Beer Bacon Cranberry And Cream Cheese Bites
Jackie Dodd-Mallory
(Senior Editor)
Beer Bacon Cranberry And Cream Cheese Bites, the perfect Thanksgiving appetizer!
You guys, you have to give me a break. I just got back from here and now I’m having a hard time functioning in the rain with my residual mild sunburn. I know, I know, you don’t feel bad for me AT ALL. I don’t blame you. But it’s jarring to jump from a nearly deserted island into Thanksgiving prep in rainy Seattle, it’s a hard transition. I’m hosting this year and I’m probably more excited about it than I should be, I never get to host so I may be going a tad bit overboard. What? me? SHOCKING! I already have turkey legs confited (confit-ing?) in the fridge and I’m making this and these.
Wanna make your own puff pastry? Check out my 10 Minute Pale Ale Puff Pastry
Beer Bacon Cranberry And Cream Cheese Bites
Ingredients
- 4 slices thick-cut bacon chopped
- ½ cup (115g) holiday ale
- 1 ½ cups (173g) fresh cranberries
- ¾ cup (150g) sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 2 sheets puff pastry thawed
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
Instructions
- Add the bacon to a pot over medium-high heat, cook until crispy and the fat has rendered. Pour off most of the fat.
- Return the pot to heat, add the beer, stirring to deglaze the pan. Add the cranberries, sugar, salt, and pepper.
- Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 10-minutes.
- Heat the oven to 400°F.
- Roll the puff pastry out on a lightly floured surface. Cut each sheet into 12 squares.
- Lightly spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
- Press the puff pastry squares into the wells of the muffin tin.
- Cut the block of cream cheese into 24 squares, add one square to each well. Top with a spoonful of cranberry mixture.
- Bake until the puff pastry has turned golden brown, 12-15 minutes.
- Remove from oven, plate, and sprinkle with chopped chives.
Comments
Sabrina November 30, 2019 um 7:45 am
great appetizer, even after Thanksgiving, thank you, love all of the flavors here, perfect balance in a bite! Welcome back!
Chris DeBarr December 18, 2021 um 7:18 am
I made these yesterday for a Xmas party at my restaurant, and they were fabulous! I hand-shaped mine, which had the puffs looking a bit like shu mai dumplings or very tiny krachapuri shapes depending on the fold. Made over 60 off two commercial-sized sheets of puff pastry, and I guess I wasn’t as generous with the cream cheese as that only took one 8 oz pkg!!
I use Nueske’s bacon at work, which gave a gorgeous smoky taste to the cranberry relish. I tripled the recipe for the cranberry relish, and only used about half of it to achieve my 60+ puffs.
I’ll tag you, Jackie, on my Instagram. I think I’ll build more today, but not bake ‘em, instead freezing these puffs for Not Too Faraway Future when we open the restaurant in January…