Chicken Pillows are Back!

Chicken pillows are kind of like a dirty little family secret--we all love them, but hate to admit that we love something made of cream cheese and chicken wrapped in a crescent roll and dipped in butter.  It just doesn't seem right.  We were afraid that this family favorite had not made the jump to our gluten-free lifestyle, but surprise--it's back!  My friend, and mom to one of my favorite kindergartners, Emily, came up with this gluten-free reboot of the chicken pillow.  Her filling is a little more fancy than mine (really--sauteed mushrooms in a chicken pillow?), but I just went with 8 oz. cream cheese, chicken and chives.  Either way, they are great!

Biscuit dough
2 1/4 c flour (I used king Arthur's GF flour mix)
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 c butter
1 egg
3/4 c milk
Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse cornmeal. Combine egg and milk and stir into flour mixture until combined. Knead 10 times.

Chicken filling
4 oz. softened cream cheese
2 Tbs melted butter
3 c cubed cooked chicken
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 Tbs milk
2-3 Tbsp chopped green onion
Blend butter and cream cheese. Stir in remaining ingredients. Roll out dough thinly, but thick enough that you can work with it not tearing too much. Put a spoonful of chicken mix in the center of the dough and fold the remaining dough around it. Turn folded side down onto a baking sheet, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with crushed glutino pretzels. (You can season the pretzel crumbs to add flavor, if desired). Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes.
Variation- I like mine with both chicken and mushrooms. Chop and sauté mushrooms and add to the chicken mixture.

I used Corn Chex for the topping.  When I do it again, I think I will splurge and get some gluten-free corn flakes. We also like ours with a little gravy on top.  I made this gravy with some of my own chicken stock, cornstarch and a little sour cream.  Yum!