Pear and Blue Cheese Puffs

evelyn/athens's Note:

I made these for New Year's Eve appetizers and they were wonderful. Lovely blend of flavours and textures. Gone in no time at all - best make up a double batch.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 36 appetiz ...

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry , thawed for 30 minutes (1/2 package)
• 2 very ripe juicy fragrant pears , peeled and chopped
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 ounces blue cheese , crumbled
• dried cranberries or dried cherries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Toss pears in sugar.
3. Set aside.
4. Roll pastry out into a 14 inch square on a lightly floured board.
5. Cut into 36 equal squares.
6. Place each in a mini muffin pan.
7. Place equal amounts of pear and blue cheese in pastry lined pans.
8. Top each with 2 or 3 dried cherries or cranberries.
9. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until puffed and golden.
10. Serve warm.

Reviews

[Adopted Parisian]

These are such a great, easy, elegant idea! We enjoyed them, but next time I will use a more tart type of pear, then add another tablespoon of sugar to balance the flavors. I also added some lemon zest just to brighten the aromas. Thanks so much!

[BothFex]

Loved these little yummies! I used min-muffin tins (or gem pans) as called for with nice results. I omitted the sugar as my pears were so sweet. I also didn't bother with peeling the pears, just chopped 'em up and threw 'em in. Quite a versatile little recipe. Thanks for such a lovely little appetizer.

[Leslie L]

On the first try for this recipe I found that the puff pastry filled up the mini muffin tin and overpowered the pear and cherries. On the second try (for the actual party) I used a regular muffin tin and really filled up each with the ingredients. The pastry still puffs, but there is enough filling to balance. They were gone in no time! I love the blue cheese mixed with the sweet pears. Oh, I cheated and used canned pears. Saved a WHOLE lot of time and I used less sugar on them because of the syrup. Very pretty to present. I've added a photo! Yum!