Witches Hat Calzones

Finding fun Halloween recipes that appeal to 5-year-old children, teenagers, and adults can be difficult. Because of this, I have found it necessary to adjust the recipes that are only geared towards young children. Let's face it: not too many adults would be happy eating hot dogs in mac-and-cheese for dinner but any child would be delighted at the prospect. Because of that, this recipe is a mix of two recipes. Also, this recipe uses a pre-made, crescent-roll dough (like Pillsbury). It is a wonderful time-saver because it is already made, rolled, and cut for you. However, I have found that crescent roll dough tastes better as crescent rolls than calzones. If you are feeling adventurous buy a pre-made calzone dough and roll it out and cut it into triangle shapes. The crescent-roll dough is still good but it only gets an 8/10, the calzone dough would get a 10/10.

Serves: 8 calzones (4 adult servings)
Start to Finish: 50 minutes
Recipe By: Witch hat idea came from Better Homes and Gardens but the actual calzone recipe came from Allrecipe.com

Ingredients:

8 slices bacon
1/2 small red onion, chopped
3 cups chicken breast, cooked and shredded
2/3 cup barbecue sauce (plus additional for serving)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro (When reading reviews for this recipe, several people commented that the fresh cilantro really makes the filling. Well, I agree with them. So don't skip over this ingredient. It adds that extra flavor that seals the dish)
2 (8-oz) pkg refrigerated crescent roll dough
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425* F.
2. Grease an extra large baking sheet; set aside. (They stick so be sure you have really coated it.)
3. Fry bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp.
4. Remove from the pan to drain on paper towels; crumble.
5. Add the onion and shredded chicken to the hot bacon grease in the pan.
6. Fry over medium heat until onion is tender. (This happens fast, so be prepared for the next step.)
7. Stir in barbecue sauce and cooked bacon, remove from the heat and set aside.
8. On a lightly floured surface, unroll crescent-roll dough. (You don't need to further flatten the dough by rolling it out with a rolling pin, just unroll them. I tried it both ways and it didn't make a difference, so why add more work to the recipe.)
9. Separate dough into individual triangles.
10. Place half the dough triangles on the greased baking sheet.
11. Place approx 1 TBSP of the barbecue chicken mixture in the center of each triangle.
12. Sprinkle the cheese and cilantro over the top.
13. In a small bowl, stir together egg and water.
14. Brush edges of triangles with some of the egg mixture.
15. Top with remaining triangles and press triangle edges together to seal.
16. Brush the top of the triangles with egg mixture.
17. Fold short edges of the triangles up, forming a hat brim. (If you brush on the egg after you form the hat brim they will unfold slightly when cooking.)
18. Prick the dough a few times with a fork.
19. If desired, decorate the hats with additional mozzarella cheese, cilantro, and/or crushed red pepper. Brush on barbecue sauce to form designs and patterns. Or cut shapes from the red onion and press onto dough for decoration
20. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. (I had to bake the full time, the dough is very soggy if you don't)
21. Serve with additional barbecue sauce.