These Herb and Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Bites make the perfect easy party appetizer!
Whether you want elegant finger foods for New Year’s Eve or the holidays, or something light for casual entertaining, these creamy goat cheese puff pastry bites are easy and so delicious!
Hello everyone! Hope you had a wonderful holiday and you’re getting ready for an exciting New Year’s Eve!
This is such a busy time of year for holiday gatherings and parties – it’s a wonderful thing to have a recipe in your back pocket for an easy holiday appetizer that is a total crowd pleaser!
The beauty of these herb and goat cheese puff pastry appetizers is that they’re light and fresh – and perfect for any time of year – winter, spring, summer or fall. Buttery puff pastry and savory, creamy goat cheese make a truly winning combination.
So don’t feel that you can only make these during the holidays, just because they look a bit fancy. 🙂 In fact, pour yourself a glass of wine and make these as an easy dinner – you won’t be disappointed! These little puff pastry cups would also be a beautiful but simple appetizer for a dinner party at any time of year.
These puff pastry bites use a few simple ingredients pantry, fridge and freezer staples and you might already have everything on hand! Store-bought puff pastry is one of my favorite things to keep stocked in my freezer, for the sheer versatility it offers – plus everything you make with it looks classy 🙂
In case you’re not familiar with puff pastry – it’s a flaky pastry that is sold in the frozen section of the grocery store. You can look for name brands like Pepperidge Farm, but I’ve also had great success with store brands and I normally avoid the additional cost of the name brand. I’ve read that Trader Joe also makes a great option.
The good news is that this is one of the times when the store-bought stuff is perfectly good for whatever you want to make, and it makes a great ingredient to have on hand for when you need to make an easy appetizer or last minute tart recipe.
It makes up beautifully into flaky, buttery goodness that makes the perfect appetizer or side dish. We have a few other puff pastry recipes, including Easy Berry and Cream Cheese Pastries and Jalapeno Popper Pinwheels.
Minimizing Costs
This recipe also calls for both cream cheese and my FAVE – creamy goat cheese.
Sometimes these ingredients can be pricey, but I LOVE them both and would never want to give them up, so in that case I try to find cheaper ways to buy them.
Goat cheese is much cheaper when bought in bulk at Costco and can be frozen.
Cream cheese often goes on sale and I wait for an amazing sale and stock up – the best before date on the packages is usually months away.
Other than those ingredients this recipe just calls for garlic and herbs (you can use fresh or dried – but fresh is always better, in my opinion) – and you can adjust the herbs to suit what you love or what you have on hand.
You can also really easily double this recipe to make two dozen bites.
Hope you decide to make these puff pastry bites for your New Year’s Eve celebrations this year! Enjoy! 🙂
Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Bites – An Easy Appetizer – Step-by-Step Instructions
Herb and Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Bites – An Easy Party Appetizer! – Ingredients
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Thaw and cut a sheet of puff pastry into 12 squares (they will actually be rectangles), using a sharp knife or pizza cutter (I would not use a butter knife here – it would be too dull and pull the puff pastry sheets into awkward shapes).
Gently stretch each piece into a square using your hands or a rolling pin.
Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray (or coat it in a thin layer of olive oil) and gently nestle a square of puff pastry into each well. Set aside. (You can also make smaller versions of these using a mini muffin tin.)
In a medium sized bowl, use a hand mixer to combine goat cheese and softened cream cheese. Whip until creamy. Whipped goat cheese is an absolute must-try if you’re a fan of goat cheese.
Add 2 minced garlic cloves, 2 chopped green onions (about 2 tablespoons) – or the equivalent amount of chives, 1 tablespoon of dried parsley (or 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley) and 1/8 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper.
You can substitute other herbs for the parsley if you want too – fresh basil, dill and tarragon would all be delicious – any two or three of these would be a great combination. Even a pinch of fresh thyme – especially in the colder months. Dried herbs are fine to use, but fresh herbs always bring the best flavor to any recipe. Mix well to combine completely.
Scrape the filling into a smaller bowl to make it easier to work with.
Divide filling evenly between puff pastry cups. I fit about 2 teaspoons in each cup. Bake for 17 minutes, or until filling is golden brown and puffed. Serve warm or at room temperature. Garnish with fresh chives or herbs if you want.
In the very unlikely event you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container for a couple of days. They’ll be best if warmed up slightly in the oven or a toaster oven.
Enjoy! 🙂
Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Bites - An Easy Appetizer
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry (thawed)
- 4 oz cream cheese (softened)
- 2 oz goat cheese
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 green onions - about 2 tbsp (chopped finely) (can also use chives)
- 1 tbsp dried parsley*
- 1/8 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray.
- Roll out puff pastry sheet and use a sharp knife to cut it into 12 rectangles (see photo below) - 3x4.
- Lift each rectangle and gently stretch it into more of a square. Nestle it into the well of a muffin cup. Once they are all filled, set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, use a hand mixer to whip cream cheese and goat cheese until creamy.
- Add garlic and herbs and mix well. Divide cream cheese mixture evenly between puff pastry bites.
- Bake for 17 minutes, or until puff pastry is golden brown and puffed. Serve warm or at room temperature. Garnish with extra chopped herbs or chives (optional). Enjoy! 🙂
Notes
* You can use any combination of herbs you like. Dill, basil and tarragon would also be delicious!
Nutrition
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Casey says
Hey! I want to make these tomorrow night for a party on Sunday. Do they reheat well? And if so, how do you reheat them?
Thanks!
Myra says
Hi Casey! I’m SO sorry I missed your comment! To be honest I’ve never made them ahead and reheated. If you ended up trying it could you let us know how it worked out?
Gina Groener says
I want to make these but I’m afraid there will be too many, for a small dinner party. Do you think any leftovers could be frozen and rebaked are a later time?
Myra says
Hi Gina! I’ve never tried that, so to be honest I’m not sure it would work. I feel like the puff pastry would be mushy after freezing and thawing and baking again. I do think that you could freeze half of the filling and then use it to make more tarts at a later date, but again I’ve never tried it. I think if I was going to try something I’d probably try that. Please let me know what you do and how it works out for you! 🙂
Hilary says
What about a daub of fig jam under the cheese mixture.
Wouldthe pastry go soggy.
Myra says
Hi Hilary! Yes, I think it might make the pastry to go a little soggy (although if you do decide to try it, please let us know!). Instead maybe you could put it on top of the cheese mixture and it should work out fine. Just make sure that whatever herbs you are using in the cheese mixture will taste good with the fig jam. Please let me know how it goes if you try it! Thanks 🙂
Calli says
If one is not a fan of goat cheese, what other cheese could work well here?
Thanks!
Myra says
Hi Calli! I think you could just substitute with a little extra cream cheese if you want, although you may want to add a pinch of extra salt. If you like feta, that would probably be a good substitute for the goat cheese too. If you try it please let me know how it goes!
Melissa says
Had this over the weekend… So good!
Myra says
Thanks for the feedback Melissa! So glad you liked it! 🙂
Evelyn says
Yummm!
Myra says
Thanks for commenting! 🙂
Tara MacInnis says
Had these and love love loved them! Gonna make them next time I am invited to an outing
Myra says
So glad you enjoyed them! 🙂