Caramelized Onion & Blue Cheese Puff Pastry Tarts

Puff pastry makes this appetizer do-able within an hour and will impress everyone at the party!

Do I have to use puff pastry?

Not necessarily. You could use pie crust or even crescent rolls. However, puff pastry has the perfect buttery flakiness needed for this dish, so it’s best to stick to the recipe here and use traditional puff pastry sheets. Thaw them in the fridge overnight so they are easy to unroll and cut.

Where can I find puff pastry?

You’ll typically find puff pastry in the freezer section of your grocery store near the dessert items. Pepperidge Farm is my favorite reasonably priced brand that can be found at most grocery stores.

How do I make caramelized onions?

I’m not going to lie, it’s a bit of process. You’re going to thinly sliced 4 onions and saute them over medium heat in butter and oil. And yes, it takes 60 minutes to caramelize those babies, but they are worth every second! Grab a magazine (or who am I kidding, your phone) and a glass of wine and plop yourself on a stool in front of the stove.

Make sure you use a large pot so it can hold all of the sliced onions. It will look like a lot of onions at first, but DON’T WORRY! By the time you’re done they’ll have reduced significantly and be dark brown, caramely and delicious.

Do I have to use blue cheese?

You could use Gorgonzola or Roquefort instead as they both have a rich, tangy flavor similar to blue cheese. But luckily, blue cheese is very popular and super easy to find so you shouldn’t have to spend too much time hunting it down!

Do I have to use fig jam?

Again, not necessarily. But to achieve the same flavor profile, it is ideal to use fig jam. Any sweet fruit preserve will work, however the flavors of fig work very well with blue cheese and honey and lucky for you, most grocery stores carry fig jam or fig preserves!

Can I make these puff pastry tarts ahead of time?

If you’re into making things ahead of time, you could easily assemble the tarts, freeze them on a parchment lined baking sheet and then transfer them to an airtight container and freeze for up to a month. The day before baking, allow the tarts to thaw in the fridge overnight on a parchment lined baking sheet, then bake and drizzle with honey.

Alternately, you could assemble these tarts and then refrigerate them for up to 24 hours before baking. Puff pastry is pretty forgiving, but it needs to be kept cold in order to rise properly when baked. So you definitely don’t want to let these babies sit out on your counter or get anywhere near room temp before you bake them.

What should I serve with these puff pastry tarts?

These tarts are the perfect addition to your holiday feast! This lip-smacking appetizer made an appearance last year at Thanksgiving and it was promptly devoured and enjoyed by all my friends and family!

I love to bring this appetizer to any holiday gathering because it is easy to transport and is just as delicious (if not best) served at room temperature. It’s hand held too so it’s perfect parties and it doesn’t require silverware or even a plate really! But you could also serve this as a main course for a light dinner. It’d go great alongside a green salad or even a plate of pasta.

Tips for making the best puff pastry tarts:

• Puff pastry is the best dough for this recipe. Crescent rolls or even pie crust can be used as substitutes, but puff pastry is going to give you the best results for this recipe.
• Keep the puff pastry cold. The puff pastry dough needs to be cold when it’s baked so that it can puff up nice and pretty. There’s a lot of steps involved in this recipe, so feel free to pop the dough in the fridge throughout the process if you are working in an exceptionally warm environment.

Other puff pastry appetizers you’ll love:

• Brussels Sprouts Puff Pastry Tart
• Potato Leek Tarts
• Prosciutto, Parmesan and Asparagus Bundles
• Pear & Gorgonzola Tarts

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If you made this recipe I’d love to hear how it turned out! Feel free to leave a rating and comment below. I love hearing from you guys and respond to each and every comment that I receive! Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest for the all latest recipes and a sneak peek at the behind the scenes adventures on Midwest Foodie!

Caramelized Onion & Blue Cheese Puff Pastry Tarts

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Midwest Foodie
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour + 15 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
• Yield: 32 tarts
• Category: Appetizer
• Method: Baking
• Cuisine: American

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Description

These tarts are as elegant as they are delicious. Caramelized onions combine with tangy blue cheese and sweet fig jam to deliver a palete pleasing flavor your friends and family will love!

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Ingredients

• 1 (17.3 oz.) package puff pastry, thawed in the fridge overnight
• 4 large yellow onions, halved, then thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon dry white wine
• Kosher salt
• fresh cracked pepper
• 1 egg + 1 teaspoon water, beaten
• 3/4 cup fig jam
• 5 oz. blue cheese (crumbled)
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• honey for drizzling

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Instructions

1. Heat butter and oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and and stir to coat in oil. You will cook the onions for 60 minutes total, stirring every 4-5 minutes or so.
2. After they’ve cooked for 10 minutes add a pinch of salt. After they’ve cooked for 40 minutes add a teaspoon of sugar. Be sure to keep stirring them every 4-5 minutes so they cook evenly.
3. After they’ve finished cooking for 60 minutes and are a gorgeous dark brown color, pour in the wine and deglaze the pan (scrape all the bits off the bottom), season with salt and pepper to taste, then set aside.
4. When the onions are nearing the end of the caramelizing process, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Unwrap the puff pastry and cut along the seams of each sheet, creating 6 rectangles total.
5. Lightly flour your work surface and use a rolling pin to roll each piece into a  3.5″ x 12″ rectangle. Use a 3″ cookie cutter to make four tarts out of each rectangle. Transfer tarts to (2) parchment lined baking sheets.
6. Combine puff pastry scraps into a ball, roll them out to the same thickness as your previous tarts and use the cookie cutter to make 10-12 more tarts.
7. Arrange tarts on the two baking sheets about an inch apart. You will have 30-32 tarts total.
8. Use a 2″ cookie cutter to score each tart in the center, creating a half inch wide crust. Brush the crust portion of the tart with the egg wash.
9. Heat fig jam in a small saucepan over medium heat just until it becomes loose and spreadable. Spread a teaspoon or so of fig jam in the center of each tart.
10. Top that with a teaspoon or so of caramelized onions. And then, you guessed it, top that with a teaspoon or so of blue cheese. Divide thyme evenly between the tarts, sprinkling a few leaves in the center of each tart.
11. Bake tarts for 15-18 minutes or until the crust starts to get dark golden brown
12. Remove tarts from the oven and drizzle with honey. Serve warm and enjoy!

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Notes

Puff pastry is the best dough for this recipe. Crescent rolls or even pie crust can be used as substitutes, but puff pastry is going to give you the best results for this recipe.

Keep the puff pastry cold. The puff pastry dough needs to be cold when it’s baked so that it can puff up nice and pretty. There’s a lot of steps involved in this recipe, so feel free to pop the dough in the fridge throughout the process if you are working in an exceptionally warm environment.

Keywords: puff pastry tart, caramelized onion tart, blue cheese tart, tartletts, vegetarian appetizer