Although I can easily pass most desserts or candy by without a blink of an eye, there are a few items that I can't resist. One of those is a 'pastry' - especially if it's either plain with just a sprinkle of sweetener or a vanilla or whipped cream filling.
Because of this, I try to keep puff pastry on hand in the freezer for when I need a quick dessert or brunch item, or I'm craving a dessert (which isn't ofen, but when it hits, it hits hard!) Well this 'dessert' is so incredibly simple it's not even a 'recipe'.
It's literally 2 ingredients - can anything be a 'recipe' with just 2 ingredients?
You can use almonst any filling in this! First off is canned or homemade pie fillings - cherry and apple are both perfect but if you have lemon, chocolate, blueberry, peach or any filling you like, it will work. Another idea is to take an 8 oz. block of cream cheese and sweeten it with a couple tablespoons sweetener of your choice and a dash of vanilla. Use cream cheese as the filling for a 'cream cheese Danish'. More ideas include jam! This is delicious with strawberry or raspberry jam fillings... again, so many more flavors to choose from (including our go-to which is the 'sugar free' versions.) You can also 'meat' this up by using sausage and cheddar cheese, ham and cheese, pepperoni with a bit of cheese and sauce... oh gracious, the possibilities are endless.
But this week, it was cherry.
QUICK AND EASY CHERRY PUFF PASTRY BRAID
1 sheet puff pastry
1/2 can cherry pie filling (or any flavor)
Cinnamon and sweetener or sugar to sprinkle
1/2 can cherry pie filling (or any flavor)
Cinnamon and sweetener or sugar to sprinkle
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Unfold a thawed sheet of puff pastry and roll it out to its rectangle shape on a piece of parchment paper. Place it in front of you the 'long' way and spoon your filling of choice down the center of the pastry from top to bottom.
Use a knife or pizza cutter and make even slices all the way down both sides, roughly 1 inch wide.
Start from the top and fold them into the center, overlapping a bit.
Slide the parchment onto a baking sheet (or you could roll the dough directly onto a very lightly greased baking sheet and skip the parchment.)
Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and bake for approximately 25 minutes until the puff pastry is golden brown, puffy and 'done'.
Cool for at least 10 minutes or longer and serve.
Use a knife or pizza cutter and make even slices all the way down both sides, roughly 1 inch wide.
Start from the top and fold them into the center, overlapping a bit.
Slide the parchment onto a baking sheet (or you could roll the dough directly onto a very lightly greased baking sheet and skip the parchment.)
Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and bake for approximately 25 minutes until the puff pastry is golden brown, puffy and 'done'.
Cool for at least 10 minutes or longer and serve.
We are typically sugarfree as a rule, so we have this 'no sugar added' filling in the cupboard
or I make my own cherry pie filling - you use what you like
or I make my own cherry pie filling - you use what you like
Making slices down the sides of the pastry
Folding each slice inward to cover the filling
Sprinkled with cinnamon......
And some sweetener (we use an erythritol and monk fruit blend)
Into the oven to bake!
I didn't get an 'after' photo. We literally immediately started to eat it and when I thought to myself "I should probably stop eating and get a photo" I decided I didn't want to stop eating it to do so... so I didn't! Ha ha.
