano, garlic salt, and black pepper. I took three packages of Pillsbury Homestyle biscuits and again cut each biscuit into quarters. I dipped each piece of the biscuit in the olive oil and spice mixture. I put a first layer down in the pan and then put down a layer of pizza cheese (Italian mix including mozzarella) and a layer of pepperoni. Then another layer of biscuits and another layer of cheese and pepperoni, etc, until it was all gone. I ended with a layer of biscuits. This concoction then baked in the oven at 350 degrees for close to a half hour. When it came out I served it with some pizza sauce to dip it in. Honestly I was not impressed. It was too dry for my taste. I think it could have been made better by adding a layer of sauce with each layer of cheese and pepperoni. Greasing the pan was smart as I can see how horrible it would have been to get out of the pan otherwise. My daughter is a pepperoni junkie so this was probably her favorite Pillsbury creation to help with. She liked dipping the dough in oil and layering the pepperoni. 

The final recipe that was attempted was hands down the yummiest in my book for the sweet recipes. I took one can of Pillsbury crescent rolls and unrolled them. In the fat "square" end of the roll I placed two squares of Hershey's milk chocolate. I then placed one marshmallow on top and rolled up the crescent. These were baked in the oven at 350 degrees for 14 minutes. Once they cooled slightly they were phenomenal to eat. However, they were super gooey and messy. Be prepared. 

So that was the end of Pillsbury night. I have since made the chocolate and marshmallow crescent rolls but none of the other three recipes. I may be inclined to make the taco ring again down the road.