Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Mini Holiday Pastries using Leftover Cranberry Sauce from Cleo Coyle



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With Thanksgiving around the corner, I've been playing with recipe ideas for "leftovers" to include in my upcoming Coffeehouse Newsletter. I think these baby size pastries would be perfect for your extra cranberry sauce. The bright red color of the filling combined with my homemade glaze makes them a sweet addition for holiday trays. Leave off the glaze and you have an attractive dinner appetizer.

(If you don’t have cranberry sauce on hand, raspberry jam works equally well for flavor and color.)

This also makes a nice holiday recipe for waistline watchers because using reduced fat crescent rolls and reduced fat cream cheese will lower the calorie count. The mini size of the pastry makes portion control easier, too. Pair one or two with a filling cup of coffee or tea and you've got a lighter dessert option than a large slice of cake or pie.

You may be tempted to eliminate the cream cheese from this recipe. My advice is don’t. I’ve tried it without, and it’s not as tasty. The cream cheese perfectly offsets the tartness of the berries in the filling.


Okay, let’s start baking...





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Cleo Coyle’s
Baby Berry Pastries

Or how to use your leftover cranberry sauce!

Makes 16 mini pastries

Ingredients:

For the easy pastry
1 package of Crescent Rolls (8-count, regular or reduced fat)
½ cup whipped cream cheese (regular or reduced fat)
½ cup cranberry sauce or raspberry jam 

For the glaze
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tablespoon milk (or water)
3/4 cup confectioners’ (powdered) sugar

NOTES FOR RECIPE SUCCESS: Yes, these appear stupidly simple to make but things can go very wrong in the process. For foolproof success, see my “Cleo notes” at the end of this recipe.

Directions:

Step 1 – PREP PAN: Pre-heat your oven to 375º F. (Pre-heat for 30 full minutes just to be sure the oven is hot enough.) Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. The cranberry sauce will ooze out and stick to the pan. The parchment will prevent sticking and also protect the delicate pastry bottoms from the pan’s direct heat.

Step 2 – UNROLL CRESCENTS: Once your oven is fully pre-heated, begin to work. Keep your dough cold throughout this process and you’ll have less trouble cutting and shaping it. Assemble ingredients first, and then break open the crescent roll tube.


Work directly on the lined baking sheet. Crescent rolls come in 2 small sheets. They are perforated, forming 4 triangles per sheet. Separate the 8 triangles in two rows, leaving space between each triangle and row.



Step 3 – SPREAD THE FILLING: Using the back of a small spoon, gently spread about 2 teaspoons worth of whipped cream cheese onto the pastry triangles. On top of that spread a layer of the cranberry sauce (again, about 2 teaspoons per triangle).


Step 4 – SLICE THE TRIANGLES: Carefully cut the 8 large triangles in half lengthwise, creating 16 very narrow triangles. Cutting puff pastry can be difficult, but I find that a pizza cutter slides with ease through the sticky dough. Just be sure to wipe the blade clean between cuts.



Step 5 – ROLL INTO BABY CRESCENTS: Starting from the largest end of each narrow triangle, roll into crescents. As you roll, very gently stretch the narrow dough lengthwise. 




Roll the triangles into 16 baby crescents. Carefully lift and re-position the pastries on the lined baking sheet, allowing room for rising. For best results, bake pastries immediately.



Step 6 – BAKE: In your well pre-heated oven (375º F.), bake the pastries for about 10 to 12 minutes. Watch carefully. You want a nice golden brown pastry, but you don’t want the bottoms to brown too much or burn. Allow them to cool before glazing (or the glaze will not harden properly).




Step 7 – MAKE THE GLAZE: Over low heat, combine 1 Tablespoon of butter and 1 Tablespoon of milk in a small saucepan. Do not allow these ingredients to boil or you’ll have a scorched taste in your glaze. After butter melts completely into the milk, begin to add the ¾ cup of powdered sugarUsing a fork, whisk in a little at a time, adding the complete amount. The glaze should drizzle easily and harden fairly quickly once poured. If too loose, add more powdered sugar; if too thick, add a touch more milk. When you’re happy with the consistency, use the fork to begin drizzling glaze in a back-and-forth motion across the cooled mini pastries. 


NOTE: If the glaze hardens up on you before you’re finished, simply return the pan to the heat and re-whisk.



NOTES FOR RECIPE SUCCESS

*Cleo Note #1: AVOID DISASTER – KEEP THE DOUGH COLD. Why? Crescent rolls are “laminated” dough (aka puffed pastry). This means layers of dough have been folded with layers of butter or shortening. Consequently, as the dough warms, the butter melts and the dough becomes impossible to cut or shape properly. 


DO: Assemble your ingredients first, and then unroll the cold, stiff dough and work quickly to form the pastries. If you have trouble cutting or rolling the crescents during the making of this recipe, pop the entire sheet pan of them into the refrigerator for a few minutes, allowing the dough to chill and stiffen before resuming recipe. Also note: Laminated dough should be kept moist, so be sure to wrap any unused dough in plastic before storing in the fridge.




*Cleo Note #2: CRANBERRY SAUCE – CHILL, BABY! You can use whole or jellied cranberry sauce. Canned or homemade is fine or swap in raspberry jam. Just make sure whatever you use is cold or room temperature and not warm or the pastry will melt and you’ll have a mess. In my photos, you see homemade cranberry sauce. See my PDF for a quick recipe.

*Cleo Note #3: CREAM CHEESE – Whipped cream cheese is what I recommend for this recipe because it’s much easier to spread. If you want to use regular cream cheese, allow it to soften to room temperature and work it a little with a fork so it spreads with ease on the delicate dough.

*Cleo Note #4: PRE-HEAT FOR REAL – Puffed pastry must have high heat to rise properly, and far too many oven thermometers are inaccurate. Forget the little “beep-beep” ready-bell on your oven. Pre-heat the oven for a good 30 minutes before baking, just to be sure. Read my past post “Is Your Oven Lying to You” for smart tips on keeping it real as we enter holiday baking season. To read that post, and pick up a few more recipes, click here, and don't forget to...





 

Eat (and read) with joy!

~ Cleo Coyle

New York Times bestselling author of
The Coffeehouse Mysteries

Yes, this is me, Cleo (aka Alice). 
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14 comments:

  1. These look Delish. I have some cranberry sauce here and will make these later today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Crescent rolls are a must at Chez Phillipe! We make Nutella roll ups, hot dog & cheese roll ups, a certain young chef even tried M%Ms and Snickers roll ups (major fail, BTW). But these combine ingredients that I hold to a different and higher standard...cream cheese and cranberries and add them to crescent rolls??!!! Wowee Zowee!!! I've been stock piling rolls for the last few weeks since they are on sale so I see a big batch of these on our table later this week...as well as on my hips ;-)

    Thanks, Cleo!!!

    The newsletter is wonderful...Mr. Nanc printed off all the recipes!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brilliance! I love it, Cleo. Honestly, I don't get nearly enough cranberry sauce during the holidays, and this is a great way to spread the love throughout the day. (I'm thinking breakfast .... and tea .... and dessert ...)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those are precious!!! Adorable! I have to make these at Christmas time. I think I'll add some orange zest in there, too. Cranberry/orange is one of my all-time favorite flavor combos.

    I LOVE your tips.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cleo, I bet these taste as good as they look! Yum! I'm one of those people who never has any leftover cranberries, though. : )

    ~ Krista

    ReplyDelete
  6. Cleo, how pretty are these little beauties! Sorry to chime in so late, but I'm going to tweet the heck out of them. Pretty! And easy. I love cranberry sauce!

    And I can't wait to make them (or something like them because of that darned 'gluten free' thing I have) for the family at the holidays!

    ~Avery

    ReplyDelete
  7. I did indeed make these (last night) and my family devoured them up. Even my little furry daughter Proxy (my dog in case you have not figured that out LOL) liked them.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Replies to...

    @Shawn (BusyMom) - Sweet! I'm delighted that you're trying the recipe.(Follow-up reply below!)

    @Nanc - Totally agree on crescent rolls - the most convenient and least expensive way to use puff pastry. I know Pillsbury is famous for it, but other brands have come into the market, too, and there's always Puff Pastry Sheets by Pepperidge Farm. All of the above will work in this recipe, and I hope everyone at "Chez Phillipe" enjoys it! :)

    ~ Cleo Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

    ReplyDelete
  9. Meanwhile, two days later...

    Belated thank you for the kind comments and apologies for the delay in replying. (I fell into an Internet vortex -- and contracted a nasty cold. But I'm back on track again, or nearly... :))

    @Wendy - LOL, I think so, too. These babies would be great for brunch or tea time or dessert. Thx so much for the comment.

    @Christi - I agree. Cranberry and a little orange zest would work very well. Other spices would add a nice holiday flavor, too -- cinnamon, ginger, and/or allspice. This is a fun recipe to experiment with! Thx for dropping by and leaving such a nice comment. I hope you enjoy the pastries and have a wonderful holiday season.

    ~ Cleo Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

    ReplyDelete
  10. Replies to...

    @Krista - LOL! You must enjoy it as much as I do. I make plenty whenever I roast a turkey so I can continue to enjoy it with leftovers on days two and three. I even freeze bags of them so I can eat them with roasted turkey and chicken throughout the winter. (They're always gone from our stores by January, but that's what freezers are for. :))

    @Avery - I hope your family enjoys them. Hang in there! With so many great gluten-free products coming onto the market, you never know. Pillsbury may just create a gluten-free crescent roll soon.

    ~ Cleo Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

    ReplyDelete
  11. Reply to...

    @Shawn (BusyMom)- Again, my apologies for replying so late! But I wanted to give you a belated WOOT for making my baby berry pastries the very same day I blogged about them. You rock. :) And I'm so glad that your family (and little Proxy) enjoyed them, too.

    Enjoy the holiday season!

    ~ Cleo Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love to cook and bake so if there is a recipe that catches my eye I will try it. I have made several recipes posted but only recently become active in my postings as I was recovering from some surgeries earlier in the year but am back on track at doing more.

    I just hope you all do not get sick of me ;)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Reply to...

    @Shawn (BusyMom)- OMG, we're thrilled when our followers comment, and we're delighted when our followers share their recipes. You've done both so how could we not love you!!!

    I'm so glad you saw my belated comment, Shawn, cheers to you for letting me know. (Sending you good-health vibes and all good wishes.)

    ~ Cleo Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

    ReplyDelete