Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry Bites make an amazing, savory breakfast treat with buttery breading, honey mustard, ham, and cheddar.
Easy cheesy puff pastry bites make the perfect Appetizers for a holiday brunch! These puff pastry rounds are rolled up with ham, cheddar, and honey mustard for a sandwich flavored snack. For more crispy puff pastry bites, try Bacon Pinwheels and Cheesy Pesto Pinwheels too!
Table of contents
Sabrina’s Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry Bites Recipe
This crispy puff pastry stuffed with ham and cheese is always a favorite recipe when we need a quick appetizer for a cocktail party or casual brunch. The great thing about these ham and cheese spirals, along with how delicious they are, is how versatile they are. Savory melty cheese and ham filling makes them great to serve around lunch or dinner time, but the flavors also work for breakfast or brunch.
These delicious ham and cheddar cheese bites are the perfect party appetizer for special occasions like holidays just as much as a casual get-together. The spiraled, flaky pastries with the melty savory filling look like they came from a bakery. And they’re so easy to make in about 20 minutes, you can really toss them together any time you have a big group you need to serve.
Ingredients
- Puff Pastry Sheets: One of the things that makes this recipe so easy is that you don’t have to make your own pastry dough. Instead, just buy a box of flaky puff pastry at the store. It turns out amazingly buttery and flaky but without the work of homemade dough. All you need to do is add the filling, form the pastry bites, and bake them for a few minutes.
- Honey Mustard: The honey mustard not only adds a little kick of flavor to the recipe, but it also provides some needed moisture to the ham and cheese filling. The mustard flavor also makes them taste a bit like a classic ham and cheese sandwich.
- Ham: One half of the savory filling is of course delicious, salty and meaty ham. A pack of deli ham slices means no slicing or chopping, just layer them on the pastry sheets.
- Cheese: The other main filling in these crispy pinwheel bites is sharp cheddar cheese. Again, use sliced cheese to make it assembly super quick and easy.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Baking Sheet: A regular-size baking sheet should hold all your pinwheels so you only have to bake one batch. However, you don’t want them squeezed together on the pan so if they don’t all fit easily, split it into two separate batches.
- Parchment Paper: It’s best to line your baking sheets with parchment paper. Not only is the paper non-stick so your pastry bites come off easily, but the parchment actually helps them cook evenly.
How to Make
Time needed: 20 minutes.
- Prep for Baking
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Top Puff Pastry
Unfold the sheet of puff pastry into a flat layer. Use a butter knife to spread the honey mustard over the puff pastry dough. Make sure that you’re leaving about a half-inch border without honey mustard on each side.
- Layer the Ham and Cheese
Layer the ham and sharp cheddar cheese slices over the pastry sheet.
- Roll and Slice
Carefully roll the puff pastry into a pinwheel shape. Slice the ham and cheese pinwheel into 16 bite-sized pastry pieces.
- Bake the Puff Pastry Bites
Place each of them on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Pop the Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry Bites in the 400-degree oven for a 15-18 minute cooking time. When the flaky puff pastry starts to brown slightly and the cheese is bubbly, you can take out the baking sheet and let the pastry bites cool a little before serving.
Nutritional Facts
Tips & Tricks for Ham and Cheese Bites
- Prepare them Ahead of Time
These are a great party appetizer to make the night before your event. Fill and slice the puff pastry rounds and place them on the parchment paper lined baking sheet. Wrap the baking sheet tightly with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 1 day, or 24 hours. When it’s almost time for your party, unwrap the tray and pop it in a hot oven. You might need to add a couple minutes to the baking time, but otherwise it’s the same.
- How to Keep Puff Pastry Crispy After Baking
To keep your puff pastry from getting soggy after it bakes, you want to make sure you let the pinwheels cool all the way down before storing. If you store them while they are warm, they will steam and the trapped moisture will make your pastry soggy.
Serving Ideas
When you’re putting out the Ham and Cheese Pastry Bites, you can put them on a serving platter with other crowd-pleasing finger foods. They’d taste great with Garlic Bread Meatball Bites, Cinnamon Sugar Pretzel Bites, and Bacon Wrapped Smokies. The easy appetizer recipes are sure to make any party a hit.
How to Store
Store: Don’t leave Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry Bites at room temperature for more than 2 hours at a time. Let the bite-sized pastries cool down completely before you store the leftovers. Put them in an airtight container with a paper towel underneath to collect any moisture, and keep them in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Reheat: Put the leftover bites on a baking sheet and cover them with foil. Reheat on low heat for a couple minutes until they are warmed up.
Freeze: You can also seal the pastry bites to freeze for up to 2 weeks. First, freeze them for an hour or two on a baking sheet. Then transfer the hardened puff pastry to a freezer bag, and seal them. Reheat the Cheese Pastries in the oven before serving.
Frequent Questions
Yes, you can definitely make these Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry Bites ahead of time! Assemble them and slice them into individual pinwheels. Place them on a baking tray and wrap the tray tightly with plastic wrap. Chill for up to 24 hours and bake from the fridge, adding a few minutes to the baking time as needed.
The easiest way to keep your puff pastry from getting soggy is to make sure it bakes all the way through. Bake them in the middle of the oven so they bake evenly and don’t brown too fast on the outside without cooking all the way on the inside.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1/2 box puff pastry
- 1/4 cup honey mustard
- 8 slices ham
- 8 slices sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Unfold the puff pastry, then spread with honey mustard, leaving a half inch border without the honey mustard.
- Layer with ham and cheese, then roll up into a pinwheel.
- Slice into 16 bites.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes.
Nutrition
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Variations
Cheese: To change up the flavor of Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry Bites, you can add another type of cheese over the cheddar. Swiss cheese, Parmesan cheese, Havarti cheese, pepper jack cheese, provolone, or Monterey Jack would all taste amazing. To stop the pastry bites from getting too bulky, you can use grated cheese. Instead of stacking on another layer with the new cheese variety, just sprinkle it as shredded cheese over the cheddar cheese.
Dijon Mustard: If you don’t like the slight sweetness that the honey mustard adds to the recipe, you can replace it with Dijon mustard or spicy brown mustard.
Creamy Puff Pastries: To make extra-rich pastry bites, you can spread some softened cream cheese between the sliced ham and cheese slices.
Add-Ins: There are plenty of delicious ingredients you can add to this pastry recipe. Try sprinkling seasonings like paprika or a little garlic powder over the mustard spread. You could also add chopped caramelized onions, or additional chives.
Meat: Instead of ham, you can make this recipe with sliced turkey, chicken, or pastrami. You could also layer in cooked bacon along with the original meat in the pastry bites.
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