Uncategorized 29. September 2026

Festive finger food from the hot-air fryer: puff pastry bites with cream cheese and cranberries

Crispy puff pastry, creamy cream cheese and fruity cranberries: these little puff pastry bites from the hot-air fryer are quick to make and are ideal as Christmas finger food. Rosemary and pistachios add a savoury, slightly nutty flavour. The handy thing is that the puff pastry cups are baked straight in the hot-air fryer. This means you don’t need a large oven – which is particularly handy if it’s already being used for other dishes at Christmas.

Ingredients

For the puff pastry bites

1 roll of fresh puff pastry from the chilled section
150 g cream cheese
2 tbsp natural yoghurt
50 g cranberries, fresh or dried
30 g pistachios, roughly chopped
2 sprigs of rosemary
1 egg
1 tsp honey, salt, black pepper

Optional for decoration

a little extra puff pastry
1 egg yolk or a little beaten egg, for glazing

Method

Prepare
the puff pastry. Roll out the puff pastry and cut out circles using a round cookie cutter. To create a higher edge, place a second ring of puff pastry on top of each one. Lightly brush the edges with beaten egg.
Cut out small stars from the leftover puff pastry. These will be used later as Christmas decorations.
Baking
in the hot-air fryer: Place the puff pastry cups in the basket of the hot-air fryer, leaving a little space between them. Bake at 180 °C for about 8–12 minutes until golden brown and crispy. The exact cooking time may vary slightly depending on the air fryer and the size of the pastries.
The little puff pastry stars can be baked at the same time. As they are thinner, take them out a few minutes earlier if necessary.
Prepare
the cream: Whilst the puff pastry is baking, mix the cream cheese and natural yoghurt until smooth. Fold in a little finely chopped rosemary and season to taste with salt and pepper. If you like a combination of sweet and savoury, add a teaspoon of honey.
Serving
Christmas finger food: Leave the baked puff pastry cases to cool briefly. Then fill them with the cream cheese mixture.
Garnish with cranberries, chopped pistachios and a little fresh rosemary. Finally, place a small puff pastry star on top of each one.