Have you heard me mention that I love appetizers? What could possibly be better than these flavor infused figs, stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped in a puff pastry blanket?
What’s so great about appetizers and finger foods? I love being able to snack on a variety of treats instead of one whole dish of one thing.
These are one of my very favorite holiday appetizers. I make a really large batch and freeze the extras. This allows me to offer a wider variety of appetizers when entertaining without driving myself crazy cooking the day of (okay, I do still do that).
Figs get simmered in a combination of red wine vinegar, honey, and crushed red pepper. Following this they are stuffed with a little goat cheese ball and wrapped in all-putter puff pastry. This makes for a lovely festive hors d’oeuvre.
I strongly prefer all-butter puff pastry. I most frequently purchase it at Trader Joe’s. Its very affordable there compared to some of my other local grocery stores, and I can count on them having it.
I also got these super cute cheese board advent calendars at Trader Joe’s and have been using them as hostess gifts when I go to people’s houses.
Making Appetizers for a future date
If you want to streamline your holiday entertaining you can make these ahead. What I’ve found to work well is to follow the instructions, stopping before the egg wash. At this point I freeze the figs in a blanket on a cookie sheet for a few minutes.
Then, I wrap them in clusters of 5 or so in plastic wrap. I then store the bunches of appetizers in freezer bags. When it comes time to serve them, remove them and place on a cookie sheet. Give them the egg wash then which is simply an egg whisked with a tsp of water. I love this silicone pastry brush for doing this.
When to Serve Figs in a Blanket
I definitely view these appetizers as fall, winter, or holiday hors d’oeuvres, I made these recently for gourmet club. What is gourmet club you ask? It’s essentially a themed pot luck monthly.
I absolutely love it, it’s always filled with great food, drinks and wonderful conversation. When we moved to Connecticut I joined Newcomers Club, and gourmet club is a group within that.
Our theme for November was Holiday Appetizers and Cocktails. I made these figs in a blanket, miniature “pumpkin pies” out of cheese and crackers, and my favorite spiced date rum cake with rum caramel. Anyone interested in recipes for any of these?
I made a double batch of these since we will be hosting a dinner party next weekend and for Thanksgiving. I should have more than enough of these holiday apps to serve at all three events.
Last fall and winter I would freeze some appetizers, muffins, etc. whenever I made something freezable. Then over the holidays I was able to offer family a wide variety without actually having to cook all the different recipes during the holiday. It worked so well!
I may also be guilty of popping a few in the oven here and there when I’m desperate for a treat.
Tips For Making Figs in a Blanket
Firstly, make sure to defrost your puff pastry in time. Typically that is overnight in the fridge or two hours at room temperature. I often have forgotten to do this, oops.
My second tip is a new one, while the figs simmer I made little goat cheese balls by hand. This made assembling the appetizers quicker and neater.
Goat Cheese Stuffed Figs in a Blanket
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 3 1/2 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 24 Mission figs (dried) halved
- 1 egg
- 12-18 oz all-butter puff pastry
- 10 oz goat cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine vinegar, honey, red pepper, salt, and black pepper in a medium saucepan and stir.
- Add fig halves to the saucepan then bring to a low boil.
- Once boiling, lower the heat to low and cook for up to 10 minutes until figs are soft.
- Drain if liquid remains and cool figs on a plate.
- Whisk together egg and 2tsp of water.
- Gently roll puff pastry out with a rolling pin on a cutting board. Use a light dusting of flour if necessary to prevent sticking.
- Cut puff pastry into strips of about 1 inche wide and 4 inches long.
- Stuff fig with about 1 tsp of goat cheese, set it in the middle of a puff pastry strip.
- Brush egg onto one end of the puff pastry strip to act as the glue and roll to close it up. Place the seam of the puff pastry on the cookie sheet.
- Repeat with all figs and puff pastry.
- Brush all figs in a blanket with the egg wash.
- Bake for approximately 17 minute until puff pastry is golden. Check frequently after 15 minutes to avoid overcooking.
Let me know what your favorite holiday APPETIZERS are, AND IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT MAKING FIGS IN A BLANKET!