Because I'm bored...

I've been watching Battelstar Galactica (the original) the past few days.  Picked the entire series up from the library and reliving my old love for this show.  I don't remember it well but I do remember the episode with the angels, that one has stuck with me for years.  So since I've been enjoying this fun show, thought I'd share. 

Petite Nutella Pochettes

One day while on youtube I ran across this video and I just sat there, drooling at the thought of what those little pockets tasted like.  How could you go wrong with butter and nutella?  You can't!  So I thought about making them but needed to find a reason for it.  That way I wouldn't eat them in one sitting while watching tv, or at my desk at work.  Last weekend I served at church, running lights and camera for the team that's short handed.  So I decided to make then then.  They were so easy to make but I found one slight problem with the recipe as it was written, my hand mixer wasn't strong enough to mix the dough once all the flour was in it.  Then again I did make the mistake of missing one important bit of information in the recipe... Do not over-mix!  WOOPS!  Oh well I just left the dough in the fridge for a couple hours and all was fine. 

However before I even made the final decision to make them, I read the reviews knowing that some times food network recipes aren't correct on their website, as they were given in the shows.  Of course there is the problem where the recipe was the same but the end results were vastly different than what was said to be on the show.  This happened with a Giada recipe for granola bar type things.  So in reading the reviews I saw people said the dough was bland as given so they jazzed it up a bit, some added a little powder sugar, while others went so far as to add vanilla extract and some, orange zest in addition to the powder sugar.  Hate me if you want, but that's taking an excellent recipe for a French pastry to an American extreme.  Of course I did make a minor change to the recipe and it was the addition of a little powder sugar to tone down the cream cheese taste.  Never having had these before I didn't know if the end results were supposed to have a strong cream cheese taste (for the dough) so I added a little powder sugar just to tone it down.  I don't feel like that addition changed the taste as drastically as the other additions that people were making to the recipe.  But next time I make these I will be omitting the powder sugar and see how the dough tastes then.

I didn't have the same biscuit cutter so I just used a regular coffee cup and gave it a little decoration with the tines of a fork after I sealed the pochettes.  I tasted one when it was still a little warm and nearly died, it was so good!  Cold was good to but much better warm.  Next time I make these I'm going to just use my stand mixer, it will save me from having to take the hand mixer apart again to clean it out.  Also I'm going to split the dough in half before putting it in the fridge to chill.  One of the reviewers suggested only working with half the dough at a time because it will get too soft from the butter melting and make it harder to roll out and cut.  Yep that happened to me.

Petite Nutella Pochettes

Ingredients
    * 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
    * 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
    * 2 cups flour
    * 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)
    * Water, as needed
    * 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
    * Special equipment: 3-inch fluted biscuit cutter
Directions
In a medium bowl, using a hand mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese together until light and creamy. Add the flour slowly until the dough forms. Do not over-mix! Shape the dough into a ball and cover. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
On a lightly-floured surface, using a lightly-floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch fluted biscuit cutter, cut out as many circles as you can. Form the scraps into a ball and reroll to make more circles.
Fill each dough circle with a small spoonful of the chocolate-hazelnut spread. Dip your finger in tap water and spread on the edge of half the circle to help create a seal. Fold the dough over to create a crescent. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool, then sift the confectioners' sugar on top and serve.