Goat Cheese & Honey Phyllo Triangles – Thin phyllo pastry is filled with goat cheese and honey, baked, and served with a honey syrup for dipping.
Today’s recipe is inspired by a dessert I tried not too long ago. It was super simple – goat cheese wrapped in phyllo, baked, and then served with a drizzle of honey syrup. Despite being incredibly simple, it blew us away! The creamy, tangy goat cheese and the sweet honey just complimented each other so well. And whenever you have crispy pastry in the mix, you know you can’t go wrong.
I was so taken with the dessert that I knew I had to make my own version at home. However, this version is more like an appetizer than a dessert since it can be eaten with you hands and uses the honey syrup like a dipping sauce.
I present to you my Goat Cheese & Honey Phyllo Triangles!
What is phyllo?
Phyllo is a type of very thin dough that is very popular in Greek cuisine. You may be most familiar with it through popular dishes like baklava and spanakopita. The dough is so thin that it looks like paper. But once you spread on some oil or butter, layer the sheets on top of each other, and bake them, they turn incredibly crispy and flaky.
How are these phyllo triangles made?
I’ve always been intimidated to work with phyllo dough. It’s not something I saw a lot in my baking adventures so my only exposure to it was through cooking shows. In those shows, it looks so complicated to work with so I always stayed away.
However, phyllo can be bought already made (usually sold frozen) and then thawed for use. Once it’s ready to use, making these goat cheese & honey phyllo triangles is quite simple.
Goat Cheese Filling
The goat cheese filling is only three ingredients:
- Goat cheese (of course)
- Honey (for some sweetness)
- Salt (to balance out the flavors)
These three ingredients are mixed together and then chilled before using. Chilling the filling ensures that most of it will stay in the phyllo when when we bake the triangles.
Assembling the triangles
Once the filling is chilled, its time to assemble the triangles. To do this, grab once sheet of phyllo dough and spread on the melted butter. Then, fold the phyllo in half and spread on some more melted butter. Finally, fold the sheet again and spread on more melted butter. Layering the phyllo with melted butter ensures the pastry will get nice and flaky when baked.
Once all the folding is complete, you will end up with a 4-inch strip of phyllo dough. The filling is then added to the bottom corner of the strip and then folded over into a triangle, much like how you would fold a flag.
Baking the triangles
Once all the triangles are formed, they’re baked in a hot oven until they get golden brown, about 15 minutes. Then, they’re cooled slightly and served with a yummy honey syrup that we make by heating water and honey together.
Tips & Tricks
- Make sure you keep the unused phyllo sheets covered so they don’t dry out.
- For easy mixing, make sure the goat cheese is room temperature.
- Phyllo is super delicate so just make sure you have patience when working with it.
- The filling will probably ooze out while baking – don’t worry about it. The finished triangles will still have plenty of filling left when they are finished baking.
Goat Cheese & Honey Phyllo Triangles
Ingredients
- 8 ounces goat cheese softened
- ½ cup honey divided
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 12 sheets rectangle phyllo dough
- 4 ounces butter salted, melted
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- Mix goat cheese, 1/4 cup of honey, and salt together until combined. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up the cheese again.
- Once cheese is firmed, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Remove phyllo sheets from refrigerator. Remove one sheet to work with and cover the stack of the rest with a sheet of plastic wrap. Brush half of the one sheet with melted butter. Take the short end of the sheet and fold in half to meet the other short end. Brush with butter and then fold again. You should have a rectangle strip with a width of 4 inches. Brush with butter again.
- Place ½ tablespoon of goat cheese mixture in the bottom corner of the strip. Fold corner over the cheese to make a triangle. Don't press down or else the filling will spill out. Continue to fold triangle up (like your folding a flag) until a little extra piece of phyllo is remaining. Brush the triangle and seal the extra piece of dough and place on prepared baking sheet, seal side down. Repeat with 11 other pieces of phyllo. Make sure triangles are separated at least 1 inch apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake triangles in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Some filling may escape but that's to be expected.
- While the triangles bake, combine remaining 1/4 cup honey and 1/4 cup water in a small sauce pan. Place over medium low heat to dissolve the honey into the water. Once dissolved, remove from heat and place in small bowl for dipping the triangles.
- Remove baked triangles from oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before serving.
Gloria says
One of the best appetizers that guests devour every time. I always have goat cheese in the fridge. These are super easy to make too.
Marvia Robinson says
Love your recipe and your website! Your photos are beautiful
Beekite says
Thanks for another great looking recipe, your recipes are always so delicious!
Keira Ball says
Looks definitely delicious. The combination is great.
Richard Tunner says
So great! My family really love it. Definitely make it again and again. Thank you!
Sharon says
Yay that’s great to hear!
Jason says
Made this last night. It was a hit!. Yep, it was that good! Thank you so much
Susan Dubose says
Just Wonderful….Served last night to guest and everyone and I mean everyone (including the men) ask for the recipe. This is a keeper. Thanks for sharing.
Long says
Hi Sharon, Thank you so much. I followed the recipe exactly and it was so yummy! Everyone loved this. We will definitely be making this again soon!
Olivia Ava says
umm looks yummy. Will try it once. Thanks for all instructions.
Naiby says
Phyllo paste always looked so intimidating for me, but you make it sound so easy to make. I’ll make it my next project to bake with it.
Jacqueline Debono says
You had me at goat cheese! I just love it and often eat it with honey! Love the idea of these phyllo triangles. Going to try them out over the holidays!
Farrukh Aziz says
Goat cheese is my favorite and any thing made with is always yes for me! This sounds so delicious and am definitely gonna make them this weekend for get together, Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe! 🙂
Cindy says
I love the combination of goat cheese and honey. It’s even better wrapped in phyllo dough! We’ll be making these for a fancy new years eve at home.
Laura says
Yummy! That looks absolutely delicious! Love goat cheese combined with honey, such a beautiful combination. Trying this recipe very soon!
Jamie says
You can’t go wrong with this combination of flavors! I’m adding this to my menu for next week! They would make great finger food!
Loreto Nardelli says
This sounds amazing. I love honey and goat cheese! They work so well together! Then add in those light, crisp tasty layers of philo pastry. I am in foodie heaven! I gott make this soon!
Sam says
Yum! This will be perfect for our NYE party of just me and hubby haha. The recipe is so easy to follow. Can’t wait to try it!
Tracy says
Oh these are totally going on our NYE party at home, list. We’re going to make all of the delicious appetizers like we’re hosting a party, but just us. Can’t wait to make them!
Amanda says
What a perfect holiday appetizer. Sounds delicious!
Nathan says
This looks incredible! The balance between the cheese and the honey sounds delicious, can’t wait to try this one out!
Tara says
Yum! All of my favorite flavors! These phyllo triangles are beautiful. Love that honey drizzle.
Kelli says
You can never go wrong with a goat cheese and honey combo! Plus they look so pretty. Going on my list to make for New Years Eve!
Katherine says
Oh wow – little triangles full of amazingness!
Toni says
This is so amazing!! Everyone at my house loved it!
Cassie says
Yum! Such a good idea! I can’t wait to try this!
Marina says
These look good. I normally do a vegan version but my husband would love these x
Deborah Brooks says
MMM warm goat cheese is so good. I love the addition of the honey on top. Looking forward to trying them out
Helen Little says
Oh my gosh, I am drooling, what a perfect festive food!
Heather says
I’ve actually never had goat cheese before, but this sounds amazing. I love phyllo dough!