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Leftover Turkey Recipe
I hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving full of food and family! In the very good chance that you have leftover turkey, I bring you these exciting Leftover Turkey Dinner Bombs! They are so good my husband and his friend could not stop munching them and declared them, “better than Thanksgiving dinner.” They inhaled them before their mountain bike ride, after their bike ride and were talking about them weeks later! This leftover turkey recipe is that good. This leftover turkey recipe calls for making your own biscuits so we can infuse them with seasonings and use chicken broth in place of water to mimic stuffing flavor BUT don’t be intimidated – they are quick and easy and don’t require any rising time OR you can use store bought dough. These leftover turkey bombs are super simple to make. Just mix the dough, roll the dough then add the filling – no waiting to rise! The filling itself is a quick mixing of leftovers with the addition of cream cheese and Gruyere cheese to create a creamy leftover turkey filling you will adore. Now let’s talk turkey!
INGREDIENT FOR LEFTOVER TURKEY RECIPE
The biscuits OR USE STORE BOUGHT:
Chicken broth: is used instead of water to mimic the flavor of stuffing. The chicken broth should be between 100-110 degrees F to activate the yeast.Flour: use all-purpose flour for softer biscuits. I’m sure gluten free baking flour would work as well. Yeast: Use active dry yeast as opposed to instant dry yeast for the best flavor. Sugar: Sugar feeds the yeast, makes activation faster, and tenderizes the dough.Egg: eggs provides binding, structure and flavor.Seasonings: kosher salt, sage, parsley and thyme infuse Thanksgiving flavor into the dough.
The filling:
Roasted turkey: you will want 1 ½ cups chopped turkey. You can also use store bought deli turkey chopped into cubes or chopped rotisserie chicken. Mashed potatoes: you will want 1 ½ cup leftover mashed potatoes. You can also used mashed sweet potatoes or mashed cauliflower. Cranberry sauce: ½ cup leftover sauce will do the trick or you can use canned. Gruyere: is slightly sweet, and salty. You may also substitute with cheddar or Swiss. Cream cheese: binds all the ingredients together into a creamy explosion.
How to make Leftover Turkey Recipe
Proof Yeast. Pour warmed chicken broth into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook sprayed with nonstick cooking spray (see cook’s note if you do not have a stand mixer), sprinkle yeast over top, add sugar and stir. Allow yeast to bloom for 5-10 minutes. Once it is nice and foamy, it is ready.
Combine leftover turkey filling ingredients. Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, combine turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gruyere, cream cheese, salt and pepper. Mix together until well combined.
Make Dough. Add flour, salt, sage, parsley, and thyme to stand mixer. Knead for 3- 5 minutes until the dough comes together in one ball. Add more flour a tablespoon at a time as needed, if bread is too sticky to come together. Dough should be very tacky when you pull it out of the mixer, not sticky.
Cut dough. Place dough on floured counter top and knead in flour until it is no longer tacky, just a minute or so. Form dough into a ball. We are going to cut this ball into 36 (somewhat) even pieces. First quarter the ball of dough (I use a pizza cutter but a butter knife will also work). Roll each quarter into a fat log. Cut that into 3 pieces. Roll each piece into a log and cut into 3 pieces. When you are done you will have 36 pieces.
Add leftover turkey filling. Working with one piece at a time, roll each dough piece into a ball and then flatten it into a small circle. Add 1 ½ tablespoons of filling to the center (I use a heaping tablespoon and eyeball it).
Enclose filling. Carefully pull each side over the filling, pinching the edges closed. Roll the dough into a ball. Place 12 balls on prepared baking sheet and brush each with egg wash.
Bake. Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-14 minutes until the tops are golden. Repeat until dough is gone.
The ooey gooey filling may escape some of your Thanksgiving Dinner Bombs. That is a beautiful thing! Scoop all that cheesy goodness up onto the plate and serve. Your guests will go crazy over them. Serve leftover turkey bombs with gravy and cranberry sauce.
TIPS TO MAKE LEFTOVER TURKEY RECIPE:
I microwaved the chicken broth in a glass microwave safe measuring cup, 15 seconds at a time until it was 110-120 degrees.If your yeast doesn’t foam after 10 minutes, then throw it out. This means either your broth was too warm, or your yeast is too old. Yeast should be no older than 6 months. Repeat until your yeast blooms. You can mix the dough by hand if you do not have a stand mixer. Add chicken broth, yeast and sugar to a large bowl. Once the yeast blooms stir in the seasonings and the flour. Mix with a spoon. Turn dough out onto floured counter top and knead for 3-5 minutes until dough is no longer sticky. Proceed with remaining instructions.The dough hook is the best attachment to make the rolls. I always spray my dough hook with nonstick cooking spray. This allows the dough to come together without leaving half of it behind on the hook! The dough should be sticky but not so sticky that it clings to your fingers – just barely sticks. If your dough is too wet and is not pulling away from the bowl, add 1 more tablespoon of flour at a time until dough barely sticks to your fingers. Take care not to add too much additional flour or else your leftover turkey biscuits will be dry and dense.If the dough is too sticky to work with after adding the filling, you can spray your hands with nonstick spray. I suggest this instead of dusting your hand with flour because you don’t want to add more flour to the dough than is necessary.If you are making these without Thanksgiving turkey leftovers, then you can get ¾ lbs. roast turkey at the Deli counter and ask them to slice it ¼ inch thick and proceed to chop it yourself. You can also make your own mashed potatoes and season them with salt and pepper like you normally would. You can substitute the Gruyere cheese for either cheddar or swiss. I highly recommend Gruyere, however, for its superior melting ability and its mega creamy, sweet, slightly salty, nutty taste. A pizza cutter isn’t essential but makes slicing the dough super quick and easy. When you flatten the dough into a circle, don’t spread it because we want the dough to be thick. If you spread it too much, then the dough will be thinner in some places and more likely to let the filling escape.
Can I use store bought dough for this leftover turkey recipe?
Yes! You can make this leftover turkey recipe in no time using store-bought dinner yeast roll dough balls (such as Rhodes) in place of the dough recipe. The filling makes enough to stuff 36 dough balls, but you can certainly scale the recipe down and use less. You can also use store-bought biscuits but you will need to purchase quite a few packages to use up the filling, so I suggest the dough balls To use store bought dinner yeast roll dough balls:
Thaw rolls until soft but still cold. Slice rolls in half, add filling to bottom rolls, top and seal tightly. Proceed to bake according to package directions.
Can I make leftover turkey recipe without a mixer?
Yes! You can mix the dough by hand if you do not have a stand mixer.
Add chicken broth, yeast and sugar to a large bowl. Once the yeast blooms stir in the seasonings and the flour. Mix with a spoon. Turn dough out onto floured counter top and knead for 3-5 minutes until dough is no longer sticky. Proceed with remaining instructions.
Can I reheat these leftover turkey bombs?
These leftover bombs are best served hot out of the oven, but yes, you can still reheat them. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat, microwave on a microwave safe plate for about 15 seconds or until warm in the center.
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