Pepper Jelly Cheese Bites

Last year our garden was very fruitful, so one of things I canned, from having an abundance of peppers, was hot pepper jelly. If you’ve never had hot pepper jelly, it’s something you must try. Sweet bell peppers combined with jalapeños and made into a jelly that has sugar, pectin and apple cider vinegar. It’s perfect for spooning over cream cheese and eating as an easy appetizer with crackers.

While I Iove this combination of flavors, I wanted to be creative and think of a way to use it in an easy-to-serve appetizer, which is how these little Pepper Jelly Cheese Bites came to be. They’re easy to grab, poppable and carry a perfect balance of creamy and sweet mixed with heat.

Prepping the Puff Pastry

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Spray a 24-cup mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Lightly dust a clean work surface with some flour and spread out the puff pastry. You can use a rolling pin to roll it a bit thinner and to even out the edges.

Using a Pizza Cutter, cut the pastry into 24 equal pieces.

Place each piece in the muffin tin cups and push down.

Bake the puff pastry for approximately 10 minutes, until they’re light golden and puffed – they won’t be completely cooked through. After you remove them from the oven, let them cool slightly and then push the center of each pastry down to make an indentation to carry the cheese. If you don’t do that, the cheese will just lay on top of the pastry and spread all over the place.

Prepping the Bites

Next, cut the Neufchatel cheese into 24 even cubes using a Traditional Cheese Knife.

I used Neufchatel rather than cream cheese because cream cheese is full fat and would melt a lot more, overflowing in the muffin tin. The Neufchatel gets warm and creamy, but doesn’t completely melt. You can use cream cheese, but take note they may come out a little messier. 

Press a piece of the cheese into the center of each puff pastry and top each with one heaping teaspoon of pepper jelly.

Put the bites back into the oven and continue to bake until the puff pastry is golden brown and the cheese is warmed through, approximately eight to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for around 10 minutes.

One thing to note is when the pepper jelly gets cooked in the oven, it does lose a little heat, so once they are done, before serving, you can top them with a little bit more of the pepper jelly if you desire.

Place the bites onto a platter and, for even more heat, drizzle a little hot honey over the bites.

Using a 7-5/8" Petite Chef, chop some rosemary and garnish.

These Pepper Jelly Cheese Bites are easy to make. They’re creamy and sweet with some heat. Not to mention the puff pastry is light and fluffy but doesn’t overwhelm the other flavors. To me, they’re just the perfect, portable appetizer bites.