These Mushroom Puff Pastry Tarts are the perfect appetizer for entertaining. A golden puff pastry layer topped with creamy mascarpone cheese, golden mushrooms and crisp bacon.

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Baked appetizers are a great way to entertain. If you’ve had a chance to look through the Blog, you will see so many warm appetizers with Puff Pastry. And just recently I posted a recipe for Chicken Puff Pastry Bites which were a huge hit and I’ve made them several times since. While, these little bites here are fantastic straight out of the oven, you can serve them at room temperature as well. Keep on reading to see how you can get these on your appetizer platter.

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What Is This Baked Appetizer Like

• Difficulty – These appetizers are pretty easy to make but there are several steps. The recipe requires cooking bacon, cooking mushrooms and making a filling. So, they are not quick and have various components. However, none of the steps are difficult.
• Taste – A light and flaky pastry topped with earthy caramelized mushrooms, crisp bacon with a creamy mascarpone spread.
• Serving – This recipe makes 15 appetizer size tarts. I used one sheet of puff pastry and cut it into 16 squares and I discarded one square because it didn’t fit on my baking sheet:)

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Ingredients

• Bacon – I cooked the bacon in a skillet until it was slightly crispy.
• Olive oil – I used olive oil to cook the mushrooms.
• Mushrooms – I used white mushrooms and cooked them down until they were golden brown and a perfect flavour.
• Garlic – Fresh minced garlic is added to the mushrooms.
• Mascarpone cheese – This is a soft Italian cheese and has a smooth texture and milf flavour. You can find it at your local supermarket in the chiller section with other soft cheese.
• Cream – Heavy cream is added to the mascarpone cheese to lighten it up a little.
• Garlic powder – A small amount of garlic powder is added to the filling for extra flavour.
• Black pepper – Black pepper is just an all around great seasoning for many mild flavours.
• Chives – Fresh chopped chives add a nice touch of freshness to the mascarpone filling.
• Puff Pastry – I used a sheet of frozen puff pastry that was ready to roll and cut.
• Honey – A small drizzle of honey is added just before serving.

NOTE, The full recipe and ingredient list can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

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Instructions

1. Cook bacon – Heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat and add the chopped bacon. Stir well and cook down until the fat is rendered and the bacon is starting to crisp. This will take about 5 minutes. Remove the bacon from the skillet and drain on paper towels.
2. Cook mushrooms – Add the olive oil, garlic and mushrooms to the same skillet. Stir well and cook down until the mushrooms are browned, softened and fully cooked. This will take about 8 – 10 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the pan.
3. Preheat oven – Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC and line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
4. Make mascarpone filling – In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the mascarpone cheese, heavy cream, garlic powder, black pepper and fresh chopped chives. Mix well on high speed until well combined, about 30 seconds.
5. Prepare pastries – Unroll a sheet of puff pastry and cut into 15 equal squares. Lay the squares on the baking sheet. Spoon the mascarpone filling in the center of the pastry squares and spread out just before it reaches the edges of the pastry. Top with bacon and mushrooms. Bake between 18 – 20 minutes until puffed and golden.
6. Drizzle with honey – Remove from oven and drizzle with a small amount of honey and garnish with extra chives if desired. Serve hot.

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Recipe Tips

• Use cold puff pastry – Make sure the puff pastry is cold before you cut it or prepare it. Warm puff pastry is very difficult to work with and will stretch and tear. I like to keep it in the fridge until I am just about to use it.
• Don’t cover entire surface with filling – I left about a 1/2 cm border around the outside of the pastry to allow for plenty of space for the filling. This way is didn’t spill over the baking tray.
• Prep in advance – You can completely prepare these pastries in advance. Just cover the baking tray and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to bake them off.

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Substitutions

• Puff pastry – You can use filo, short crust pastry or even Pizza Dough.
• Mushrooms – This recipe uses white mushrooms but any mushrooms will work. You can opt for brown mushrooms, portobello mushrooms or cremini mushrooms.

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Serving

These little pastries would go great with a bigger Appetizer selection. If you are planning an appetizer dinner or party, serve these up with a few of these ideas below.

• Easy Charcuterie Board
• Baked Teriyaki Chicken Wings
• Mediterranean Stuffed Mini Peppers
• Marinated Olives and Cheese

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Thanks For Stopping By & Hope To See You Soon!