Easy Vegetable Pizza and Apple Monkey Bread using refrigerated rolls

As you know, I am a big believer in cooking food from scratch whenever possible. Making homemade biscuits, rolls, or pie crusts has become part of my normal cooking routine. So when my husband opened our refrigerator last week and saw six cans of refrigerated dough sitting on the shelves, he was a bit surprised. “Whoa! What is this world coming to?” I’m not sure, but I think I might like it.

I recently had the opportunity to bake with two of Great Value’s baking products: crescent rolls and biscuits. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the challenge and appreciated the time savings of working with refrigerated doughs. More on that next week.

I whipped up two delicious recipes that will be easy on your wallet and your time. As we head into the busy holiday season, these would also be fast and tasty options to serve as an appetizer or assemble for a brunch or breakfast buffet.

First, I made a chilled appetizer using Great Value refrigerated crescent roll dough. I rolled out two containers of dough onto rimmed baking sheets and baked it into the base crust. Once it was cooled, I spread a flavored cream cheese over it and topped it with handfuls of finely chopped vegetables. To save time, I used my food processor to chop everything except the green onions. This appetizer can be made 1-2 hours ahead and chilled, easing that crunch time right before a party.

If you were making this appetizer to serve before Thanksgiving, you could work with some combination of red, orange, and yellow vegetables. A fun Christmas appetizer could include red and green vegetables like bell peppers, spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

Vegetable Pizza Appetizers

Adapted from All recipes

Ingredients

2 (8 oz.) containers Great Value refrigerated crescent roll dough
12 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2-1 packet dry ranch dressing mix
5 c. finely chopped vegetables (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, green onions, spinach, cucumbers)
1 c. grated cheese (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Lay the crescent roll dough out on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roll it flat, pinching together the edges as you go to help it seal into one pizza crust.
3. Bake for 12 minutes or until a light golden brown. Cool in the baking sheet for at least 15 minutes.
4. In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, and ranch dressing mix. Spread the mixture over the cooled crust. Arrange the finely chopped vegetables and grated cheese (if using) over the cream cheese mixture.
5. Cover and chill for one hour before cutting into triangles or squares for serving.

The next recipe I made was always-popular monkey bread using three containers of Great Value refrigerated homestyle biscuits. For this one, I enlisted the help of my 4-year old daughter in shaking the cinnamon sugar bag. We added layers of chopped apples for a fall twist on an old favorite.

I haven’t eaten monkey bread since I was a kid. It was my brother’s specialty, a recipe he could make all by himself. The rest of us happily gobbled it up. It really is a fun and tasty recipe for kids to make and eat, with small biscuit pieces perfect for little fingers and mouths.

Apple Monkey Bread

Adapted from Allrecipes

Ingredients

1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2 t. ground cinnamon
3 (12 oz.) cans Great Value refrigerated biscuit dough, separated and cut into quarters
2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/2 c. butter

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a bundt pan.
2. Combine the brown sugar and ground cinnamon together in a large resealable plastic bag; add the biscuit dough in batches of 6 to 8 pieces and shake to coat. Alternate adding layers of the chopped apple and the coated biscuit dough to the bundt pan.
3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; stir the remaining brown sugar & cinnamon mixture into the melted butter. Bring to a boil; cook at a boil for 1 minute, remove from heat, and pour over the apple and biscuit pieces.
4. Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes, until the bread is cooked through and lightly golden on top. Allow the bread to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before carefully turning out onto a plate to serve.

Looking for more delicious ways to use these budget-friendly, time-saving products? Check out these recipes, recommended by great cooks:

Great Value Crescent Roll Dough:

• Pigs in a Blanket
• Chicken and Broccoli Braid
• Taco Stuffed Crescent Rolls
• Chicken & Cream Cheese Roll-Ups

Great Value Pie Crust:

• Spinach and Bacon Quiche (for a lighter option, substitute milk for the heavy cream)
• Southern Tomato Pie

What are your favorite ways to use refrigerated crescent rolls, biscuits, or pie crust? (include recipe links, if possible!)

Great Value products are available locally at Walmart. This post is a part of a campaign sponsored by Great Value and The Motherhood. All opinions are mine.

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