Sweet And Salty Thanksgiving Pastry Puffs Recipe: No idea what it is about puff pastry, but if you show up to a party with a plate full of the buttery, crispy dough bites, you are sure to be the most popular person there. Puff pastry, which is usually filled with gooey cheese, is the best appetizer because its fluffy top is so much better than a regular water cracker.
Almost anything can be made with puff dough. When the dough is still soft, it can be cut, twisted, shaped, and made into any shape. When it’s baked, it gets light and puffy, like a croissant. You only need to press the warmed dough into muffin tins and cut it into pieces to make beautiful bite-sized cups.
This makes a light cup that can hold as much melted cheese, salty bacon, and fresh fruit as you want. In this recipe, which I wrote with creator Michelle McGlinn, our puff pastry cups are stuffed with gooey halloumi cheese, crispy bacon, and tart pomegranate. The flaky, buttery dough holds all of these flavors together in a burst.
Sweet And Salty Thanksgiving Pastry Puffs Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 slices bacon, chopped
- 1 puff pastry sheet, thawed
- 4 ounces halloumi cheese, cut into ½ -inch pieces
- 2 tablespoons teaspoons hot honey
- 6 dates, chopped
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- ¼ cup pomegranate arils, for topping
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- Add bacon to a skillet over medium heat.
- Brown bacon pieces until crispy.
- Spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
- Unfold the puff pastry sheet and roll into a 10-inch square. Cut into 24 2-inch squares.
- Press the squares into the muffin tin with the corners pointing up.
- Add a piece of halloumi to each cup.
- Add the bacon to the halloumi.
- Add dates to each cup.
- Add a light drizzle of hot honey to each cup.
- Combine the egg with water and brush onto the tops of the puff pastries.
- Bake until golden brown and melty inside, 15 minutes.
- Top with pomegranate arils.
FAQ
What cheese can I use in Thanksgiving pastry puffs?
Halloumi is a cheese from the Mediterranean. It is hard on the outside and soft on the inside, and it melts when baked, fried, or broiled. Halloumi is salty and sour, like feta cheese. It goes well with strong tastes like bacon, tomato, and peppers.
You can use feta instead of halloumi if you can’t find it. It has a stronger taste but the same melting quality. If you want a more nutty taste, use goat cheese instead. You can also use fontina, mozzarella, or Gruyère cheese, which all melt really well and make a gooey dough puff.
You can also change the other things that are in these tiny pastries. If you want to make these meatless, just leave out the bacon crumble or use vegan bacon or tempeh instead. The “salty” part of the recipe is the bacon, so you need to find other salty, crunchy foods to use instead. But you don’t have to use the dates. They give the puff a sweetness that’s kind of like molasses. You could use date syrup, fig jam, or dried cherries instead of the date.
How can I store Thanksgiving pastry puffs?
If you have leftovers that you don’t want to throw away, put them in a container that won’t let air in and put it in the fridge for three to four days. When the puffs are warm, the cheese is melted and the dough is fluffy. We suggest putting it back in the oven slowly for a few minutes, just until it’s warm all the way through.
If you bake puff pastry for too long, it can dry out and get hard and old very quickly since it is already cooked. This is why you shouldn’t make these ahead of time: the puff pastry won’t taste as light and airy.
If you want to save time before serving, you can cook the bacon up to three days ahead of time and keep it in the fridge in a sealed container until you’re ready to use it. You should only let the puff pastry thaw 40 minutes ahead of time, so make these sweet and salty pastry puffs right before you serve them.
