Cheese Puffs Pastries

 

 I cannot take any sorts of credit for this recipe. A dear sweet friend up in Washington, Lisa, gave it to me. I'm posting it here mainly so I won't lose it. They're that good.

Now I'm not the biggest fan of cheese danishes and/or pastries. My honey on the other hand LOVES them so when Lisa posted a picture I asked for the recipe. And they are incredibly easy to make.

It was so hard waiting for them to cool! Starting from the back: Plain, Blackberry Peach Jam, Orange Spice Marmalade and Elderberry Jelly

 

The blackberry peach was my favorite. The orange spice was my honey's favorite though all of them are so good. You can use any type of jam or jelly on them really. We just used what I had in my fridge. Too bad we had already finished off Lisa's Marionberry Jam than she had sent us for Yule. That would have been amazing on it. And they are even better the next day. At least to me they were. The cream cheese and the jam had more time to get happy together and soak into the puff pastry. With a cup of coffee or a strong breakfast tea....HEAVEN! 

The best thing it was really easy to make.

Cheese Puff Pastries

• 1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
• 1 8 oz block of softened cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Jam/Jelly/Marmalade optional

Mix the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla together. It's important to make sure the cream cheese is room temperature. This helps making sure it's a smooth creamy texture. 

Take the sheet of puff pastry and cut into squares. You can use a regular muffin tin and make 12 smaller pastries. As you can see I used the jumbo muffin tins for 6. (I made a double batch). Put a heaping tablespoon (if you are using a regular muffin tin, start with a heaping teaspoon, you can always add more) of the cream cheese mixture in the middle of a square and fold it up and place into a muffin tin that has been sprayed with Pam or equivalent. Place a teaspoon of topping if desired on top.

Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 30 mins. Note: it only took about 22 minutes in my oven as it runs hot so keep an eye on it.

Note:  I suggest if you are putting any jam on top to decrease the amount of cream cheese filling slightly, maybe just a tablespoon instead of a heaping tablespoon. As you can tell from my pictures, they did overflow a little bit, which led to some slight darker color around some of the sides. It's the jam's sugars carmelizing. You could also add the jam during the cooling process but we wanted a more integrated flavor. 

Hope you enjoy and THANK YOU LISA for sharing the recipe!

Cucumber Feta Dip

Or as my friends and husband like to call it…CRACK! Because once you start eating it you just can’t stop! Seriously this stuff is so good.

I found the basis for the recipe years ago when my friend T and I were planning a Greek Gods/Goddess costume party. We wanted most of the foods to be reflective of the theme. It is similar to a Tzatziki sauce but definitely with my own twists.

Cucumber Feta Dip
2 8 oz packages of cream cheese soften
12 oz Greek yogurt – Plain (you can use regular plain yogurt. The dip will be a little thinner)
1 cup sour cream
6 oz crumbled Feta cheese
1 large cucumber (2/3’s chopped the remaining third sliced)
1 small can of sliced olives, drained roughly chopped and reserving 1.5 TB for garnish
3 TB crushed garlic
1.5 ts kosher salt
1/2 ts ground white pepper
1 Roma tomatoes – chopped (optional)

Combine cream cheese, yogurt and sour cream into a mixer and mix until combined. Don’t worry if the dip looks really thin as the cucumber and feta really help to thicken it up. Add the chopped cucumber (I leave the peel on as I love the flavor it adds. I just wash it well to make sure it no longer has a waxy texture), olives (yes I know I can just use chopped olives instead of chopping sliced olives but I find that the flavor of the olives get lost and I like the texture of the chunkier olive pieces). Mix well.

Add garlic, salt and pepper mixing well after each addition. NOTE REGARDING SEASONINGS: I highly recommend starting the spices out at lower measurements. My hubby and I are self-proclaimed garlicholics. And the salt and pepper are to our tastes. Just mix well, taste and adjust to your liking.

Smooth out into a container and top with the remainder of the olives, tomatoes (optional) and line the pan with the cucumber slices.

Serve with pita chips or wheat thins (normally I do both. Wavy Lays will work as well)