Forget Breakfast Sandwiches And Make Crispy 4-Ingredient Hand Pies Instead

There's no better way to kickstart your morning than by enjoying a hot coffee or chilled glass of spicy green juice accompanied by a warm, homemade breakfast sandwich. Beyond giving your body enough fuel to tackle the first part of your day, an eggs Florentine breakfast sandwich or classic bacon, egg, and cheese can also be eaten on the go. However, if you're sick of using the same old bread slices, there's a way to give your portable meal a little more intrigue without too much extra effort: make it into flaky hand pies.

Store-bought puff pastry is the ingredient you need to bring turn breakfast sandwiches into easy pies. When baked, this laminated dough becomes delightfully crisp and incredibly flaky, perfectly offsetting the velvety texture of your morning eggs and cheese.

Besides refrigerated pastry sheets, you only need pre-cooked scrambled eggs, shredded cheese, and fully-cooked bacon or sausage for four-ingredient pies. Once your filling ingredients are prepped and ready to use, cut each sheet of defrosted puff pastry into six equally-sized rectangles, which makes a total of three hand pies per sheet. Then simply layer your cheese, meat, and eggs on one half of the rectangles, fold the dough over, and brush the edges with egg wash (aka beaten eggs) and crimp with a fork to seal.  

Baking your hand pies right before serving ensures a perfectly flaky exterior, so if you're making more than one batch on a lazy Sunday and saving extra pies for a later date, don't bake the leftover ones until you're ready to eat them. Oftentimes, puff pastry can turn soggy when reheated in the microwave and may not regain in the same crispness when heated for a second time in your oven. Instead, freeze any unbaked hand pies on a baking sheet until they're completely solid, then store them together in a resealable plastic bag. To cook the pies in any case, simply brush with more egg wash for good browning and bake in a 400 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 20 to 25 minutes.

Now that you know how convenient it is to upgrade your morning fare, feel free to use a variety of different fillings. Give your improved breakfast sandwiches a smoky twist with brisket, or try sweet potato hash and sauteed veggies (without worrying about the contents dropping onto your lap). Alternatively, you may want to opt for sweeter fillings like hazelnut chocolate spread; peanut butter, bacon, and bananas; or apples and cream cheese. In any case, the puff pastry will seal your filling into beautifully crisp, easy-to-eat packages.