Description
Puff pastry candy cane cutouts topped with balsamic, tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil make the most fun and festive appetizer that’s almost too cute to eat.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 portion of my rough puff pastry recipe or 1 sheet store-bought puff pastry, thawed but chilled
- 1 8-ounce container of mozzarella pearls
- 1 pint grape tomatoes
- Balsamic glaze
- ~5 large basil leaves, chopped
- Flaky sea salt
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F.
- Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Roll your puff pastry into a rectangle-ish or oval-ish shape that’s 1/4-inch thick.
- Use a candy-cane-shaped cookie cutter to cut candy canes out of the puff pastry. Take care to only press the cookie cutter down and pull it right up; do not wiggle it around to release the cutout. Doing so can cause the layers of the pastry to stick together and prevent it from rising as high while baking.
- Place all of the cutouts on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze for 10 minutes. Press any excess dough together into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and place it in the freezer for 30 minutes before rolling it out again.
- Meanwhile, beat one egg in a small bowl.
- Remove the candy canes from the freezer and transfer 12-15 of them onto another parchment-lined baking sheet (as many as you can fit 1 inch apart from each other). Return the rest to the freezer.
- Brush the tops of each candy cane with a light layer of egg wash.
- Bake the candy canes pastries for 10-12 minutes, but keep an eye on them. They should be puffed up and just turning golden brown on the tops and around the edges (not a deep golden brown yet).
- While baking, slice the mozzarella pearls into thin rounds and set aside.
- Slice the grape tomatoes into thin rounds, and then slice each round in half again. Set aside.
- Slice the basil into thin strips.
- Remove the candy canes from the oven.
- Immediately drizzle a line of balsamic glaze down the center of each candy cane.
- Top with 1-2 slices of basil, placed lengthwise down the middle of the candy cane.
- Alternate placing mozzarella slices and tomato slices on top of the balsamic and basil to make a red and white striped look.
- Repeat with each baked candy cane.
- Place the pan back in the oven and bake for 5-7 minutes, until the cheese has just slightly melted.
- Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with flaky salt. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Repeat steps with the remaining pastry dough.
- These are best enjoyed the day they are baked. They can be made a few hours ahead of time, left at room temperature, and then reheated right before serving, or you can serve them at room temperature. To reheat, bake at 350 F for 5 minutes.
- Cook Time: 17 minutes