Name: Mini Baked Puff Pastry Havarti Bites
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Ingredients: 2 sheets pre-made puff pastry (thawed); 18 oz Castello Havarti; cherry preserves; walnuts; water; honey and pepper (to garnish)

Thank you Castello Cheese for sponsoring this post. Castello Cheese makes entertaining easy with its range of flavors.

When it comes to entertaining for the holidays, I love to keep my recipes simple but flavorful. I love serving a cheese plate for my guests as much as the next girl but one way I like to change it up is by making a delicious baked soft cheese in puff pastry. This year I’m making baked puff pastry Castello Creamy Havarti Cheese bites with cherry jam and walnuts wrapped in a puff pastry. And let me tell you, they turned out absolutely divine.

Truth be told, I was going to do a traditional baked brie when we had some friends over for a little gathering, but I felt like that concept was getting a little stale. So I rummaged through my vintage James Beard Foundation cookbook and found a recipe for puff pastry cheese bites.

Bingo.

It had all the elements that I love about a baked brie- puff pastry, jam, nuts, melty cheese- but instead of a colossal puff pastry mess when you try to cut it, everyone gets their own individual taste.

At first, I didn’t know what kind of cheese I wanted to put in it, but Castello sent me some product and then the Creamy Havarti jumped out at me.

Double Bingo.

Castello Cheese is my go-to for Gouda so I knew that Havarti would be fantastic. They have over 40 cheese varieties so I was excited to try out a new one. I’ve only made it through about 4 of their cheese varieties so needless to say I have some work to do!

These puff pastry bites came together simply: little cubes of Havarti were wrapped in tiny squares of puff pastry, we added some cherry preserves, a few walnuts and baked in a 400°F oven for 10 minutes until the puff pastry was golden brown. I transferred them to a cooling rack and then when I was ready to plate, arranged them on a platter, drizzled a little honey and finished with a light crack of pepper.

Thanks to the creaminess of the Castello Havarti, this came out to be the perfect cheesy appetizer. I promise this is going to be the appetizer that your guests clamor over all season long!

Mini Baked Puff Pastry Havarti Bites

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

15 mins

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Cheese

Ingredients

2 sheets pre-made puff pastry thawed
18 oz Castello Havarti
cherry preserves
walnuts
water
honey and pepper to garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F and prepare muffin tins with a spray of non-stick spray.
Thaw your puff pastry according to package directions and roll it out so that the creases are gone. Cut into 2 inch squares, you should get about 9 pieces per puff pastry sheet.
Cube your havarti cheese into 1 ounce pieces.
Using a pastry brush, brush the edge of the square of puff pastry with water, add a spoonful of cherry preserves to the center. Place the Havarti square in the center, then top with walnuts.
Using your index finger and thumb, gather together the edges of the puff pastry to touch, like folding a dumpling or a paper fortune teller game. The end shape doesn't matter so much that all the edges are sealed.
Place the puff pastries in a muffin tin and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until perfectly golden brown. Don't worry if they ooze out a little bit. Quickly transfer them to a cooling rack once they're done baking.
When cooled, about 5 minutes, transfer to your serving platter and drizzle with honey and a fresh crack of pepper.