When it comes to entertaining and easy appetizers, this often means a dip or a spread that comes together fairly easily. When we have a whole meal to prepare, we don’t want to be bothered with complicated appetizers. Unless, of course, the appetizer can easily be assembled ahead of time.
Enter these bite-sized, goat cheese and cherry filo appetizers. With a very short list of ingredients, and a winning flavor combination, these little parcels of crispy filo, tangy goat cheese and sweet cherry preserves, come together pretty quickly. You don’t even need to have any experience working with filo dough to pull these off!
We start by mixing together the ingredients for the filling: soft goat cheese, dried cherries, cherry jam, and some orange zest. The filling can even be made the day before. Next, we need to make sure that the filo dough is at room temperature. After that, just follow the easy steps below and you are on your way to a sweet, tangy and satisfying appetizer!
Easy steps for the assembly of the goat cheese filo appetizers:
- Cut three layers of filo in squares (no worries if they are not exactly square):
2. Top filo squares with the filling:
3: Top the filling with a walnut half (or quarter, as shown here):
4. Gather the filo around the filling to form a little parcel – it does not need to be perfect:
5. Place the parcels in prepared muffin tins – at this point you can cover the tin and refrigerate until you are ready to use:
6. Bake until crispy and golden brown:
This is really a very forgiving recipe, as we don’t need to worry about perfection or shape. The objective is just to enclose the delicious filling with the filo. Placing the finished parcel in muffin tins will ensure that they stay in place as they bake. After just twelve minutes in the oven, they are going to be ready and your kitchen will smell amazingly. Appetizer, ready! Enjoy these delightful crispy filo bites with some prosecco or any sparkling wine and be proud of your creation!
- 5 oz. goat cheese, room temperature
- 1 TBSP. dried cherries, chopped
- 1 TBSP. cherry preserves, good quality
- --- orange zest from one small orange
- --- handful of toasted walnuts halves
- --- ½ package thin filo, like Fillo Factory (thawed in the refrigerator overnight)
- --- butter, melted for the filo
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a small bowl, mix together the goat cheese, dried cherries, cherry preserves and orange zest. Taste and adjust the preserves—which have an affect on the sweetness of the filling--to your liking.
- Open the package of the thawed filo. Place one sheet (14” x 18”) on a clean work surface, such as a wooden cutting board, and brush with some melted butter. Top this buttered sheet with a second sheet of filo and brush with butter. Cover the rest of fillo well so the sheets do not dry out. Cut the filo cut it in half and place one half on top of the other, so you are left with a stack of 7” x 9” filo (see photo).
- Cut the filo stacks into six squares, as in the photo. Place a spoonful of the goat cheese mixture in the center of each square. Top with a walnut half. Brush some butter around the edges of the squares. Gather the ends of the squares and twist slightly just above the filling to form a little parcel. Continue with the rest. Place the filo parcels in a greased muffin pan. Brush the parcels with some melted butter and bake for about 12-15 minutes or until they are golden brown.
- Repeat with a second stack of filo and the rest of the goat cheese filling. Once they are ready, place them on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb any extra butter. Serve warm or at room temperature with some bubbly wine.
This recipe is a collaboration with Fillo Factory, a great quality filo pastry that I highly recommend for any sweet and savory recipes.
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These look wonderful, Marilena! I can’t wait to try them. Conquering my ‘phear of phyllo’, one recipe at a time. ?
– Ratatouille
Go for it Dianne! These crispy filo bites couldn’t be easier. I am so proud of you!
Yum!
These are up your alley Kathy – You can make them!
This recipe is fantastic and very flexible! I really appreciated the pics and explanation on how to do the filo and use the muffin tins. I subbed in boursin cheese and cranberry sauce (I had a goat cheese issue). It was super quick and easy and looked fancy!
That’s wonderful, Stefany! I bet it was delicious with the boursin and the cranberry sauce, thank you so much for sharing!
Id like to know if these can be frozen and baked at a later time. Thanks, Kelly
Hi Kelly, to answer your question, I have never frozen these, because of the cheese. However you can assemble them earlier in the day and refrigerate them until ready to bake!