Cheeseburger Stuffed Bread sticks

Happy Wednesday! It’s a gloomy day on the home front and I hope it stays that way to be perfectly honest. I have absorbed such an incredible amount of sunshine this past year that moving back to the east coast meant gloomy days. It does not hurt that I am at home to enjoy the gloominess; the moment it is raining and I have to be out in the world, walking and driving in it, I want my sunshine back. Incredible how that works, huh?

Lately I have been addicted to Dunkin’ Donuts [DD]. For those of you who do not know about DD’s, they are a coffee and donut shop that has evolved into making fruity drinks, frozen drinks, and other kind of flavored and blended drinks. But, wait, this beloved donut shop has also evolved beyond just donuts. Now they have sandwiches, bagels, and, one of my new favorites, stuffed breadsticks. It gets pretty expensive to go there each day, but I have a hard time saying no when it is offered. Meaning, Nick asks if I want a coffee most days of the week and I have a hard time saying no to such deliciousness! Recently I have added a stuffed cheeseburger breadstick as an afternoon snack because they are absolutely delicious. I could eat six of them at a time! You think I am lying? I am not. Now that we have established that I am a glutton, let’s get on to this post.

As I was sitting at our local DD a couple of weeks ago eating my stuffed breadstick, Nick mentioned that we could probably make these on our own. He was right. And I knew it. I was consumed with my breadstick to get excited about making my own; honestly, I figured whatever concoction I put together could never compare to my beloved little breadstick from DD. I was kind of wrong. You will see in a minute.

Here is what you will need:

• Tube of pizza crust
• ½ pound ground beef
• Shredded cheese; as much as you like
• Freshly ground pepper
• Jalapeno, minced [optional]
• Onion, sauted & minced [optional]
• oil, for brushing

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• In a medium skillet over medium heat, cook ground beef, onion and jalapeno until the beef is fully cooked
• Drain the beef and mix in the shredded cheese

• Roll out the pizza crust so that it is slightly thinner than it comes out of the container
• Cut into thick strips, even amount [you want the strips to be thick enough to put the beef and cheese mixture on top*

• Place a couple of tablespoons of the beef mixture on top of half of the strips

• Top each of the beef topped strips with its matching pair and press/pinch the sides together to secure the filling*

• Brush each breadstick with a generous amount of oil & top with a sprinkle of cheese, if you desire
• Line a baking sheet with foil; add all of your breadsticks and bake for about 20 minutes or until the breadsticks are golden brown

Serve them up & enjoy!

*These are incredibly good, HOWEVER, like any good foodie experimentation - doing IS learning. I learned a lot with this one. Here is what I suggest you doing instead:

First, use all of the ingredients that I’ve given to you above.

Second, instead of cutting the dough into pieces, roll it out into a thin square pizza pie crust like I suggest above. However, add a couple of tablespoons of meat and ROLL it. Once the filling is covered, cut or slice the dough so that it looks like a breadstick and then fold over the ends to close the top & bottom

Third, continue this process for the rest of the pizza pie crust

This will ensure that the breadsticks remain thin, instead of thick like mine came out.

These are my only tips. My breadsticks turned out tasting great, but they were thicker than I wanted them to be. I CANNOT wait to make these again; they will be 100% better, I am convinced of it! You can do it either way you like!

This is a great dish to get everybody involved, especially the kids. I mean think about how fun it would be to stuff and roll these breadsticks? Any kid would love to be involved. Nick and I loved to be involved! Well, I loved being involved. I was so in control that I did not let him play in the kitchen with me. I am a total punk, huh? Oh wait, I have a better term – I am a kitchen snob. Either way, now that I am confident my breadstick tweaks will make the perfect breadstick, he will be involved next time. I promise!

I hope you all enjoy!

Until Next Time,

Happy Experimenting

Comments

[Isabelle at home]

LOL....I feel so much better knowing I am not the only one with crazy food obsessions. I just can't say no to certain things, I try to go with different friends when I fall for a new "food" so that way no one knows I've been there 4-5 times that week...well except the people at said restaurant but who cares! I will have to try these, I bet my daughters LOVE them. :) thanks Mel!

[Cooking With Mel]

hahaha You are definitely not the only one! I'm becomes obsessed with some foods. I hope you like these!! Make sure you read the notes at the end about making these bad boys so much better! They were a little too thick for my liking; but I learn with trial & error! You'll have to let me know how they work out! :)

[rave.n]

Your website is quickly becoming a fave.

Here's the pie recipe I mentioned on FB:
http://www.bisquickcheeseburgerpie.com/