Puff pastry, cheese, and fruit spread are all you need for this PERFECT starter recipe!
Easy savory palmiers are a great party appetizer
Party appetizers are not just for when you have company over or you’re hosting a party. They work just as well as a quick snack or even a full meal occasionally, haha. Especially fancy, delicious AND surprisingly easy appetizer recipes like these 3 ingredient savory palmiers (cheese palmiers)! Made with just 3 ingredients – store-bought puff pastry, cheese and fruit spread. Much like my easy sausage rolls with just 3 ingredients, these savory palmiers are also a favorite potluck dish of mine. Yes, they really are almost too good to believe. Easy, cheap to make, and look so sophisticated that your guests might think you were some kind of host/hostess extraordinaire. You truly are one, after all.
Ingredients to make these palmiers
The ingredients are what make these savory palmiers one of my favorite starter recipes. If you really want to blow your guests away with your skills, I’ve got a really popular recipe on the blog for quick and easy homemade puff pastry. 🙂 Alternatively, some good quality store-bought puff pastry sheets will do just fine! Use a flavorful cheese for these cheese palmiers, like a creamy muenster for a creamier taste or something sharp like cheddar. Most importantly, use a delicious fruit spread made with REAL fruits. I have shared a few delicious fruit jam / jelly / spreads recipes on the blog before like this strawberry jam, plum jam, fig jam, concord grape jelly etc. Just remember to use something you like, so that it makes these savory palmiers taste that much better with very little effort! I used the same fruit spread here to make these frozen cheesecake bites too, and they were just as delightful!
What are palmiers?
Palmiers are sweet cookie-like French pastries with that classic “palm” or “elephant ear” shape. Traditionally, they are a sweet treat, made with puff pastry and covered with sugar that gets caramelized as it gets baked. These easy cheese palmiers are a savory twist on the classic, making them perfect as appetizers for parties and dinners and any type of gathering. I also baked these on top of shredded cheese, so that the bottom of these savory palmiers become crunchy with melted and caramelized cheese. That sweet and savory flavor combo you get with the fruit spread and the cheese makes these PERFECT on any kind of cheeseboard because these savory palmiers are a gourmet upgrade and a lovely substitute for crackers. So all you need to do is apply the fruit spread evenly over the puff pastry sheet, followed by shredded cheese and optionally some freshly cracked pepper (this adds a truly dynamite flavor dimension!), then roll up the puff pastry sheet from both sides towards the middle as tightly as you can until they meed in the middle. Then wrap this pastry log with parchment paper and freeze it for just a few minutes until it’s chilled. This just makes it easier to slice it before baking. Then slice, bake and serve! You can use any fruit spread that you like. Strawberry jalapeno spread, blueberry lemon spread, and triple berry spread are all great choices for these savory palmiers. Check out my collection of jam recipes for more ideas!
What type of cheese to make these savory palmiers?
You can also play with the flavor combinations using different types of cheese or a combination of multiple types of cheese for these cheese palmiers. Like parmesan (the fresh kind, not the pre-grated kind), cheddar, pepper jack, monterey jack, or even goat’s cheese. However, I would not recommend a really soft, melty cheese for this recipe because it would be hard to maintain that beautiful shape of these savory palmiers if the cheese melted into the stretchy pastry. So cheese like mozzarella, provolone, or soft cheese like brie or camembert would NOT be a good choice. Now, if you wanted to SERVE these with all that stretchy, melty cheese goodness on the side, I say go for it!
Ideas for flavor variations
Strawberry and goat cheese palmiers Triple berry and white cheddar palmiers Triple berry and aged gouda (not smoked), or Muenster cheese Blueberry lemon and goat cheese or manchego
So many possibilities, all on an easy canvass of puff pastry, so go crazy with your imagination! Crispy, crunchy, spicy, salty and sweet – they are spectacularly delicious and unbelievably easy, plus relatively cheap as a neat party appetizer. Would you judge us if Mr K and I had just these cheese palmiers for dinner? And breakfast the following morning? Well, too late for that now.
