Bacon Cheese Cream Puffs

This was our experiment for the Winter Solstice Dinner. These weren't supposed to be cream puffs. They were supposed to be bacon cheese treats wrapped with crescent rolls, but we forgot to buy crescent roll dough at the store, and we couldn't find a recipe at home for crescent rolls either. So I was going to make biscuit dough and use that, but I found we were out of shortening. So after some searching I found something we could use. I made cream puffs to put the bacon cheese filling in and it turned out fantastic.

Cream Puff Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 eggs

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (12 ounce) jar bacon bits (or you can just make the bacon yourself and crumble it...that's what we did)
• 1 pinch ground black pepper, or to taste
• 1/4 cup diced onion

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large pot, bring water and butter to a rolling boil. Stir in flour and salt until the mixture forms a ball. Transfer the dough to a large mixing bowl. Using a wooden spoon or stand mixer, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet.
3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Centers should be dry.
4. When the shells are cool, cut the tops off and scoop out the middles with your finger.
5. While the shells are baking...In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, bacon bits, pepper and onion.
6. Once the shells are done and hollowed, spoon the mixture into the puff.
7. I placed the filled puffs back in the oven for about 3-4 minutes to warm up the cheese filling.

Here's how the bacon cheese treats were supposed to work (we still want to try them):

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (12 ounce) jar bacon bits
• 1 pinch ground black pepper, or to taste
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 2 (8 ounce) packages refrigerated crescent roll dough

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, bacon bits, pepper and onion.
3. On a lightly floured surface, unroll the crescent rolls lengthwise and form into a long rectangle. Thinly spread the cream cheese mixture on the dough. Starting with the long edge of the rectangle, roll the dough into a long, thin roll. Slice the roll into 1/4 inch thick pieces. Place rolls on a lightly greased baking sheet.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until brown.