Puffy Cheese Sticks – Easy Appetizer in 30 minutes

My husband wanted to have chicken pot pie but don’t want the puff pastry on top of the soup bowl like traditional one. So I turned the puff pastry sheets into this tasty appetizer and served as dipping bread sticks on the side. The girls loved it so much and finished them within 5 minutes.

Puffy Cheese Stick Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup                 Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 teaspoons         Dried Parsley
2 teaspoons         Garlic Powder
2 teaspoons         Dried Basil
1 box (2 sheets)   Puff Pastry (Soften)
1                           Egg (beaten)
To taste                Himalayan Pink Salt / Table salt
For dusting          All Purpose Flour
For greasing        Vegetable Oil / Butter

Cookware:
Heavy Bake Pan
Parchment Paper
Pizza Cutter
Silicone Bristle Brush

Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Dust some flour on parchment paper and place puff pastry on top.
2. Use a fork dot through the puff pastry sheets (Picture 1).
3. Cut pastry sheets into 1-inch wide strips with pizza cutter, then brush egg wash on top.
4. Mix Parmesan cheese, parsley, garlic powder and basil together, sprinkle evenly on puff pastry. 
5. Lined a parchment paper on baking pan, oil it lightly to avoid sticking. 
6. Hold both ends of pastry strip and twist it to form a spinal, place on baking pan with 1 inch gap between each strip. (Picture 2)
7. Place in middle rack in the oven, bake for 10-13 minutes or until golden brown. (Tip: Check every minute after baked for 8 minutes to avoid burning)
8. Remove from oven and sprinkle pink salt evenly on top of cheese sticks immediately.
9. Cool cheese sticks on metal rack for 4-5 minutes, remove puffy cheese sticks from bake pan carefully and serve.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Tips:

1. Soften puff pastry should be cool to touch, room temperature puff pastry is too soft to work with (it won’t hold its twisted shape).

2. Pick a cool and dry day to make this, humid and warm weather can soften the pastry sheets too fast.

3. If the pastry becomes too soft to work with, place it back in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes, then continue to the next steps. (In short, work as fast as you can and get everything ready)

Like me on Facebook:          https://www.facebook.com/littlepandamommykitchen
Follow me on Twitter:         @thepandamommy
Follow me on Pinterest:      http://pinterest.com/thepandamommy/