puff pastry -

by bakersroyale

Chocolate and Toffee Pecan Pinwheel Cookies

I’m not smart. But here’s what I do know and can pass along. Puff pastry pretty much makes everything better.. Yeah…puff pastry is gonna be the new bacon. You heard it here first. It is totally underrated, so I’m on a mission to wrap it, roll it and use it in as many ways as possible. I mean you saw what it did to brownies — heavenly.

So I decided to repeat that puff pastry styling and flip the traditional pinwheel cookie into a puff pastry cookie. Then I pumped it up with some toffee, chocolate chips and pecans all rolled in brown sugar and a touch of cinnamon. It’s wickedly good and since I used salted pecan, this treat also has that lovely sweet and salty combo.

Chocolate and Toffee Pecan Pinwheel Cookies

Nutella Pastry Pockets

Somewhere between the coffee and the Bloody Mary this Easter brunch, these powdered pastry heroics will showcase the baker in you. Nothing fancy, nothing exotic, just Nutella and some sliced bananas between the light airy layers of a puff pastry.

Incredibly easy to make, they will have you in and out of the kitchen in about 20 minutes or less. That is, if you use store-bought puff pastry. If you want to get elbow deep and pull a Ms. Martha Stewart, than have it and make the puff pastry from scratch—just add about 1 ½ hours to that 15-20 minute session and nix the easy in it.

Either way you bake it up, these are delicious, and psst…these can be made the night before and leave you more time to get your game on for the annual Easter egg hunt.

Nutella Pastry Pockets

Thanking the Pre-Made Pastry Gods: Guinness, Leek and Steak Pie

I’ve been on a little bit of a pastry kick recently. I’m not sure if it’s due to the season and it just seems more homely and warming or the fact that every time my other half bakes he shows me up to my friends. See, I’m the cook in my house and that’s the way it’s going to stay.

However, puff pastry is something I’ve not experimented with and it intimidates me. I’ll spend all afternoon working hard on preparing a delicious filling like this Guinness, Leek and Steak Pie for it all to fail should I not get the puff pastry right — which is why I thank the pre-made pastry gods. Why do I need to make my own puff pastry when I can find it in the frozen food aisle?

The sweetness from the leeks and bold flavor of the Guinness is a perfect marrying of flavors to compliment the meat, the beautiful meat that falls apart to the touch of the fork. So should your pastry making skills fail you, like mine often do, this pie filling would be perfect in a bowl as you are curled up in your leopard print snuggie in front of the television… Did I just say that out loud!

For the recipe, keep reading.