I’m always frustrated by puff pastry cheese twists you buy in the shops. Dry, brittle sticks that leaves sawdust in your mouth… These are the exact opposite. Super indulgent, buttery puff pastry twists, with a generous cheese and bacon filling. This recipe makes a big batch, but you’ll thank me for it! They tend to disappear in an instant!
For the flaky pastry:
250g butter, cold
250g flour
1 tsp salt
150g cream cheese
For the filling:
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
½ red onion
120g cheddar or gruyère, grated
100g fine bacon lardons
pepper
Also needed:
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
back sesame seeds
Makes 30 long ones or 60 short ones – Prep: 45 min – Fridge: 2h – Oven: 15 min
Cut the butter into cubes and put into a food processor with the flour and salt. Blitz until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the cream cheese and blitz again so that a dough ball forms.
Shape the dough into a disk and wrap in cling film. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours.
After 2 hours, preheat the oven to 200°C fan.
Roll out the chilled dough on a well-floured surface to a rectangle of 45 x 30cm.
Spread the mustard all over the surface. Finely chop the red onion. Distribute the grated cheese all over the pastry surface. Sprinkle the red onion and the lardons on the lower half of the pastry. Season the entire surface generously with pepper.
Fold the upper half of the pastry over the bottom half to cover it completely. Roll over the dough with a rolling pin, to seal in the filling.
Cut the rectangle vertically into 1cm wide strips – if making small cheese straws, cut them again horizontally in two.
Hold each strip at both ends and twist it to form a spiral. Lay on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
In a small bowl, beat the egg with the milk, then brush all over the cheese twists. Sprinkle generously with bagel spice.
Bake the twists in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Put on a wire rack and leave to cool for a few minutes, then serve while still warm.
STORAGE: These are best eaten right away when they’re still warm. You can keep them for another day or freeze them, and reheat them in a hot oven for a few minutes.
