Save your leftover Christmas ham for this 5 ingredient, easy cheese puff pastry recipe that are perfect for New Years Eve and can even be made ahead!! It’s so easy you barely need a recipe for this. 🙂
Using leftover Christmas ham to make finger food for New Years Eve that can be made ahead? That’s what I call food efficiency!
Puff pastry is literally a life saver when it comes to quick appetizers and snacks. No matter how bare your cupboards are, if you have puff pastry in the freezer, there is always something to be made. Sometimes I brush a sheet (generously) with melted butter, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar, cut into batons and voila! A cute pile of flaky buttery Cinnamon Sugar Sticks! For quick savoury bites, I use melted garlic butter and sprinkle with parmesan, herbs and cracked pepper.
And here’s a simple idea to make fantastic finger food using leftover Christmas ham! There’s nothing fancy about these. They are just downright tasty. I mean, salty ham and melted cheese enclosed with buttery flaky pastry? That’s a touchdown, right there!
These Ham Cheese Puff Pastry bites are incredibly simple to make. You barely need a recipe once you’ve watch the video. Though – WARNING: You will be getting a serious dose of Baby Hands in action. No laughing!!! 😉
I know it’s Christmas on Friday, but I’m sticking to my posting schedule and I’m going to share something for the morning after Christmas. If you are having ham for Christmas, I can pretty much guarantee that you won’t need to go to the store to make what I’m going to share!!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Ham and Cheese Puffs
Ingredients
- 2 sheets puff pastry , 25cm/10″ square
- 4 – 5 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 8 oz/250g shaved ham
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or any other melting cheese) (Note 1)
- 2 egg yolks (or 1 egg – Note 2)
- Oil spray
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/425°F (180°C fan-forced). Spray 2 baking trays lightly with oil or line with baking paper (parchment paper).
- Puff pastry – Let the puff pastry partially defrost then cut into 9 x 8cm/3.5" squares.
- Spread about 1/2 tsp of mustard diagonally across each square.
- Top with ham and sprinkle with cheese.
- Wrap – Dab one corner with egg yolk using a brush. Fold the opposite corner over the filling first, then fold the corner with the egg yolk over it and press down to bond. Place on baking tray then repeating with remaining squares.
- Bake – Brush the top with egg. Bake for 15 minutes or until deep golden brown and puffed.
- Serve warm!
Recipe Notes:
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AMAZING. I had a sheet of Gluten Free pastry so gave this recipe a try. They were delicious. My hubby is GF and it was so nice to add a savoury choice for him to have for lunch. I had to wrestle them off him to freeze some for later on!
I did as one person suggested & processed everything. Then started filling with a spoon but took too long so rolled ‘turd’ like shapes in my hand, so much quicker! Some burst but didn’t matter, so good. Next time I’ll use 3 sheets of pastry but I didn’t have time. Husband just ate 6 straight out of the oven, huffing & blowing because you know, HOT! He said make these again even though there’s still about 12 left. A definite hit. Thanks Nagi for helping us use up the ham 🙂
Easy to make and taste great. Would be good party food
This was fantastic for repurposing a leftover beef mince dish. The mince replaced the ham/mustard, kept the rest the same, it was super quick to prepare and it was absolutely gobbled up.
Another Nagi hit out of the ball park. Fabulous appetizer which I’ll be making again and again.
Great ideas. Please how many grams is a cup. Also, ml. Thankyou.
My special boy loves these thank you so much
Do you store these in the fridge or cupboard?
You can store for 2 days in the fridge in an airtight container or freeze them Liga! N x
I love making these! My last batch had chilli Kewpie mayo instead of mustard, tasted amazing!
So simple but so dang tasty! Thank you!!
Yes exactly Sandy!! N x
Are there metric measurements for this recipe? It looks great but ‘2 cups of cheese’ doesn’t mean much to me! Thanks in advance for help.
Made these this morning. Didn’t actually have any ham but we did have some bacon. Fried up the bacon and added some pepper. Fantastic recipe as always!
Nagi you are the best!!!
More gluten free recipes please!
Hi Esha, have you seen the gluten free section on my website? I have a stack of recipes there 🙂 N x
This was a fun meal to have. I used leftover ham and after reading reviews decided that I would use the food processor to make the ham the same consistency. I thought it might end up mushy but it was great. I mixed grated cheese as well as mustard into the ham. We love mustard so I spread some over the puff pastry before adding the ham mixture and cooking. This recipe allowed me to use up extra puff pastry from your chicken pot pie recipe as well as the ham so I really appreciated this find! Thanks
Have been making similar for years. In the food processor the leftover ham and a chopped up spring onions.. Pulse to a fine mince and add cheese( maturered). Into in Puff pastry and into the sausage roll maker or straight onto pastry and fold it over and bake. Cut into slices. served cold is as good as hot. And I can guarantee they wont last long in the fridge and you will be making them again. Tip. Hide some in the vegie crisper in the fridge for yourself like I do for later or you might miss out.
Nagi, you’re a life saver! Such terrific recipes…
Thankyou
Thanks so much Barb!
Found you whilst looking for sausage roll recipes (your’s are the best) and now I’ve found my fave site for yummy recipes, these are a snack/ lunch box fave for my son. Thank you Nagi xo
That’s great to hear Melissa, thanks so much!
These are lovely. I prefer to use Gruyere cheese to cheddar. Plus I add cheese on the top of each puff to make them super crispy. I put them in the fridge for 20 minds then bake for 20 minds at 165°c Fan for 22 mins, making them super crispy. But it’s a really good recipe as it is. Simple and everybody can make them, no skill required, apart from cutting straight.
Sounds amazing Max!
Hi Nagi, this recipe is another winner! Made it for a Christmas potluck lunch and friends all loved it. I liked it that the puffs still looked nice even when I wasn’t the most skilful at handling the softened puff pastry cos the melted cheese made up for it! Thanks again!
These would make a nice road trip food. Compact and easy to pack but yummy!