Cheesy Fondue Spirals bring all the wonderful flavor of a classic fondue to a crispy 3-bite appetizer. These will be your new go-to nibble for parties, potlucks and brunches.
It’s a little intimidating to cook or bake for other people, isn’t it? Will what you make be shockingly delicious? Will it be amazing and draw raves? Will everyone ask you for the recipe?
I had all those feelings when I was tasked with bringing something to a get-together for food bloggers. We were meeting at a museum, so it needed to be portable, hand-held for eating, and need no refrigeration or heating. And, of course, it had to impress. What to make?
These Cheesy Fondue Spirals met all the conditions brilliantly, and then some! They are so, so good, you’ll find it hard to stay away from them. Consider that a warning, and pace yourself after they come out of the oven. You have been warned!
The recipe is from a new little cookbook called “A Little Book of Cheese: A Mouse Eye View into the World of Cheese [1],” {affiliate link} by my friend Chef Debbi Dubbs. Chef Debbi, as she is known on her social media channels, has a restaurant background, owned two catering companies, has been a private chef and a corporate chef, and has managed an upscale gourmet deli. She’s taught cooking classes, and hosts a yearly trip to the Paso Robles wine area in California to meet with wine makers, farmers, olive oil farms and others. She has chef cred, and hey, don’t you want her life?
Chef Debbi made hers into palmiers, in which you roll up the two sides together so they meet in the middle. This is what a palmier shape looks like ↓ .
Some puff pastry comes already rolled out into a rectangle, but the brand I bought was rolled into a circle, so I decided to simply roll it into a spiral. Suit yourself as to what you like for a final shape. It will taste and look wonderful either way! And I will give you her directions for how to roll it into a palmier, as well, in case you want to do it that way.
How do you make Cheesy Fondue Spirals?
You will be using 3 cheeses — Gruyere, fontina and Parmesan. Also, some chives! I grow them in my windowsill and snip them with a kitchen shears when I need them.
Grate the cheeses and assemble everything nearby.
Sprinkle the puff pastry with the cheeses and chives.
Roll up evenly and tightly.
Place the stuffed rolls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, seam side down. Refrigerate.
Slice and bake them until they puff and melt. (You can use the same parchment sheet so you don’t have to waste more.) When done baking, cool on a rack.
They’re easy, with a big flavor payoff!
Cheesy Fondue Spirals bring all the wonderful flavor of a classic fondue to a crispy 3-bite appetizer. These will be your new go-to nibble for parties, potlucks and brunches.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated Gruyere cheese
- 3/4 cup (3 ounces) grated fontina cheese
- 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 2-3 tablespoons chives, minced
- 1 (1-pound) box all-butter puff pastry, defrosted but still cold
- Flour, for the work surface
Directions
- Unfold or unroll the cold pastry onto a piece of parchment that has been lightly floured. Roll gently to get rid of any creases.
- Typically, there are 2 pastries in each box, whether a circle or rectangle. Take them both out and assemble them both at once.
- Sprinkle each pastry with half the Gruyere, half the fontina, half the Parmesan and half the minced chives, leaving the slight edges uncovered by toppings. If pastry is a circle, start with the edge nearest you and begin to roll evenly and tightly, until you have rolled up all the toppings. Repeat with second pastry. If pastry is a rectangle, start at the short edge and roll it evenly and tightly towards the opposite side, until you have rolled up all the toppings. Repeat with second pastry. Place rolls seam side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Place baking sheet with rolls on it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, to firm up.
- Heat oven to 400F degrees. Place a dough roll on a cutting board and, using a serrated knife, cut the roll into 1/2-inch thick slices. Place slices about 1/2-inch apart on the prepared baking pans, and bake until browned and crisp, about 16-18 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway though the baking time. I baked one sheet at a time, but if you bake 2 sheets at the same time, be sure to reverse the sheets onto different racks AND rotate the sheets at the halfway point.
- When done, remove sheet from the oven and allow the spirals to cool for a minute or 2, before using a spatula to transfer them to a cooling rack (like you would with cookies). Once they are cooled completely (they will crisp up as they cool), you may move them to your serving platter if you are serving soon, or store them in an airtight container for a day. Puff pastry nibbles are best served the day they are made, in my opinion, but you can keep them for several days without harm if you need to. They will just lose their crispness over time.
- INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE BOOK TO ROLL A PALMIER SHAPE: Cut the pastry sheet in half crosswise and sprinkle with the cheeses and chives; lightly press the mixture into the pastry. Working with one sheet of pastry at a time, roll both short ends evenly until they meet in the middle. Brush off any extra flour that sticks to the pastry. You could also fold the pastry: fold the right side of the dough to the middle and repeat with the left side. Then fold one side on top of the other. The dough should look like a long book with the folds in the middle. Repeat with the second sheet.
Notes
Recipe source: Lightly adapted from the recipe Fondue Palmiers, in the cookbook "A Little Book of Cheese: A Mouse Eye View into the World of Cheese," [1] by Chef Debbi Dubbs (Feb. 2019; self-published by Debbi Dubbs; cover photo by Christina Peters Photography).
Pin the image below to one of your Pinterest boards, so you can save this recipe to make later!
If you like fondue, you might like to try my Baked Swiss Cheese Fondue Casserole.
Baked Swiss Cheese Fondue Casserole [4] is unique and shockingly delicious, of course!
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