Easy Za'atar & Gruyère Swirls
Prep. Time:
20 mins
Baking Time:
20 mins
Total Time:
40 mins
Serves:
12 pastries
Ingredient Notes
Za'atar: A Middle Eastern blend of dried thyme, oregano, sumac, and sesame seeds. Available in most supermarkets now, or Middle Eastern grocers. Brands vary - some are more lemony (sumac-heavy), others more herby.
Gruyère: The nutty, slightly sweet flavour is ideal here. Comté or Emmental work as substitutes. Avoid pre-grated - it doesn't melt as well.
All-butter puff pastry: Jus-Rol makes an all-butter version. It's noticeably better than the standard one. Worth seeking out.
Why This Works
The original is a genuine 2-day project: making enriched dough, creating a butter block, four separate lamination turns with 30-minute rests between each, overnight chilling, proofing... It's proper Bake Off semi-final territory.
Store-bought puff pastry gives you 90% of the flaky, buttery result. You lose the slight enrichment of Danish dough (it's a bit more bread-like), but gain back about 6 hours of your life.
The filling is unchanged - that's where the actual flavour comes from.
Ingredients
Instructions
1. Make the fillings
Mix za'atar with olive oil to form a loose paste.
In a separate bowl, combine grated Gruyère, cream cheese, egg yolk, garlic granules, and pepper. Mix until combined. Don't add salt - the cheese is salty enough.
2. Assemble
Unroll the pastry on its baking paper. Spread the za'atar paste evenly over the entire surface, leaving a 1cm border along one long edge.
Dollop the cheese mixture over the za'atar and spread roughly - it doesn't need to be perfect.
3. Roll and slice
Starting from the long edge opposite the border, roll the pastry tightly into a log. Brush the border with a little beaten egg and press to seal.
Using a sharp knife, cut into 12 equal pieces (about 2cm each).
4. Bake
Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
Place swirls cut-side up on a lined baking tray, spacing 3cm apart. Brush tops with beaten egg. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and a little flaky salt.
Bake 18-22 minutes until deep golden and the cheese is bubbling. Cool 5 minutes before serving - they're best warm.
