Cheese, Chive and Rosemary Puffs

Warm, golden and crispy with a cheese center. Cheese, Chive and Rosemary Puffs are the easiest warm dish to make for entertaining. Appetizers, canapes,  hors d’oeuvres, starters, party food, whatever you call them, these are the fastest way to serve guests a warm bite, because it’s all about making things easy when party planning. 

These cheese puffs are similar to the French pastry gougère that is made with choux pastry and is mixed with cheese.

It is the holiday season and it’s all about family visiting, friends popping over (sometimes unexpectedly) and of course, there is New Year’s Eve and we all need party food for that.

How to Make Cheese and Rosemary Puffs

Taking help from the store, this is more of an assembling than a cooking recipe. With only 4 ingredients that includes store bought puff pastry, the hardest part is controlling your mouth watering while you smell them baking.

After rolling out the puff pastry, simply place a piece of cheese, chives and rosemary in the center, then wrap the pastry around the filling. They are placed onto a baking sheet, brushed with egg and baked.

When entertaining, I think it’s always nice to serve a warm, homemade dish alongside things that you can just put together like cheese and crackers, these are perfect for this.

When assembling the puffs, they don’t have to be perfectly shaped packages. Puff pastry changes shape when baked and you can’t really control what form it’s going to take on and you want people to know they’re homemade anyway.

You can make them round or square, just try and get a good seal of the pastry. It is inevitable that some cheese will ooze out of some of them (you see this in the picture above). This is OK, it just adds to the homey look and there’s nothing better than browned, crispy cheese.

Make Ahead Puff Pastry Bites

This recipe makes about 50 puffs (depending on the size of your puff pastry). This is a lot to make while you are getting ready for guests to arrive so you can bake them the day before, refrigerate in a sealed container overnight. To reheat, spread them evenly on a large baking sheet and reheat at 350°F/177°C for 12-15 minutes.

Perfect Party Nibbles

These puffs travel well. Make them the day before, reheat per the instructions above and wrap well in foil. They will still be warm if you have a 10-15 minute drive to your destination.

Cheese Puffs Serving Suggestion

Last weekend when we had friends over, I served these Cheese, Chive and Rosemary Puffs alongside Mini Roast Beef Yorkshire Pudding Bites and a festive Pear Ginger Champagne Cocktail.