Puff Pastry Delights!

I know I haven't posted in a few days, and I got yelled at by my cousin-in-law last night for not keeping her "favorites" list up to date on her Internet. Apparently I am one of her top links and whenever I don't update for a few days, the link disappears from her list. So, to appease her (hi Melissa!), I am posting today!

I actually have a few things to post, but work was insane last week and I wasn't as good about getting my recipes up in a timely fashion (apparently to the dismay of a bored college student). I'll try to be better :-)

So, this recipe actually follows one from Pepperidge Farm, their Apricot Pinwheels. When we had our friends over the other week for Italian Night, they were going to bring brownies but we wanted to have a little something sweet here too. We had exactly one puff pastry sheet left in the freezer, so it was time to use it!

My husband picked the apricot pinwheel recipe, but he made his little treats more like pockets of fruit. He made a few apricot ones, but also blueberry and a mocha chocolate sauce (those were delicious!)

He was disappointed that they weren't as neat and pretty as the real recipe, but they baked up and tasted just fine.

They are very easy to make for a last minute dessert, and are also good sweet treats for a game day!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup sugar
1 package (17.3 ounces) Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets, thawed
1 cup apricot preserves

Directions:

Heat the oven to 350°F. Stir the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.

Unfold 1 pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 16x8-inch rectangle.

Cut into 8 (4-inch) squares. Repeat with the remaining pastry sheet.


Spoon 1 tablespoon apricot preserves in the center of each pastry square. Using a sharp knife, cut diagonal lines from the corners of the pastry to within 3/4-inch of the preserves.

Fold every other corner up over the preserves to the center, overlapping the points and pinching to seal.

Place the pastries onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle with the cinnamon mixture.


Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown.

Remove the pastries from the the baking sheet and let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Sunday Game day Snack - a sweet "Twist" of a snack!

Today's snack will be more sweet than savory, but everyone needs a sweet treat in their life sometimes.

I made these on Saturday for a holiday party. I actually had some puff pastry lying around the freezer for a while that I bought on sale, so I figured I'd find something with other ingredients we have in the house.

I found a great recipe on PuffPastry.com for sweet and spiced twists. They are easy to make, just a little timely because you need to let things chill or thaw for a bit. I changed the recipe a bit to use cinnamon sugar instead of ginger. The original recipe is here.

Ingredients:

1/2 of a 16-17.3 ounce package Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet). Pepperidge farm makes good ones, as well as Trader Joes.
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/3 cup sugar
Cinnamon Sugar
6 ounces dark or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon of shortening

Directions:

Thaw the pastry sheet at room temperature for 30 minutes or until it's easy to handle. Heat the oven to 350°F.

Lightly grease or line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.

Sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on a work surface. (I also dusted the work surface with a hint of cocoa sugar as an added bonus!)

Unfold the pastry sheet on the sugar. Sprinkle a little more cinnamon sugar over the pastry.

Roll the pastry sheet into an (apprx) 14-inch square. Fold the pastry sheet in half, making an (apprx) 14 x 7-inch rectangle.

Cut the pastry crosswise into about 24 (1/2-inch wide) strips. Twist the strips and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets, pressing down the ends. Brush the twists with the egg mixture.

Refrigerate for 20-25 minutes.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the twists are golden. Remove the twists from the baking sheet and cool on a wire rack.

Place the chocolate and shortening into a microwavable bowl. Microwave on HIGH for about 1 minute. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. If the first minute isn't enough, continue to microwave on 15 second increments until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth.

Dip half of each twist in the melted chocolate and place on a waxed paper-lined pan. Sprinkle with some sugar crystals. Refrigerate for 10 minutes until the chocolate is firm.

Store the twists in an airtight container with waxed paper between the layers until ready to serve.

* Tip: Don't worry if you unwrap your chocolate and the surface has whitish streaks. This is called "bloom" and occurs when chocolate isn't stored at the optimal temperature. Bloom is harmless and the chocolate is fine to eat or to use in recipes.