Do you know that awful sinking feeling when you wake up in the morning and feel like you've gotten absolutely no sleep? I've come to know it real well the last few days! Yay me. I've been busy busy busy trying to do multiple small projects so I've had a pretty firm seat on the struggle bus BUT it's all almost over come Monday so I'm pumped and trying to figure out how I'm going to celebrate. It definitely involves sleeping until after 9, some sort of carb-heavy pasta situation eaten while marathoning Broad City, and maybe a massage but probably not because that would involve leaving the house or letting a stranger into my home and I don't know if I feel like moving the leftover Chinese food off the coffee table for all of that. We'll see.

Anyway, hi hello how do we feel about store-bought puff pastry? Do we really really like it or just really like it or do we not care at all but for some reason continued to read this entire sentence to the end? Well, I reallyreally like it because as far as homemade baked goods and pastries go, it's pretty much the easiest way to be a fancy bitch when you're as sleepy as I am. Also, given that the actual puff pastry itself isn't really sweetened, you can basically just fill it with whatever the hell you want. Berries? Yas. Cheese? Yas. Eggs? Yas. Nutella? Yas. Goat cheese, bacon, and onion? Heck yas. Fair warning: these go down stupid easy. Liiiike, I'm pretty sure Matt finished the entire tray within an hour of them coming out of the oven, so, there's that.

Check out the recipe below for a little more info on how to use the versatile gold that is frozen puff pastry, and let me know if you've got any ideas for other ways I can use the rest of the dough I have in my freezer - I'm taking suggestions! Also, if you haven't signed up for our weekly newsletter, the next one goes out this Tuesday so jump on it!

Onion, Bacon, Goat Cheese Tarts

Prep 10 minutes // Cook 30 minutes // Makes 12 - 15

1 sheet frozen and thawed puff pastry*
3 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 small white onion
1/3 cup soft goat cheese
1 tablespoon melted butter
Fresh dill for garnish

Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat it to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Slice the onions into super thin strips, about as thin as you can get them, and toss them with the melted butter. Set aside.
Lay out the pastry dough on a clean surface. If you keep your home on the warmer side, move quickly as to avoid the pastry dough becoming too sticky and hard to work with. Use a biscuit cutter, cookie cutter, or knife, to cut out desired shapes of the dough. A no-waste method is to just use a pairing knife to cut the dough into squares like a brownie so that all of the dough is used.
Use a knife to cut a border into your individual pieces of dough, about 1/4" away from the edge of the dough. This will allow the edges to puff up around the filling in the center and get crispy. Transport each piece of dough to the prepared baking sheet and place about 2" apart.
On top of each piece of pastry, put a small dab of goat cheese, one or two curled up slices of onion, and a little bit of crumbled bacon. Bake for 12 minutes before reducing the heat to 375 degrees and baking for ten more minutes. You can tell they're ready when the top of the pastry puff turns a deep golden-brown color.
Remove from heat, top with fresh dill, and serve immediately.

Notes

My favorite brand off puff pastry is Dufour. You can follow the instructions on the box for thawing, and make sure to thaw completely before using in this recipe. Here's a great guide to using frozen puff pastry!

Onion, Bacon, & Goat Cheese Tarts