Easy Phyllo Pastry Tarts with Hot Pepper Jelly

"I made these for an appetizer evening and they were a big hit. The shells can be made ahead of time and frozen which is great for cutting your prep time on the big day. This looks especially festive at Christmas with green and red pepper jelly. If you make your own jelly, you can serve these at a Bridal shower in the bride's colors ;)"
 
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photo by Leslie photo by Leslie
photo by Leslie
photo by  Pamela photo by  Pamela
photo by Bonnie G #2 photo by Bonnie G #2
photo by Leslie photo by Leslie
photo by Lois M photo by Lois M
Ready In:
35mins
Ingredients:
4
Yields:
48 tarts
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ingredients

  • 8 sheet frozen phyllo pastry sheets, thawed
  • 44.37 ml butter, melted
  • 250 g package cream cheese
  • 1 jar hot pepper jelly (available at the deli or make your own with Hot Pepper Jelly recipe 58516 or Spicy Habenaro Jelly re)
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directions

  • Take 2 sheets of pastry and cover the rest with a damp cloth to keep from drying out.
  • Brush a thin layer of butter on one sheet and stack the other sheet on top.
  • Cut the stacked sheet in half.
  • (A pizza cutter works great for this) Brush one rectangle with butter and place the other one on top.
  • You will then have a 7 x 11 pastry sheet with four layers.
  • Cut that into 12 equal squares.
  • Press each square into a greased mini muffin tin.
  • Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
  • Repeat with remaining sheets, remembering to keep unused sheets covered.
  • Shells may be frozen at this point or filled and ready to serve.
  • To fill: Place 1/2- 1 teaspoon of cream cheese in the center of each tart.
  • Top with 1/2 to 1 tsp of jelly.
  • May be served as is or baked for 10 minutes and served warm.

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Reviews

  1. I make my own pepper jelly with bell, jalapeno, serrano, and habanero peppers, so it;s got a good kick. For the filling, I also use a mix of sour cream and cream cheese, and top with a cilantro leaf. YUM!
     
  2. I took this to a Christmas party using the shortcut idea of puff pastry sheets. What an easy hit! They baked for about 10 minutes, I let them cool for about 5, then spooned a dab of jelly on top. They were one of the first things gone. A convenient way to make a tasty traditional appy into a finger-food!
     
  3. I made these using puff pastry. I cut it into 2 inch squares and pressed it into mini muffin and put a 1/2 inch square of cream cheese in on top of it. I baked it according to the puff pastry directions and then put a tsp of pepper jelly on top after baking. These were super yummy both warm and cold.
     
  4. When I saw this I was so excited I LOVE cream cheese with red pepper jelly this makes it such an easy to eat appitizer i made it for a girls movie night as well! I will make this again and again!!! (mine also bakes in about 8-9 mins) I HIGHLY RECOMEND THIS!!
     
  5. These little bites are an explosion of flavor – the crispy phyllo paired with the sweet and spicy kick of the pepper jelly is a total winner. And the best part? They're a breeze to make! Perfect for entertaining or just treating yourself to a savory-sweet snack. Definitely give these a try if you want something simple yet impress. Bonjour Brooklyn - French Bakery in New York
     
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Tweaks

  1. EDIT: I took one wonton out of the freezer, placed it on a napkin and microwaved for 15 seconds...it reheated wonderfully. The filling gets a bit hot, but if you let it cool, it would be a great quick appy to store away. I did note that the jelly melted down a bit, so you could always just fill with cream cheese and add the jelly after they reheated. I thought this rocked...simple, tasty and very pretty too! I didn't read the recipe close enough and accidently bought wonton wrappers instead of the phyllo dough, so I had a minor adjustment. I used a pizza cutter to cut each wrapper into 4, pressed them into a greased mini muffin pan and baked for 8 minutes at 350 degrees. Then I softened the cream cheese and put it into a piping bag and piped it into each cooled shell. Then I spooned a bit of jalapeno tangerine jelly on top and they were crunchy and creamy all at the same time! I stuck a few leftover in the freezer, so I'll report back when I thaw them out and let you all know how they handled it. Thanks for a really creative appetizer Pamela!
     

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