Heaven in a pocket

Friday night is pizza night at the castle. It is a fun tradition and it really makes meal planning a cinch! This last Friday the oldest prince said he wanted pizza pockets, to be a little different. I thought it sounded like a great idea. I had a hankering for some chocolate, and then it hit me dessert calzones. I was so proud of myself this recipe is entirely mine, nobody helped, I created all on my own. They are warm and gooey and soooooooo yummy. I wanted to share so you can try them too.

Chocolate Cheesecake Calzones

I make my own dough from scratch but you can use refrigerated too I am sure. Here is my dough recipe.

Dough (this is the best darn pizza crust and pretty fool proof too)

1 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 tablespoons sugar

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1 tsp oil

***If I am using this for pizza crust I also add garlic powder and Italian seasoning, about 1-2 tsp each, I don't measure I just dump. If you happen to have a beer laying around you can substitute that for the water, just warm it in the microwave in a measuring cup.

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2. Place all of the first 5 ingredients into a stand mixer using a dough hook knead until it forms a soft smooth elastic dough, about 5-6 minutes. If it is too soft and is sticking to your dough hook at just a bit more flour.

2. Grease a medium size bowl using the oil, place the formed dough into the bowl and turn the dough to coat. Cover the dough with plastic wrap. Place in a warm area, to rise until doubled in size or about 45-60 minutes. I usually just put it on top of the stove and the heat from the oven makes it rise lovely.

While your dough is rising it is time to make the filling

Filling:

1 8 0z block cream cheese room temperature

1/2 package semi sweet chocolate chips or about 1 cup

1 egg yolk(save your egg white to make an egg wash)

1 tsp vanilla

1. Place the chocolate chips in a medium sized bowl. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave. I put them in for 1 minute on high, stir and then add another 30 seconds. Stir until smooth.

2. Add the cream cheese, egg yolk and vanilla beat until smooth.

3. Place this in the refrigerator until you dough is ready.

Put it all together:

Divide your dough into 4-6 equal pieces depending on how big you want your calzone to be. I made mine big they were delish, but now my ball gown doesn't fit! But I digress!

Roll each piece of dough on a lightly floured surface until they are about 7 inches around if you are making them big or about 4 inches if you are making them small. Be sure to keep them covered under a damp towel while you are rolling the rest out.

Once you have rolled each round out take about 1 tablespoon of the chocolate cheesecake filling and spoon it into the middle. Using your egg white that you saved from earlier add a tsp of water and whisk to create an egg wash. Place a small amount of egg wash on the edges of one side of your round. Fold this side over pinch the ends together to seal. If you want to make sure it stays use the tines of a fork to press it together. Place the calzones on a greased baking sheet, brush a bit more of the egg wash on the tops and bake for about 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let them cool a bit before enjoying since they will be hot.

If you would like you can drizzle a vanilla glaze over the top when you are ready to serve. Here is my simple recipe:

Glaze:

1/2 powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 tablespoon milk (add more or less to reach your desired consistency) You want a little bit thick not too runny.

We served ours with raspberry sauce. I just used some homemade jam that I had made and melted in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Are you still here? This seems so long when you put it into words but I promise I made our dinner calzones and our dessert calzones in about 20 minutes not including rising time and baking time.