Sloppy Joe Pies

With all the dairy free we've been doing around our house lately, I haven't been making many new things-just reconstructing old ones! :)  Today I didn't feel like making buns for our sloppy joes, so I whipped this up.  It's a winner!

I made stomboli dough for the crust (recipe following).  Then using a 3" bisquit cutter, I made circles which got pressed into my regular-sized muffin pan.  I added a scoop of sloppy joe meat and topped some with a small amount of sharp cheddar cheese.  I made a double batch and got 24 pies, with some dough leftvoer-probably enough for 3-4 more, but I was out of meat, so no more pies.  That fed 13 kids with three leftover for Hubby's lunch.  Most of the smaller kids only had one and all of the bigger kids had 2 (or 3, although no one will willingly admit it!).  I think these would freeze well.  Next time I'll have to pull out a few before anyone else sees them, so I can test out a freezer version.

Stromboli Dough
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp. yeast
3/4 T. oil
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups flour

Mix warm water and yeast and let sit for 5 minutes.  Add oil, salt and flour and mix until a firm dough is formed.  I often have to add a tablespoon or two of water here b/c the dough always seems to stiff-maybe it's just me! LOL  Knead for 5-8 minutes and let rest in a covered bowl for 20 minutes.  Roll out to about 1/4 inch and use biscuit cutter to make as many circles as you can in the dough.  Gather dough scraps up and re-roll and cut them.  Place 1 dough circle in each greased muffin cup and press dough into the bottom and up the sides.  Fill with one scoop of sloppy joe meat and top with cheese if desired.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  When finished, remove from pan and let cool on a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then serve.

As far as a sloppy joe recipe, I figure there are thousands.  I don't think I make it the same way twice, usually because I'm cleaning out the fridge when I make them, so who knows what might show up in it.  The standard items are ground beef, chopped onion, and ketchup.  I've also added shredded carrot or zucchini, chopped green pepper, garlic, mustard, and tomato sauce or juice or once even salsa (made it more like taco meat).  Just make sure you like how it tastes before you add it to the cups.

Happy baking everyone!