Candied Bacon, Pear, and Goat Cheese Tartlets

Instructions

Click to mark complete

1. - Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and place an oven-safe cooling rack on top.
2. - Place the bacon pieces on top of the wire rack on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle evenly with brown sugar.
3. - Bake for 15 minutes, then check for doneness. If some pieces are browning faster than others, rotate pieces. Continue baking for 5-15 more minutes, checking every few minutes to see if the bacon has reached your desired crispness (it will need to be done enough to be able to crumble). Set aside to cool, while keeping the oven set to 375°F.
4. - Spray cups of a 24-cup mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
5. - Roll out puff pastry sheet on a large, lightly floured cutting board into a horizontal rectangle. Use a pizza slicer to cut the pastry into 4 rows horizontally and 6 rows vertically so that you have 24 (2 1/2-inch) squares. Press dough squares into each mini muffin cup and prick with the tines of a fork.
6. - Divide the crumbled goat cheese into each pastry cup, being careful to keep the cheese inside the cup (any cheese touching the muffin pan may burn or leave unsightly browned edges to the outside of the tartlets). Divide the diced pear over the top of the cheese in the cups.
7. - Bake in the preheated oven until the pastry is puffed up and the corners are golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes.
8. - Cool in the pans on a wire rack for 3 minutes.
9. - While the tartlets are cooling, crumble the candied bacon pieces and finely chop. Top the tartlets with the bacon and transfer to a serving platter. Serve drizzled with honey.