These ham and cheese foldovers are incredibly easy to make. They are ham and cheese croissant-type sandwiches that make an elegant lunch or easy snack.
We were waiting in line at Starbucks when my son pointed out their fancy looking Ham and Cheese Foldovers. I don’t remember the price, and we didn’t buy one, so I don’t know what theirs tasted like, but I knew I could make it at home. At our next stop I bought a package of puff pastry as well as some ham and swiss cheese. A few days later, I gave it a try.
Yippee! Super simple to make, delicious to eat. Plus, it feels a little fancy to be eating puff pastry for lunch. We will ignore its nutritional value for a time. A little treat every once in awhile boosts the morale.
There are a lot of very French elements in this recipe, but I can’t say that I’ve ever had anything like this in France. However, I found this video on YouTube, so my conclusion is ca existe en France. Oh la la! It’s a thing, obviously.
Starbucks uses a béchamel sauce in theirs. The lady in the video uses mustard and creme fraiche. I’m good with plain old ham an cheese.
Obviously, you can mix and match the filling however you like. Turkey and Brie would be nice as would cheese and pepperoni. I mean, really, what wouldn’t taste good wrapped up in puff pastry. In France, they serve cow brains in puff pastry, so I think the sky’s the limit.
I’m currently on a mission to find puff pastry for a cheap price. Making it yourself takes away the easy factor. The lowest I can find is $4 for a 17.5 ounce package. That makes eight of these sandwiches. The cost probably comes to about $1 a piece, after you factor in the ham, cheese, and egg. It’s not a bad price, but I’d like to get it lower. With a salad on the side, you’ve got a pretty decent lunch. But, I’m pretty sure that the men in the family could eat two of these, so let’s bulk buy the pastry, eh?
I hope you enjoy these as much as we do! Bon appetit!
- 1 17.5-oz package frozen puff pastry thawed
- 8 oz sliced ham , such as Black Forest
- 4 oz swiss cheese slices cut in half
- 1 egg beaten mixed with one tablespoon water
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Lay out a sheet of puff pastry on one of the prepared baking sheets. Cut the pastry into four squares. Repeat with the other sheet of puff pastry on the other baking sheet. You should have eight squares. Spread them out evenly on the trays.
- Divide the ham slices among the eight pieces of pastry, laying the ham diagonally across the middle of the pastry, covering two corners. Place half a slice of cheese atop each portion of ham.
- Fold over the uncovered corners of pastry, brushing them with a bit of beaten egg to help them glue together. Brush the exposed pastry with the egg.
- Bake the foldovers until golden and puffy, about 15 minutes. Serve warm.
Nutritional values are approximate and are based on 8 foldovers. Refrigerate leftovers promptly and use within 4 days.
Tastycook says
Would packs of uncooked croissant work instead if puff pastry?
Jessica Fisher says
I have never seen that in the store. Where do you get it? I imagine it would definitely work.
Tastycook says
Probably I should have called it crescent rolls – my mistake. Obviously the mind was switched off!!! I have the ham and I have the cheese – just need a quick trip to the store (maybe tomorrow) and I’ll give these a try.
Jessica Fisher says
Yes. I’m sure those would work, but they’d be smaller.
chantel says
Try Grocery Outlet for puff pastry. I have been getting the 4 pack there for $4.99. I know every Grocery Outlet is different but the NV and OR Grocery Outlets both have had them ultra cheap. (Yes, when I find them at this price, I buy a bunch for the freezer!)
Jessica Fisher says
Thanks for the tip!
Karen says
What about crescent roll dough? You know, the one in the tube in the refrigerated section!
Sandi says
That’s exactly what I was thinking. I have some in the fridge, probably past the use by date because I never make such things and cannot recall why in the world I even bought them, and this would be a great way to use them up. I can see sliding a little dijon mustard between that ham and cheese, too. Yummy!
Jessica Fisher says
Yes, Dijon would be a great touch.
Jessica Fisher says
Yes, that would work. They would be smaller, unless you put several together.
Martha Artyomenko says
It does take the easy factor out a bit, but I made a buttery roll recipe, which is super simple. Then I roll into four circles, cut each into 8 pieces and roll meat and cheese inside of them. They are smaller, so 2-3 a person for lunch, but doesn’t take much time to make.
jillbert says
I say go for homemade! It mostly takes time and you can freeze your homemade puff pastry. It will be cheaper and, if you double batch it, will make a lot. I use a recipe from King Arthur Flour Cookbook (http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/classic-puff-pastry-pate-feuillete-recipe) and it will make 18 croissants (which we use for pain au chocolat). Double it and you are in paradise!
Erica says
I usually make these with crescent dough but tried it last night with puff pastry, ham, and cheddar-Jack cheese. Big hit!
Jessica Fisher says
Yay! Glad to hear it!
LeslieT says
We made these last night for dinner and they were yummy! A few notes: If you forget to thaw your puff pastry, you can microwave it for 30-60 seconds and it’ll be just perfect. We tried dipping ours in yellow mustard, ketchup, dijon mustard, and honey mustard. I preferred the dijon, son preferred the honey mustard, daughter liked the yellow. Only things I’ll do different next time are use a little more ham, and maybe a stronger cheese, like an aged Swiss. Plan on two per person, unless you have a hungry teen boy, then 3!
Jessica Fisher says
Glad you liked them! Sounds delicious with the different mustards. And yes, you do want to eat more than one. 🙂
MgMama says
My kids love grilled ham & cheese sandwiches, and this would be a great twist to that. I’ve used crescent rolls before, but I love the puff pastry idea! However, feeding 3 growing boys … this would cost us a lot! Each of them could eat 2 easily, and thats not including, my husband, daughter or myself!
Tami says
Are these able to be made a head of time? like day before and either freeze or keep in fridge and cook next morning. ?!
Jessica Fisher says
I don’t know that you could freeze them since puff pastry is usually already frozen. But you could definitely assemble them the night before and refrigerate.
Shannon says
I would add something else like asparagus or spinach. I have
Made puff pastry and it is a lot of time. I don’t like crescent rolls
For anything – ugh
Rina Jurceka says
Would you freeze these kind of like fancy “hot pockets”?
Jessica Fisher says
You could do that. The best results would be if you made the puff pastry yourself and froze these before baking. I don’t believe you can refreeze commercial puff pastry without baking it. Freezing after baking might work, though you will lose some texture upon reheat. What I would do is next time you make a batch. Cool, chill, and freeze one of them. Then see how you like it. In this way, you won’t freeze a whole batch that you might not love.
Samantha Brabant says
Starbucks uses a bechamel sauce..definitely not necessary but I made them for a baby shower with homemade puff pastry. OMG delicious, for a treat…