Pepperoni Pizza Hot Pocket

Hot Pockets are my favorite go-to frozen lunch. My daughter eats one basically every day. She really likes the ham and cheese ones, but pepperoni pizza are my favorite! So I will show you how to easily make some of these delicious pizza pockets for yourself. Feel free to experiment with different fillings if you like. They are actually really pretty easy to make and only require a few ingredients!

You Need:

• 1/2 cup diced Pepperoni (about 16 slices)
  
• 1 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese
  
• 1/3 cup Pizza sauce
  
• 1 Pizza Dough (I used a homemade dough my friend gave me, but you can use store bought or make your own! This is a great Instructable to make Pizza Dough)
  
• 2 baking sheets
  
• Oil
  
• Oven preheated to 425 degrees Fahrenheit

Step 1: Prepare the Filling

• Take 4 or 5 slices of pepperoni and stack them up. Cut the stack into 3 or 4 strips. Make an additional 3-4 cuts in the opposite direction to dice the pepperoni. You don't want the dice to be too small or you will lose all of the texture!
• Repeat this with the remaining pepperoni.
• Mix the pepperoni, cheese and sauce together in a bowl.

Step 2: Shape the Dough

• Take the dough and divide it into 6 equal parts. I did this by cutting the dough in half then dividing the halves into 3 pieces.
• Spread a little bit of olive oil on a baking sheet using a paper towel. You just want enough to keep the dough from sticking.
• Take one piece of dough and spread it into a 7x5 inch rectangle.

Step 3: Assemble the Hot Pockets

• Coat a second baking sheet with some oil.
• Put 1/6th of the filling (aprox. 1/4 cup) into the center of the rectangle. The filling should be 1/4 inch away from the right and left edges and about 1/2 inch away from the top and bottom.
• Gently fold the top over the filling followed by the bottom.
• Pinch the ends and middle seam shut with your fingers. You want it sealed really good or the filling will ooze out during baking.
• Transfer the hot pocket to the baking surface, seam side down.
• Using a toothpick, poke holes in the top of the Hot Pocket. You want to do this in a domino dot style - 2 dots, 1 dot, 2 dots etc.
• Make sure you get decent sized holes. It is important that the steam is able to release or your pocket will explode and the filling will goo out.

Step 4: Bake and Enjoy!

• Bake the Hot Pockets for about 12 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. You will want to watch them at about 8 minutes and keep baking in 2 minute increments until they just begin to slightly brown.
• Remove them from the cooking tray and cook on a cutting board 5-10 minutes before serving.
• Enjoy your hot pockets!

If your pocket accidentally exploded, do not worry! Simply cut the pocket in half and scoop the filling back in. It still tastes the same!