Holy Cheeseballs!

The weather has been so beautiful the last couple of days! Spring has finally arrived in the Adirondacks.  Everything has started sprouting and budding. I actually have some tulips and daffodils popping out of the ground.  I need to get outside and start getting my yard ready for planting and gardening.  There is raking to be done and it is not going to get done by itself. (But wouldn't that be nice!) I have a beautiful gardening board on my Pinterest, now I just need to cull it for ideas to put into practice.  My wonderful husband has promised me raised beds for my vegetables this year.

Because the weather has been so nice, I have been spending time outside with my Beauty. Once homework has been finished we head outside to ride her bike, scooter or play in the backyard. I have been looking for fun quick dinners.  I found this Grilled Cheese Pull Apart Bread by Oh Bite It on Pinterest a couple days ago and tonight I made it!

All I have to say is OMG!!!!!!!! This was super gooey, super yummy and SUPER bad for you.  It is definitely a "sometime" food to quote my good friend Cookie Monster.

There were a couple of little tweaks I made to this recipe to try to make it a little more healthful and cut down on the calories and fat.  Once I made it I realized that you could probably cut the butter down to 1/4 of a stick and still get the same effect and flavor.  It might even be possible to eliminate it completely from the bottom of the pan (spraying it of course with non stick spray or lining your pan with parchment paper) and just brush the tops of the biscuits.

The original recipe calls for you to use an entire biscuit for each dough ball.  I split each large biscuit into thirds. Also, the original calls for the use of 3/4 of the Velveeta and I cut it down to 12 ounces.

Grilled Cheese Pull-apart Biscuits

1 package Pillsbury Grands Flaky Layers Biscuits 8 biscuits

1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup) 

12 ounces Velveeta 2% Milk cut in 1/2 oz cubes

1 tsp garlic powder (optional) 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 9 inch round cake pan melt 1/2 stick of butter.  Cube the Velveeta into approximately 1/2 oz portions you will need 24 cubes (I cut each 3 oz square into 6 cubes).  Split each using the layers into 3 portions.  Place a cube of cheese in the center of each biscuit round.  Draw the dough around the cheese like a little purse.  Place each dough ball in the pan.  You will have 24 dough balls.  

Once all the biscuit balls are in the pan.  Place in the oven and cook for 12 minutes.  After the 12 minutes take pan out of the oven and brush the tops with butter.  You will be able to use the butter from the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle the tops with garlic powder if desired and return to the oven for another 12-15 minutes until biscuits are golden brown.  

Let cool 5 minutes before serving.  

This would be a fun recipe served after a day of playing out in the snow with a cup of tomato soup.  We had them with salad.  I can tell you that a little goes a long way.  Because of the butter and the Velveeta they are very rich.  I had enough for my family of 3 and then called my girlfriend to come get the rest to feed her family of 4 on her way home from softball.