Being the good aunt that I am, when my niece came to spend the night with us this past week, I made sure to have a bag of chocolate mini donuts ready for breakfast.
When my sister and brother-in-law came to pick her up, I asked her if she wanted me to send the leftovers with her, and of course, she happily took them home.
Joey just shook his head.
“You’re such a pusher,” he said.
That’s when I held up the package of Hawaiian dinner rolls my mother had somehow weaseled us into taking back to our house on a recent visit.
“I learned from the best.”
So, what’s there to do with leftover Hawaiian rolls? Well, you could work yourself into a carb-induced food coma, or you can do what we did and make some delicious turkey and cheese sliders.
The recipe I used came from the blog “The Novice Chef.” You can find the original post at https://thenovicechefblog.com/cheesy-turkey-sliders/. I changed the ingredients and removed the sugar, figuring I’ve had enough sweets over the past couple months.
Turkey Cheese Sliders
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound deli turkey
- 12 Hawaiian rolls
- 6 to 8 slices cheese I used pepperjack
- about 1/2 cup fresh spinach
- 4 tablespoons butter melted
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- garlic salt and pepper to taste
- sesame seeds to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a nine-by-nine-inch pan (or whatever size you have that can fit the entire package of Hawaiian rolls in it) by spraying it with cooking spray.
- Leave the rolls all connected, and using bread knife, cut the Hawaiian rolls in half to create a top and bottom.
- Place the bottom part into the prepared pan. Place the turkey evenly over the rolls, add the cheese, and then finish off with a layer of spinach leaves. Place the top layer of buns on top, and poke just a few holes in the buns with a sharp knife.
- In a small bowl, combine the butter, garlic, dijon, onion powder, Worcestershire, garlic salt and pepper, and pour it evenly over top of the rolls, spreading it out with a spoon, if necessary to evenly coat the rolls.
- Sprinkle the sesame seeds on top. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 14 minutes.
- Remove the foil and bake for another two minutes or until the tops brown.
- Cut the sliders apart and serve immediately.
These were excellent. Joey and I ate them on New Year’s Eve while we played a board game, and it was the perfect, low-key night.
We recreated the recipe a couple days later (my mom actually gave us two packages of rolls) with deli-sliced pastrami, and it was excellent that way, too. I’m going to keep track of this one for when we’ll inevitably have folks over for the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl. It would be great for the snack table.
And now we know what to do with leftover Hawaiian rolls. As far as mini donuts, find yourself a willing 4-year-old.
This piece first appeared in print on Jan. 6, 2022.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.