Crisp Parmesan Bites – Creamy Appetizers for Christmas and Beyond

Share with your friends!

These easy parmesan bites are delicious for any occasion, any time of year, but we especially like them for Christmas appetizers. The splashes of red peppers, green parsley and white cheese, add festive colors to winter holidays.

Beyond that, the parmesan cheese and pastry dough combine a perfect balance of savory, warm and creamy crispiness, with melt-in-your-mouth creamy cheese that’s always a crowd pleaser.

Parmesan Bites Recipe

If you don’t have all the ingredients on hand, don’t worry. Here are a few substitutions that work well.

Recipe Substitutions

Fresh Red Pepper Substitutes

• roasted red peppers, canned & drained
• sun dried tomatoes
• fresh tomatoes, diced
• pepperoni, cut into strips

Substitute Puff Pastry for Filo Dough (or Phyllo dough)

If you have filo (AKA phyllo) pasty dough on hand, you can use that instead of the puff pastry. It will turn out different but just as delicious as the puff pastry parmesan bites.

Substituting Savory for Sweet

Or you can even create a sweet and spicy appetizer by adding other favorite savory combinations:

• raspberry jam for peppers
• strawberry jam for peppers
• mint jelly instead of the pesto
• festive sprinkles instead of parsley

1. Beat cream cheese, and 3/4 cup of parmesan cheese.
2. Chop parsley and red pepper.
3. Roll out dough, break apart pairs of crescent triangles, keeping a match of two triangles together. Press the seams together to form a rectangle.
4. Top and spread with three tablespoons of cheese mix, followed by a sprinkling each of peppers and parsley.
5. Fold over and press edges together, creating a “log” shape, and then slice into 4 equal pieces that are roughly round or oval shaped.
6. Repeat that process for each section of puff pastry until your have 8 logs cut into 4 pieces each for a total of 32 pieces.
7. Sprinkle the last 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese over the tops of all the parmesan bites.
8. Bake at 350°F / 180°C for ~14 minutes or until golden brown.

Parmesan Bites Recipe

Cooks

Once you make this easy and popular parmesan bites recipe, chances are you'll soon be thinking of how else you might use them.

So feel free to substitute and experiment.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Cuisine American

Servings 32 pieces

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 8 ounces cream cheese softened
• 3/4 cup parmesan cheese grated
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese grated
• 2 8 ounce cans of crescent rolls
• 1 cup red pepper chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped

Instructions

 

• PREHEAT oven to 350° Fahrenheit / 180° Celsius
• BEAT together cream cheese, and 3/4 cup of parmesan cheese.
• CHOP parsley and red pepper.
• DOUGH: Spread out sheets of dough, break apart pairs of crescent triangles, and press seams to make a rectangle. (You should end up with 8 rectangles).
• PLACE 3 tablespoons of cheese mix, down the center, then sprinkle with peppers and parsley.
• FOLD pastry over and press edges together, then slice into 4 equal pieces. Repeat for each sheet.
• SPRINKLE the last 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese over the parmesan bites
• BAKE at 350°F for ~14 minutes, or until golden.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

More Appetizers

• Honey Roasted Figs with Pistachios
• Cheesy Spinach Pinwheels
• Easy Christmas Appetizers
• Roasted Rosemary Pecans – Sweet & Spicy
• Savory Creamy Pesto Feta Tartlets
• Taco Stuffed Portobello Mushroom Caps Appetizers

Parmesan Bites and Other Puff Pastry Treats

Square Parmesan Bites

You may prefer to create your puff pastry treat as squares with toppings. In this case, keep the triangles paired in squares and top without folding over, much like you would top miniature pizza. In fact, if you prefer, you can add pizza sauce to the puff pastry before baking.

Folded Stuffed Parmesan Bites

Another option is to fold the rectangles made from two triangles, into squares. Simply add the stuffing and top it with your favorites.

One idea is a mozzarella cheese ball, a bay leaf and a sun dried tomato, then fold each corner toward the center. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and parsley flakes, then bake at 350°F for approximately 10 minutes, or until golden.

Cheesy Puff Pastry – Savory or Sweet

For your sweet tooth, you can also top these with cream cheese and your favorite jam or lemon curd, bake until crispy and golden, then dust with powdered sugar. Super simple and delicious!

Share with your friends!