I usually concentrate on pie this time of year, and that’s great—pie is great!—but my favorite part of Thanksgiving is the hors d’oeuvres. Especially if there’s cheese involved (which there absolutely should be).
Over the years, I’ve made a cheesy tarte soleil, a flaky baked brie, savory cheddar shortbread, baked feta, and twisty rosemary Parmesan straws, all of which are worthy of the pre-meal spotlight. This year’s recipe finds you while I’m in the middle of a French Onion hyperfixation, so it’s all about caramelized onions and gruyere wrapped up in homemade (or not) flaky pastry.
Simply take a sheet of puff pastry (I used homemade rough puff) and layer on everything good.
…or to be more specific, layer on melted butter, dijon or grainy mustard, gruyere, dried thyme and the caramelized onions you made in your oven while making some side dishes. Roll the whole thing up into a cylinder, give it a brief chill, then slice and bake.
Ugh, can you even take how delicious these look? Golden and flaky, with bubbly cheese puddles and onions peeking through—simply gorgeous. And delicious, too.
French Onion Pinwheels
makes 22-24 pinwheels
Egg Wash:
1 large egg
1 teaspoon cold tap water
Pinwheels:
1 batch rough puff pastry (recipe below) or 1 sheet frozen thawed puff pastry
1 tablespoon melted butter, cooled slightly
1 tablespoon dijon or whole grain mustard
6 ounces gruyere cheese, freshly grated
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves)
2/3 cup caramelized onions
Make the egg wash. In a small bowl, use a fork to whisk together egg and water. Set aside.
Make the pinwheels. Flour a surface and a rolling pin. Unfold puff pastry and roll to a 10x14-inch rectangle.
Use a pastry brush to brush a thin layer of butter over the surface of the pastry, leaving a 1/2-inch border on all sides.
Spread mustard over the butter. I find this easiest to do by dropping it in spoonfuls over the top, then spreading it out. It doesn’t have to be perfect; it’s going to be rolled up!
Scatter grated gruyere over the top, then sprinkle on the thyme. Drop caramelized onions over the cheese.
Paint the 1/2-inch border on one 14-inch side with egg wash. Starting at the other 14-inch side, tightly roll pastry together like you would cinnamon rolls. Lightly flour a pan or cutting board and place the rolled pastry on top. Freeze for 30 minutes or refrigerate for up to a day.
Preheat oven to 400F. Line two rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
When freezing time is up, remove the rolled pastry back to the floured surface. Flour a large, sharp chef’s knife and use it to slice the roll into 1/2-inch pieces. Place them 2 inches apart on prepared pans. Brush each with egg wash.
Bake 18-20 minutes, or until golden and puffed. Let cool on their pans for about 5-10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Leftovers should be kept in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Rough Puff Pastry
makes 1 sheet
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
5 ounces unsalted European-style butter, very cold, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup water or milk, very cold
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Use a pastry blender or two forks to cut butter into dry ingredients until the largest pieces are the size of small peas. Pour in cold water or milk and stir with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms.
Flour a surface and a rolling pin. Turn dough out onto surface, and use your hands to pat it into a rough rectangle. Roll the dough into an 8x10" rectangle. Fold dough in thirds, and give it one quarter turn. Roll into an 8x10" rectangle again, fold, and turn. Repeat rolling, folding, and turning until it has been done six times total. Wrap folded dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to 48 hours.
I had a very difficult time deciding what to post today. The election has zapped any creative energy I had left, and just…what do I want to talk about post-Election Day? Do I go straight into 
Instead though, I’m going with 
While Pimento Cheese Tarte Soleil sounds fancy, it’s really quite simple, as most things made with puff pastry are. As usual, I went with easy from-scratch 
No matter which dough you use, roll your sheets out about as big as you can (mine were 12×14”) and cut out two 12-inch circles. Top one with a batch of homemade pimento cheese, then seal the edges together with a swipe of water.
Next up, create the soleil (sun shape). Place a 2.5-3 inch cutter or vessel in the center of your pastry circles, then use a sharp chef’s knife to slice the edges into sixteen rays. Twist them up for beauty reasons, then brush the whole tarte with egg wash and bake until golden all over.
This tarte, y’all. This. Tarte. I love that it’s both low brow and high brow–“
I usually post something to be a part of a Thanksgiving 
If you go back and look at the order of recipes on this blog, you can clearly see my train of culinary thought. Last week, I posted three 
This week, I’m caramelizing everything. On Wednesday, it was 
Baked brie is always a holiday hit—what’s not to love about the combination of melty cheese and flaky pastry?!—but I am all about the sweet addition of caramelized onions here. They’re cooked low and slow until they’re soft, sweet, and deeply browned. I like to add some minced garlic and fresh rosemary (it’s 
After the onions cool, it’s time to assemble the baked brie. Roll out a sheet of puff pastry (I use 
Smear a little dijon on one side of a wheel of brie and place it on top of the onions. The mustard flavor isn’t too pronounced here, but it’s sharpness helps offset the richness of the cheese and pastry.
Wrap everything up tight, give it an egg wash glaze, and decorate with some little pastry leaves, if that’s the sort of thing you’re into.
Bake the brie until the pastry puffs and turns golden. Wait a few minutes before serving it with seasonal fruit and the crackers you made your roommate go get from the overpriced cell-phone-dead-zone grocery store behind your building (and you didn’t even complain when he came back with some weird flavor instead of plain because you’re an adult and someone did you a favor)…
…um, what was that? Oops. Back to baked brie.
You’re going to love this brie, y’all! It’s rich and buttery, and oozes in the best possible way. One bite of this melty, cheesy, salty-sweet treat is worth every second it takes to cook those onions, I promise. I know all your holiday guests will agree.
Happy Halloween! If you’re looking for holiday-appropriate recipes, see 
There is going to be a lot of 
These golden, twisted beauties are perfect for any holiday cheese plate. They’re salty, flaky, cheesy, and have an aromatic hit of fresh rosemary—they’re perfect sidled up to a pile of sliced fresh pears.
While these cheese straws look fancy, they are easy to make from scratch and require only eight ingredients. The base recipe is 
Whenever possible, I like to use rough puff 
Once you have a dough, roll it into a sheet. Scatter fine, airy shreds of fresh Parmesan over the top and fold it all together like a letter. This will give you flaky layer of dough, along with almost impossibly thin layers of cheese. Flavor allllllll over the place!
Repeat the folding process five more times and give it one extra, cheese-less fold to lock everything in—this is to ensure that there isn’t any exposed cheese left to burn during baking. Let the dough chill for an hour, or even a couple of days.
When you’re ready to bake, slice it into long, thin strips. Brush them with egg wash and give them a twist before laying them on parchment-lined baking sheets.
Bake the cheese straws for ten minutes before flipping them over and letting them go for another two minutes.
Aren’t they stunning?
And talk about delicious—layer upon layer of rosemary-speckled pastry and Parmesan.
Yes.
e2 bakes brooklyn 