Easy Apricot Jam & Gruyere Cheese Puff Pastry Bites
When you need and quick and tasty appetizer, make these Easy Apricot Jam & Gruyere Cheese Puff Pastry Bites!
Buttery puff pastry is baked with nutty Gruyere cheese, apricot jam and almonds for the perfect crunch.
Topped with a drizzle of honey and fresh thyme, these bites are sure to become a new appetizer favourite!
If you love my other Gruyere appetizer recipes like this Puff Pastry Baked Gruyere with Fig Jam & Rosemary and Prosciutto, Sage & Gruyere Puff Pastry Pinwheels, you’re sure to love these flaky puff pastry bites. The whole thing takes under 30 minutes to make! (Especially when using defrosted puff pastry).
Whether for Spring or Summer entertaining, or the holiday season, these little bundles of flaky puff pastry, Gruyere cheese and jam are sure to impress!
Why you’ll love these puff pastry bites
- This delicious recipe is an easy appetizer made with just 6 simple ingredients!
- Easily customizable depending on the season; use fig jam in the cooler months instead of apricot jam.
- A perfect appetizer to serve a crowd!
- Use store-bought puff pastry to make this recipe a breeze.
- No need to use a pastry brush to brush egg wash on the puff pastry; just pop in the oven and bake!
Ingredients needed to make these puff pastry appetizers
Puff pastry: you need one sheet of puff pastry dough (usually can be found in the freezer section of the grocery store); make sure to defrost it before making this recipe (follow the instructions for defrosting on the puff pastry packaging).
Gruyere cheese: nutty gruyere cheese that is cut into cubes pairs lovely with the slight sweetness of apricot jam
Apricot jam: for the Spring season, the slight sweetness of apricot jam pairs perfectly with the gruyere cheese. See below for other jam suggestions for Fall and Winter seasons.
Almonds: sliced or chopped almonds as just a touch of crunch to these puff pastry bites
Garnishes: a hint of fresh thyme sprigs and honey makes the perfect garnish
How to make these Gruyere puff pastry bites
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 400F and grease a muffin tin well with cooking spray or butter. Roll out the defrosted puff pastry sheet to approximately a 10×10 square. Cut into 16 squares using a pizza slicer or sharp knife (about 2-inch squares to 2.5 inch squares). Since a typical muffin tin has 12 cups, put 4 squares of puff pastry into the fridge to store while the others bake. Alternatively, you could use two muffin tins and bake them all at once.
Step 2: Place one square of puff pastry into each muffin tin. Then layer a cube of gruyere cheese followed by 1/2 tsp apricot jam and a pinch of sliced almonds onto each square of puff pastry. Bake the gruyere bites in the preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until the puff pastry starts to turn golden brown.
Step 3: Let the Gruyere bites sit in the muffin tin for a few minutes before removing to a cooling rack or serving tray. Serve immediately garnished with fresh thyme leaves and a drizzle of honey.
Expert tips to make these appetizer bites
- Remember to defrost the frozen puff pastry, according to package directions, before using in this recipe! I like to put the frozen puff pastry in the fridge the day before I’m going to use it as it will defrost overnight and you’ll have a defrosted puff pastry sheet ready to go.
- Switching up the jam is a great idea depending on the season. Try a different jam pairing than apricot such as: cherry or grape for the Spring/Summer or grape, fig or apple jam for the Fall/Winter seasons, especially on Christmas eve.
- If you’re afraid of the puff pastry, apricot jam or melty cheese sticking to the muffin tin, you can use a small piece of parchment paper or muffin tin liner instead of cooking spray. The puff pastry bites should still bake up nicely!
- Get creative and serve these as a part of a charcuterie board too!
Common questions
Can I use a different cheese instead of Gruyere?
While Gruyere cheese is preferred for this recipe, in a pinch you can use another type of cheese. An old cheddar cheese, swiss cheese or gouda cheese would work well in place of gruyere cheese and still make a delicious finger food to serve to guests.
Will phyllo pastry work instead of puff pastry?
Phyllo pastry is much thinner than puff pastry and is made with different ingredients, so I wouldn’t recommend using it for this recipe. I would recommend sticking with butter puff pastry for these cheese puffs.
Can I use a mini muffin tin instead of regular muffin tin?
This recipe has only been tested with a regular muffin tin so I would suggest sticking with that size instead of using a mini muffin cup.
Storage
These puff pastry bites are best served fresh from the oven! I don’t recommend storing them for longer than 2-3 hours at room temperature.
More puff pastry appetizer recipes to love from the blog:
Apricot Jam and Goat Cheese Puff Pastry Pinwheels
Easy Buffalo Chicken Puff Pastry Bites Appetizer
Valentine’s Day Raspberry Puff Pastry Hearts
Easy Apricot Jam & Gruyere Cheese Puff Pastry Bites
Ingredients
- 1 sheet defrosted puff pastry
- 150-175 g gruyere cheese, cut into 16 half-inch cubes
- 3 tbsp apricot jam
- 3-4 tbsp sliced or chopped almonds
- fresh thyme and honey for garnish
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large pot.
- Add in the garlic and onion and sauté for 5-7 minutes until they start to brown.
- Add in your frozen peas, salt and pepper and stir occasionally, for about 1 minute.
- Next, pour in the vegetable broth and turn the heat up to high for about 5 minutes until it comes to a boil.
- Remove the pot from the oven and let sit 5-10 minutes to cool slightly.
- Then, blend the soup in the pot using an immersion blender or in batches using a stand blender.
- Once the soup is blended, heat on medium-low in the pot for about 5 minutes, taste and add additional salt and pepper to your liking.
- Serve with a drizzle of greek yogurt, your favourite crackers or grilled cheese!
Notes
- Chicken tacos: serve chicken with grilled tortillas, avocados, salsa, fresh cilantro, cabbage coleslaw mix and cilantro.
- Chicken bowls: serve with rice, pickled onions and cilantro.
- Serve with grilled veggies and your favourite grain.
- Chicken burrito bowls: serve with brown rice, black beans, chopped romaine lettuce, corn, avocado and shredded cheese.
- Make these barbecue chicken nachos with this chili lime chicken for an extra boost of flavour!
I made these puff pastry bites for the members of my book club last night. I used gruyere cheese with cherry jam and no honey since the jam is so sweet. They were delicious and easy to make, and were gone within minutes. I’m going to make them again next month using apricot jam. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
So happy to hear this! Love the idea of using cherry jam – yum!
Did these in. Both regular muffin cup tin and mini….liked mini size better. Found couldn’t taste cheese much and jam leaked a bit and burnt on edges. Honey drizzle maybe too sweet? Suggestions on any of this?
I can definitely help you with some tips! Gruyere cheese is a bit lighter in flavour so you could always try brie cheese instead. Apricot jam has a lot of sugar so if it leaks out it can burn a bit SO if you’d like you can always use muffin tin liners to lessen that. This is super versatile so you can always try another jam like fig, cherry or blueberry. I hope this helps if you try again in the future!
Excellent, made them with Brie and walnuts, turned out great.
Wonderful! Love the swap for brie and walnuts, yum! Thanks for stopping by the blog!
I made these in mini muffin tins and used pepper jam and crush honey roasted pecans with white cheddar cheese! So good!! Skipped the honey . The pecans gave enough sweet!
So glad they worked out for you! I love the flavours you used!
I made these for Book Club. They were pretty sweet. I may not have put enough cheese inside. Next time I will put more, and perhaps use “Hot honey”? Nice, simple and easy to make! Thank you!
Thanks for the feedback Lori! Yes you can always try a bigger pieces of cheese and a smaller dollop of jam next time. Also, you could try a ‘natural’ or less sweet apricot jam. Alternatively, you could try a different jam you enjoy that’s less sweet. I hope you make them again!
I made these in mini muffin tins with extra old white cheddar. They turned out great. I baked them for 15 minutes. I took them to a party and they were gone in 10 mins! Very popular. Thanks!
I love to hear that! And I bet the old white cheddar was a great swap for the gruyere, would taste just as good!
I followed the recipe carefully and the flavors were fine. But my dough puffed only a tiny bit, like hockey pucks. The cups in my muffin pan are straight-sided — should I have used broader cups with slanted sides?
Thanks for the feedback Jean! It’s possible it was the muffin tin if they are straight-sided VS slanted, I think slanted would be better. Another tip, make sure to use a regular muffin tin pan, not mini muffin tin pan. I’ve got a lot of other puff pastry appetizers on the blog, please do check them out and perhaps there’s a more enjoyable recipe 🙂
I did use a mini muffin tin and just pinched the four corners in a kiss at the top. Had an assortment of preserves in baby jars so I tried them all with lactaid cream cheese and walnut pieces.Love the combination. Thanks for the recipe! Very tasty.
Wonderful to hear! I love that you used a mini muffin tin – what a great idea! Thank you for visiting the blog 🙂
Could this be made in a mini-cupcake pan?
Possibly! I haven’t tested it so you may find it will make more than the original amount posted – please let me know if it works out for you 🙂
Easy to assemble. Delicious. I used Peach Amaretto jam and toasted the sliced almonds first.
Wonderful to hear! I bet that peach amaretto jam was absolutely delicious with the gruyere cheese!