These vegan ham and cheese croissants might look fancy, but they're the easiest to make ever!
I'm using one of my favorite grocery store items to make these gourmet-looking vegan ham and cheese croissants. All you need is a package of vegan puff pastry. It's pre-rolled and makes perfectly flaky croissant pastries. These seriously look and taste like they were bought at a bakery.
I typically use Aussie Bakery puff pastry, but you'll be pleased to know that Pepperidge Farm is also vegan-friendly. And if you see a different brand where you live always read the package because lots of brands are accidentally vegan. Puff pastry is often made with vegetable shortening, not butter!
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The dijon mustard with vegan Italian deli slices and cheese is so tasty, but I can already tell your imagination is running wild with other filling ideas for these. I've given you some more ideas below in this post. But for this version here's what you'll need.
ingredients
- store-bought puff pastry
- Dijon mustard
- vegan Italian style deli meat
- block or slices of vegan cheese
- liquid Just Egg
- sesame seeds
See recipe card for quantities.
how to make vegan ham and cheese croissants
I actually saw this idea on Joy The Baker's Instagram and it was an instant craving. I had the puff pastry in the freezer already and the cheese and deli slices stocked! This is probably the easiest thing I've ever made, aside from salad dressing. Thank you Joy for sharing this puff pastry secret. I'm mad I didn't think of it myself!
Because the puff pastry is already in pre-rolled sheets, all you need to do is thaw it in the fridge overnight before you want to eat these croissants! You'll use the lines already created from the folds in the pastry sheets to make 9 square pastries.
One sheet of pastry should result in 9 croissants—three from each column of unfolded puff pastry. Add a ½ teaspoon of Dijon mustard onto each square of pastry.
Fold the deli meat slices into triangles and place on top of the mustard. Add a cube of cheese on top of the deli slices.
Drape the second sheet of puff pastry over the filling. Use your fingers to firmly press the edges around the filling firmly, trying to press out as much air from each square as possible.
Use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to cut out the 9 squares. Place the slices slightly spaced apart on the baking sheet, cover loosely with a tea towel, and refrigerate to keep cold until the oven preheats. Only when the oven is ready, brush Just Egg on top of the croissants and sprinkle generously with sesame seeds.
Bake for 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 450°F until dark golden brown on the top and edges. Allow the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then place the croissants directly on the rack to continue cooling. They're good when still a little bit warm but not scalding hot!
variations of puff pastry croissants
There's endless ways to make croissants out of puff pastry. This square shape version is definitely the easiest, no-mess option and works well for stuffing with fillings of your choice. I even have 4 ways to use puff pastry in my cookbook, hot for food all day, but this isn't one of them!
- kid-friendly pizza stuffed croissants - add mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, chopped green pepper or pineapple and a dollop of pizza sauce.
- spinach and ricotta croissants - thaw and drain frozen chopped spinach and stir together with fresh minced garlic and a ricotta of your choice. You could even add pine nuts or pistachios to the mix!
- s'more croissants - how about adding a smear of chocolate hazelnut spread or a square of chocolate, along with crumbled graham cracker, and vegan marshmallows!
Ingredients
- 1 pkg store-bought puff pastry, thawed in the fridge
- 3 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 9 slices vegan Italian-style deli meat
- ½ block vegan cheese, cubed
- 2 tablespoon liquid Just Egg
- white sesame seeds, as garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- The frozen puff pastry needs to be thawed in the fridge overnight before making these. Unfold the thawed puff pastry and leave one piece in the fridge to stay cold.
- You will make 9 croissants—three from each column of unfolded puff pastry. Add about a ½ teaspoon of Dijon mustard onto each column of pastry, three per column. Fold the deli meat into a triangle and place on top of the mustard. Add a cube of cheese on top of the deli slices. If you aren't using a block of vegan cheese but have slices, you can leave the slices stacked and cut cubes from that.
- Gently drape the second sheet of puff pastry over the first. Use your fingers to firmly press the edges and then the edges around each mound of filling. Try to press out as much air from each square as possible.
- Use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to cut out the 9 squares. Place on the baking sheet slightly spaced apart, cover loosely with a tea towel and refrigerate to keep cold if the oven isn't preheated yet.
- Only when the oven is ready, brush Just Egg on top of the croissants and sprinkle generously with sesame seeds.
- Bake for 20 minutes until very golden brown on the top and edges. Allow the baking sheet to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then place the croissants directly on the wire rack to continue cooling. These are best served slightly warm.
rabeya
I LIKE THIS FOOD