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close up view of caramelized onion and goat cheese puffs on a tray

I'm a sucker for goat cheese in an appetizer and absolutely loooove caramelized onions. Some years ago, I tried a Trader Joe's appetizer with this combination and was over the moon. And with appetizer season upon us, I thought I'd whip up a fairly easy version of my own. These caramelized onion and goat cheese puffs are to.die.for. Let's get into it.

What Are Caramelized Onions?

Caramelized onions are cooked for about 25-30 minutes in a pan until they turn brown in color and develop a sweet and slightly (very slightly) nutty flavor. You can enhance the sweetness by adding a touch of sugar if you like.

overhead view of caramelizing onions for goat cheese puffs

Caramelized onions are absolutely delicious and easy to make. If you've never had them (or made them), you can also try them in my Pork Chops w/ Stove Top Stuffing, Caramelized Onions & Apples as well as my French Onion Grilled Cheese w/Bacon, or Cardamom Chicken Thighs w/Coconut Raisin Rice

Tips for Caramelizing Onions:

I like to slice the onions very thin and keep everything uniform in size.
You can use butter or olive oil or both to cook the onions. I use a combination of both.
Season the onions with salt and pepper.
Start the onions on a higher heat for the first few minutes while the butter melts and you toss to coat the onions in the butter and olive oil.
Turn the heat to medium or slightly lower and watch the heat. If the onions start cooking too fast too soon, they won't end up caramelized - just burned.
Stir them throughout the process to keep them cooking evenly.
At the 25-30 minute mark they should be just about done. You can add a teaspoon or two of sugar here and mix it during the last 5 minutes of cooking.

overhead view of caramelized onion and goat cheese puffs on a serving tray with fresh thyme and honey

it's appetizer season: Game ON!

It's fall and we're heading into the holiday season. Thanksgiving is a month away, then Christmas, New Year's Eve, Valentine's Day and the Super Bowl. This means a lot of cooking and gatherings for many of us.

With these caramelized onion and goat cheese puffs you've got a fairly easy one or two bite appetizer with incredible flavor. This recipe is for 20 puffs, but if you want more you can easily double the recipe!

close up overhead view of caramelized onion and goat cheese puffs on a serving platter

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The possibilities with puff pastry are endless. You pretty much can't screw it up. Almost anything tastes good wrapped in puff pastry. I especially love caramelized onions and goat cheese together. Anyone else love when goat cheese is warm and it sort of bursts open when you put it in your mouth?

This recipe will not let you down and it is very forgiving. Don't get nervous cutting the dough into squares. The dough puffs up when cooking, so whatever you did when cutting it doesn't matter!!

what is puff pastry and why is it puffy?

Puff pastry is made by layering dough and butter and folding it repeatedly to create flaky layers. Most people do not make this from scratch because it is a bit labor intensive with a lot of chill time.

There is a lot of science in baking which I'm not completely interested in, but I did always wonder why (and how) puff pastry got...well, puffy. The short version is that you need to keep the puff pastry dough very cold - this I knew, but didn't know why for a long time. The fat has to stay cold so when it hits your very hot (pre-heated) oven, it creates steam and the steam is what makes puff pastry go puff.

Luckily, Pepperidge Farm has made a very delicious version that you will find in the freezer section of your local grocery store. I've tried other brands, including the overpriced, fancy DuFour brand and I still stand by the Pepperidge Farm version. It's delicious and always available.

Easy Steps to making Caramelized onion and goat cheese puffs

slicing onions into thin strips — *Cut onions into thin strips*

starting the process of caramelizing onions for caramelized onion and goat cheese puffs — *Cut onions into thin strips*

finely chopping thyme for goat cheese puffs — *Chop fresh thyme (can use dried too)*

end of the cooking process for caramelized onions — *Chop fresh thyme (can use dried too)*

cut the puff pastry into squares — *Cut store-bought puff pastry dough into squares*

press dough into mini muffin tin for caramelized onion and goat cheese puffs — *Cut store-bought puff pastry dough into squares*

fill puffs with caramelized onions — *Add caramelized onions into pastry*

cutting the goat cheese and adding to the puffs — *Add caramelized onions into pastry*

need more appetizer ideas? We gotcha covered (click name to go to recipe):

close up of stuffed mushroom with sausage and bread crumbs on a platter — *Stuffed Mushrooms*

serving platter with canned crab toasties garnished with scallions and red pepper flakes — *Stuffed Mushrooms*

closer look at brown sugar bacon sticks brushed with maple syrup — *Brown Sugar Bacon Sticks*

birds eye view of holiday appetizers phyllo cups five ways — *Brown Sugar Bacon Sticks*

Caramelized Onion and Goat Cheese Puffs

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Author: Stacey
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 55 minutes
Yield: 20 puffs 1x

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Description

Appetizer season just got a little more exciting with these caramelized onion and goat cheese puffs. You’re going to love this one!

Instructions

Slice the onions. Peel onions first, then cut in half. Slice the onion into thin slivers – maybe about ¼” in thickness or thinner.
Add onions to a large pan with butter, olive oil, salt and pepper. Start heat on high until butter melts then toss onions to coat. Reduce to medium heat. We’re caramelizing the onions and that will take about 25-30 minutes. If the heat is too high you will burn the onions. Medium heat works well, and stir the onions as needed throughout the cooking process. At around the 25-minute mark, add the sugar (if using) and the thyme and stir to mix them in. When the onions are a deep golden brown they are done. Then let onions cool down a few minutes before assembling. Do other prep while the onions are cooking.
You can use dry or fresh thyme for this. If using fresh, gently pull the leaves from a few sprigs. Start at the top of the sprig and gently pull down. Then dice the thyme down fine.
Spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
Use one sheet of the puff pastry you buy in the frozen section of the grocery store. You should put the frozen sheet in your refrigerator overnight to defrost. Place on a cutting board and roll slightly just to push the fold cuts together a bit.
Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, make four cuts down the dough in one direction. Rotate the dough (or the cutting board), and make three cuts in the other direction to make 20 squares. My video shows this well. I trimmed some excess off the right side (to even out the size of the squares) and used it to fill a small gap in another spot that needed it. This is dough and it’s not perfect.
Gently press the dough squares into the mini muffin tin.
Use a fork to transfer the caramelized onions from a bowl into each mini muffin cup. The onions should be cooled down before doing this – near to room temperature works well. Pace yourself and eyeball it so you make sure you have enough for all the puffs.
Goat cheese is a little messy so I placed it on a piece of parchment paper and had a cup with warm water standing by to dip my knife in as needed.
Cut a small chunk of goat cheese and place it on top of the onions. Again, eyeball this so you have enough for all 20 puffs.
Puff pastry puffs best when it is cold. After I assembled the puffs, I placed the tin in the refrigerator for 10 minutes and THEN transferred to a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes… ovens are different – check them at 10 minutes. Cook until they are golden brown and puffy. Let cool a few minutes before handling.
To serve. transfer puffs to a serving plate or tray. I found they came out very easily using my fingers, but you can also use a small, thin silicone spatula if needed. Garnish with additional thyme and thyme sprigs and drizzle with honey if you have some on hand. Use the recipe multiplier in the recipe card to double the recipe if you want more.