Puff Pastry Cheese Sticks

Puff Pastry Cheese Sticks are a flaky and addictive movie night snack idea! Packed full of melted cheese and your favorite spices, these crunchy sticks will be your new favorite snack indulgence. 

An Easy Movie Night Snack Idea

When I chat with my mom friends about movie night snacks, it seems everyone’s go-to snacks all revolve around popcorn. Plain popcorn, popcorn topped with sweet or savory spices, popcorn snack mixes. You get the idea – for movie night, popcorn is king. 

Not here my friends. In my house, Puff Pastry Cheese sticks are a top pick for movie night snack. Yes, they rank even higher than popcorn or candy – believe it or not! Now, my kids aren’t some sort of foodie kid anomaly. Nope, they just like what they like. 

These Puff Pastry Cheese Sticks are savory, cheesy, flaky, and once dipped in your favorite sauce, there’s no turning back. You’ll be hooked!

What is Puff Pastry?

Puff pastry is pure buttery, light and flaky goodness. If you haven’t tried it, you must!

Now, of course, that isn’t the technical description. If you’re looking for that – here goes! Puff pastry is made of only 4 ingredients – butter, water, flour, and salt. The dough is rolled out, then dabbed with butter, and then folded over and over again to create hundreds of buttery layers. In the oven, the water evaporates and creates air bubbles within the dough that gives the puff pastry it’s signature airy and flaky texture. 

It can be difficult and time consuming to make from scratch, so I typically use frozen puff pastry dough in my recipes. No shame in my game. 

Recipe Ingredients

The ingredients list on this recipe is super slim. If you’ve got puff pastry, you’ve likely got everything else you need already!

Here’s what you’ll need

• puff pastry dough
• olive oil
• salt and fresh ground pepper
• smoked or sweet paprika
• shredded cheddar cheese
• FRESH grated Parmesan cheese

How to Make Puff Pastry Cheese Sticks

Prep: Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Season: Set the puff pastry dough onto a lightly floured work surface to thaw. Brush the top of the puff pastry with olive oil. Season the puff pastry with salt, pepper, and paprika. Sprinkle the top of the pastry with the cheeses and press down on the cheeses to adhere to the dough. 

Cut: Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into 10 to 12 long strips, about 1-inch wide.

Twist: Pick up a strip of dough, place it seasoned-side-down on your work surface; hold one end with one hand, and the other end with your other hand, and twist from both ends about 8 times. 

Bake: Transfer each twisted strip of dough to the previously prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Then, flip them over and continue to bake for 5 to 8 more minutes or until they’re browned and crisp. 

Serve: Remove the cheese sticks from the oven and serve. 

Tips for the Best Puff Pastry Cheese Sticks

I love these puff pastry cheese sticks just as they are, but you can use the tips below to make some modifications your family may prefer. 

• You can use different dried herbs, spices and seasonings for a new flavor. Hot take – try cinnamon and sugar for a dessert variation!
• Swap out the cheeses. Think, blue cheese, goat cheese, or pepper jack instead!
• If you roll your strips tighter and longer, they will bake up crispier and hold their shape.
• If you roll your strips wider they will be more bread-like and not as crispy.

How to Serve Puff Pastry Cheese Sticks

These Puff Pastry cheese sticks are great with your favorite dip or sauce. Obviously, a classic marinara will be great for dipping. If you’re feeling a bit fancy, dip them in a ranch dip or Buffalo chicken dip. 

They are also great on the side of any meal in place of a bread stick. If the dish has a yummy sauce, use these cheese sticks to sop it up! 

How to Store and Reheat 

Now, this is definitely one of those recipes that we very rarely have leftovers. If, by some crazy chance, one of them manages to go uneaten – I’ll usually gobble it up in the kitchen myself. Shhhhh, don’t tell.

If you do end up with leftover Puff Pastry Cheese Sticks, you can store your cheese sticks in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3-5 days. They will get more dry and crisp as they sit. 

I suggest reheating these Puff Pastry Cheese sticks in the oven only to avoid sogginess.