Vegan Hot Pockets!

Oh yeah, that's right, you heard me! VEGAN hot pockets that are absolutely SENSATIONAL! That gooey goodness that burns the roof of your mouth with the first bite, on cue every time, yeeeeeah, that's what I'm talkin' 'bout! Normally you can buy Hot Pockets at the store for a buck a piece, thank you Costco, but these puppies are 52 cents a pop! Are you ready for pure awesomeness?!

Vegan Hot Pockets:
Time: 4 hours
Yield: 32 Hot Pockets

Ingredients: DOUGH

3 Tablespoons Active Dry Yeast (3 packets)

3 Tablespoons Sugar

3 Cups HOT Water, not boiling though

8 Cups Flour, divided

1 Tablespoon Salt

6 Tablespoons Italian Seasoning (you may substitute some of these tablespoons for garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, whatever suits your fancy!)

¼ Cup Coconut Oil

Ingredients: FILLING:

You can use whatever combination of goodies you want, just stay clear of bell peppers and pineapple, and egg, they don't freeze well and can make the interior gooey, and egg can be a little weird tasting upon reheating, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't! The following is my default filling, and the one I calculated the price on!

Vegan Sausage (I use Costco's variety pack; Chipotle, Apple-Sage, and Italian, it says Vegetarian on the outer wrapper, and Vegan on the interior individual wrappers) I use two sausages out of each variety, so 6 in total, or half the package.

Seitan, about one recipe's worth, here's a lovely version from Post Punk Kitchen! Because the vegan sausage is so flavorful, but expensive, I stretch it with seitan, if you do not have vital wheat gluten though, I would resort to using the whole package of sausages, doubling your usage to 12, and adding 3.00 to your final price, which raises the cost per pocket to 62 cents.

One pound of mushrooms, or about 15 shrooms! Chopped

Pizza Sauce;

1 Onion

6 Cloves Garlic

2 Tablespoons Oil

3 Cups Tomato Paste

1 Tablespoon Salt

1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning

1 Cup Water

1 Tablespoon Veggie Base

Cheese Sauce;

¼ Cup Oil

¼ Cup Flour

6 Cloves Garlic

1 Onion

1 Can Coconut Milk (Soy is perfectly acceptable, use 2 cups)

½ Cup Soy Milk (you may add more if the sauce is too thick)

2 Tablespoons Veggie Base

2 teaspoons Salt

¼ Cup Nutritional Yeast

Directions:

First off, the credit for this recipe goes to In Katrina's Kitchen, where she makes a beautiful Dipping Bread Recipe, that I have veganized and adapted to suit hot pocket making! Her dough results in a flaky, delicious, yet fool-proof crust that also tastes wonderful how she prepares it too! It is originally for dipping in balsamic and oil, but hey, we can make a good thing work anywhere we want!

Step 1: YEAST

Combine the yeast, sugar and hot water in your mixing bowl, by swirling around with a spoon for a few seconds, then let rest for 10 minutes, or until mixture bubbles like crazy! It is important to use hot water for this step because it guarantees your yeast will activate! As your water cools, your yeast will spring into action, and bubble like a good bath! (Plus if you buy costco yeast, you are likely to store it in your refrigerator until use, which could be a year from purchase, which means your yeast is slowly dying...which is another reason I get that tap running hot! Like, barely touchable hot!)

Step 2: DRY INGREDIENTS:

Add 6 cups of flour, salt, coconut oil and your desired seasonings, mix in your blender on low until incorporated, then turn out on a floured surface and incorporate the remaining two cups of flour, which should take about 10 minutes.

Step 3: RISE #1

Oil your mixing bowl with a touch of olive or canola oil, and roll your dough ball in it to coat, then let it rise in the mixing bowl for 1 hour. (This would be a good time to prep your fillers, it can be a task to chop up everything!)

Step 4: DIVIDE

Punch dough down, then take out and divide into 32 balls. This is done by splitting the large ball in half, then each half in half, then each quarter in half, then each eighth in half, and each sixteenth in half again! Your counter does not need to be floured. Allow to rise again for 25 minutes.

Step 5: FILLING

While dough is rising a second time, preheat oven to 400 degrees, and make your sauces, feel free to use whatever sauces you like, you will need about 6 cups of sauce to go around, or a little less than ¼ cup per pocket. For the Pizza Sauce, sautee the onion and garlic until the onion becomes translucent, then add the remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly to combine. For the Garlic Sauce, sautee the onion and garlic in the large amount of oil, add flour, and mix into a paste-like, chunky mess! Add your milks, and whisk until sauce thickens, then add your seasonings and nutritional yeast.

Step 6: ASSEMBLY

Roll each little ball of dough into 6 inch diameter rounds, they don't have to be perfect! If they got a little crusty, while waiting for you to finish up that filling, don't worry, just use that for the insides, which will get coated in sauce anway! Place the round flat in the palm of your hand, then add sausage, seitan, mushrooms, and a dollop of sauce, pick one-at-a-time. After you have filled it, bring both ends together in the middle and pinch to close, making the start of a half-round, or calzone-style pocket. Pinch, or fold and pinch along the edge to completely close the pocket! Repeat the process for the remaining 31 pockets! Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 16 minutes. The reason this whole thing takes four hours, is because I can't fit all the pockets in the oven at once, so as some cook, I am assembling others. 

Bon Apetit!

I wrap mine in foil and stick them in the freezer! When it is time to reheat, you can either bake them on 350 for 15 minutes, or microwave on high for 4 minutes!

I have used cheese in place of sauce, which was awesome! I currently use the two-sauce combo for economy an variety. ^_^