Goat Cheese, Blackberry and Pear Bites

Christmas is over.
When Brookie was about 18 months old, we were driving through a neighborhood in Seattle, and the Christmas lights that once lit up the houses were few and far between.  I said something about missing the lights and about Christmas being "over".  All of a sudden, a little voice from the back seat yelled "CHRISTMAS IS NOT OVER!!!"  Twenty years later, our family still laughs when we hear those words.
Well, Christmas is over, and now it's on to celebrating the New Year. 2012. Where does time go? I know I'm getting older when I say things like that. Pardon me, I'm turning 50 this year. If you stick around, I'm sure by November 2012, you will be thinking- enough already, turn 50.   Anyway.
New Years food to me is all about fun appetizers. I cooked up these little bites at an appetizer class a few weeks ago. Yummy. They are so simple, and a little froufy. Is that how you spell froufy? Apparently not since my spell check keeps highlighting it.



Goat Cheese, Blackberry and Pear Bites
adapted slightly from CulinaryCory.com
print recipe

4 oz. plain goat cheese, room temperature
*
3 tablespoons honey

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. lemon zest

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 pear, peeled and chopped to size of peas

6 oz blackberries, fresh

2 packages of Phyllo dough cups, about 30

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Cream the goat cheese, honey, nutmeg, zest, juice, and pear in a small mixing bowl until well combined.
Spoon a single tablespoon sized amount of the mixture into each Phyllo cup.
Place one blackberry in the center of each filled cup.
Place the filled cups on a baking sheet.
Bake at 350 degrees for 8 – 10 minutes, or until the mixture is slightly bubbly and the berries are just about to burst.

Tips:
-*I like using 1/2 goat cheese and 1/2 cream cheese for a more mild flavor. Two ounces of each.
-The packages of frozen Phyllo cups are found in the frozen section. If you can't find cups you could buy sheets of Phyllo, cut them into squares and form them into mini muffin cups.
-You may place the berries on top before or after baking. The baked berries change color a little and lighten up. I like them both ways. People in the class commented that the cooked berries made the bites taste more like a warm berry pie! If you like the berries to be more true to their original color, bake them less, about 6-8 minutes.

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