Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry Bites

16 Servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes

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!

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.

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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.
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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.
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How to Make

Time needed: 20 minutes.

  1. Prep for Baking

    Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

  2. 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.Ham & Cheese Puff Pastry Bites spreading honey mustard on pastry

  3. Layer the Ham and Cheese

    Layer the ham and sharp cheddar cheese slices over the pastry sheet.Ham & Cheese Puff Pastry Bites adding ham and cheese to pastry

  4. Roll and Slice

    Carefully roll the puff pastry into a pinwheel shape. Slice the ham and cheese pinwheel into 16 bite-sized pastry pieces.Ham & Cheese Puff Pastry Bites sliced on baking sheet before baking

  5. 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.Ham & Cheese Puff Pastry Bites sliced on baking sheet

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Nutritional Facts

Nutrition Facts
Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry Bites
Amount Per Serving
Calories 183 Calories from Fat 117
% Daily Value*
Fat 13g20%
Saturated Fat 5g31%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 5g
Cholesterol 23mg8%
Sodium 315mg14%
Potassium 60mg2%
Carbohydrates 9g3%
Fiber 0.2g1%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 7g14%
Vitamin A 140IU3%
Calcium 101mg10%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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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.

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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.

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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.

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Frequent Questions

Can puff pastry appetizers be made ahead of time?

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.

How do you keep puff pastry from getting soggy?

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.

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Recipe Card

Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry Bites

Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry Bites are an easy party appetizer or savory breakfast of flaky pastry filled with honey mustard, ham and cheddar.
Yield 16 Servings
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Course Appetizers
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder

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

Calories: 183kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 315mg | Potassium: 60mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 140IU | Calcium: 101mg | Iron: 1mg
Keyword: Ham and Cheese Puff Pastry Bites
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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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More Tasty and Easy Pinwheel Appetizers

Ham & Cheese Puff Pastry Bites collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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