Spicy, honey-glazed figs are balanced by creamy goat cheese and buttery puff pastry in this fun vegetarian play on pigs-in-a-blanket. If goat cheese isn't your thing, try these bites with brie, Camembert, Manchego, or Parmesan.

Recipe information

Total Time
1 hour, 10 minutes
Yield
Makes 48

Ingredients

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons honey

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

24 dried black Mission figs (medium or large), stems trimmed, halved

1 large egg

1 (14- or 17-ounce) box of puff pastry (preferably all-butter puff), thawed according to package directions

All-purpose flour (for surface)

6 1/2 ounces plain goat cheese

Sesame seeds or poppy seeds (for topping; optional)

Preparation

Step 1
Arrange racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 400°F. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 2
Stir vinegar, honey, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and 1 cup water in a medium pot. Add figs and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until figs are softened and liquid has almost evaporated and is a syrupy consistency, 7–10 minutes. Transfer figs to a plate; let cool.
Step 3
Beat egg with 1 Tbsp. water in a small bowl. If using a 14-ounce package with 1 sheet of pastry, roll pastry to an 18x12" rectangle on a lightly floured surface. If using a 17-ounce package with 2 sheets of pastry, roll each sheet to a 12x9" rectangle. Cut pastry along the 12" side into 12 (1-inch-wide) strips. Cut each strip crosswise into pieces about 4 1/2" long. You should have 48 (4 1/2x1") strips pastry.
Step 4
Scoop a heaping 1/2 tsp. cheese and press into cut side of 1 fig half. Place fig half in the center of 1 pastry strip. Brush 1 end of pastry with egg wash and roll to enclose. Transfer seam side down to prepared sheet. Repeat with remaining cheese, figs, and pastry. Brush top of each pastry with egg wash and sprinkle with seeds, if using. Bake pastries, rotating and switching sheets top to bottom halfway through, until golden brown and puffed, 15–18 minutes.
Do Ahead
Step 5
Figs can be cooked 2 days ahead; cover and chill.

TagsFig Fruit Goat Cheese Cheese Dairy Puff Pastry Starter Snack Dinner Nut Free Vegetarian Make Ahead Oven Bake Super Bowl Epicurious

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Reviews (19)

I made these for a potluck and they were well received. I couldn't find puff pastry so I used croissant dough, and I used brie instead of goat cheese. Because of the cheese swap, the fig in a blanket needed an additional, more powerful, flavor (hot mustard). Next time I'll stick with goat. Pretty good recipe!
- Anonymous
- SF Bay Area
- 2/7/2017
While the finished dish looked exactly like the photo, what it took to get to that point was a lot of sticky-fingered swearing and no small amount of ingenuity. Some things to note if you're going with the goat cheese: let it soften up to room temp and pre-scoop little cheeseballs to go into your figs before you start assembling, because once you start it's not a pretty sight. A handy tip regarding the cutting of the puff pastry: use a pizza wheel dusted with flour. When you start assembling, the figs will be wider than 1" (at least mine were and by the look of the photo, so were the recipe developer's) so starting at one end of your cut dough, do every third or fourth strip or whatever it takes to keep the fig from overlapping. Do the egg wash on the end that will be on the OUTSIDE, roll 'em up, put them on the tray, and slide apart the remaining pastry pieces now that you have room to work. Repeat. One final word - I put one of these down in front of a (longtime) vegetarian friend and the look of confusion on his face was absolutely priceless. He pronounced the flavor to be sublime as did the other five very diverse taste-testers who ate them.
- ruthm_in_ky
- Louisville, KY
- 2/9/2018
I agree with the poster who suggested to pre-ball the goat cheese at room temp and expect a rather sloppy mess. Overall these are incredibly tasty and not too difficult to make. If you love sweet-hot-savory combos, this is for you!
- christine67
- Wilmington, NC
- 12/16/2018
These were tasty and easy to make.
- aallen
- Grand Teton National Park
- 2/2/2019
Tasty and easy to make. Was a hit with all. Tried both types of cheese, liked the goat cheese better. Also, we used with fresh figs
- nan.brooks6975
- Canada
- 2/18/2019
These were very yummy. I pre measured the goat cheese into little balls ahead of assembling like it was suggested by one of the reviews. Also, I added bacon to the bundles. I would make this again.
- miamickelson9195
- Kirkland, WA
- 4/27/2019
When it comes to holiday gatherings and appetizers, I am always looking for something different to make. It's January and I am already testing recipes for Nov & Dec so as not to be disappointed with the outcome. Make or Don't make. With this recipe... it's a make it for sure. Love the blend of flavors! The sweetness of the figs, subtle heat from the reduction sauce, tartness of the goat cheese and rich buttery flavor of the puff pastry all come together for something unique. I did let the Goat cheesse get to room temperature so it was easier to work with and used a cheese spreader knife to stuff the figs. Making cheese balls was turning out to be too much work. There is some time involved with this one, but if you have the time it is worth the effort.
- BBQ Billy
- Cleveland, OH
- 1/27/2020