Mini Pastries with Phyllo Dough and Feta (Video)
I prepare these mini pastries with phyllo dough and feta at least once a month. The recipe is inspired from a national Bulgarian dish called banitsa. I have to tell you that if I have a final meal wish it would be banitsa. Every Bulgarian knows how to make it. It is the most popular recipe in Bulgaria. We serve it for breakfast lunch or dinner. We also prepare it for special occasions. The most common recipe is simply alternating layers of phyllo dough and a mixture of eggs, yogurt, feta and butter in a big round pan. The baked pastry has the crunchiest crust, and it is soft and pillowy on the inside. In our family we love the end pieces that have more crust. That is the main reason why I made these mini pastries. We wanted more buttery, crunchy goodness.
Bulgarians traditionally make this pastry for New Year’s Day and put some fortunes written on a piece of paper on top or between its layers. Each person picks a piece of the banitsa and looks for his fortune. It is believed that those fortunes are going to come true during the new year. Some common fortunes are “love,” “health”, “happiness” and so on. Sometimes there is also a hidden coin between the phyllo dough layers. Whoever finds it will be the most prosperous of all.
Helpful tips
You can find phyllo dough at the big grocery stores. It is usually in the freezer section right next to the puff pastry or pie crusts.
There is no perfect way to tear the phyllo dough. Just tear pieces and put them in the muffin tin nest.
When you are adding the filling don’t add too much or too little. Adding too much means that your pastry is in a pool of liquid. Adding too little means that the pastry is dry, and you barely have any of the egg mixture between the layers.
This recipe makes 24 mini pastries. If you don’t have two muffin tins, you can reuse your muffin pan once the first batch is cooked and the pan is cool to the touch.
Mini Pastries with Phyllo Dough and Feta
Ingredients
- 5 large eggs
- 1 lb feta
- ¼ cup melted butter oil works too
- ½ cup Plain or Greek yogurt whole
- ½ cup carbonated water club soda
- 1 pack phyllo dough
- nonstick spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F and grease two muffin pans with nonstick spray.
- Crack the eggs in a deep bowl and whisk them with a fork. Then crumble the feta and add it to the same bowl. Melt the butter and add it to the bowl with the eggs and feta. Lastly add the yogurt and the carbonated water. Stir all the ingredients together.
- Tear pieces of the phyllo dough and place them in each muffin opening until the muffin nests are halfway full.
- Then add a tablespoon of the egg and feta mixture on top. Read the tips in the blog post and look at the video.
- Repeat those steps until the muffin openings are 2/3 full on both muffin pans.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastries are fully baked. Cool them off slightly on a cooling rack before serving.
Video
