Porto’s Cheese Rolls Recipe

Porto’s Bakery certainly doesn’t have any shortage of delicious, buttery pastries and bread.

It’s a traditional puff pastry filled with their signature cheese cream filling which is then topped off with a sprinkle of sugar.

It’s a truly delicious pastry treat that your family and guests will love you for.

It’s not complicated to make either and only takes just around 30 minutes to cook.

So today we’re sharing with you the recipe so you can make it at home yourself!

How to make Porto’s Cheese Rolls

For the most part, we just need simple ingredients.

The main thing you will need to source is a pre-prepared puff pastry, it doesn’t matter the brand – or you can also make it yourself.

It will also be helpful if you have a piping bag to fill the pastries with.

Ingredients:

(12 rolls)

For the roll:

• 1 pre-prepared puff pastry
• 8oz of cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup of powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons of raw sugar
• 2 tablespoons of melted butter (optional)

For the egg wash:

• 1 egg white
• 2 tablespoons of water

Instructions:

First off, we’ll prepare the cream cheese before baking.

If you don’t have a piping bag available to fill the pastry a good alternative is to use a plastic bag, or sandwich bag, and just cut the corner off.

We don’t need to worry about being neat with it as all the filling will be hidden inside the pastry anyway.

Step 1:

Before you do anything start preheating your oven to 400°F.

Step 2:

Beginning with the puff pastry, lightly flour your countertop and roll the pastry out.

It should be roughly 12” by 12”. Cut this into three sections so that each roll of the pastry is 4” by 12”.

Step 3:

Add your cream cheese to a mixing bowl and whisk (ideally using an electric mixer, but it can also be done by hand) until it’s creamy and smooth.

Step 4:

To this mixture add the eggs, vanilla, powdered sugar, and all-purpose flour.

Mix all these together thoroughly until it’s smooth again ensuring there are no lumps.

Step 5:

Transfer this filling to a piping bag (or sandwich bag) for the time being.

Step 6:

In a separate small mixing bowl, add 1 egg white and 2 tablespoons of water.

Mix them together thoroughly to create the egg wash.

Step 7:

Back to the piping bag.

Firstly, pipe a reasonably thick line of the cream cheese filling down the center of each puff pastry square.

Step 8:

Next, we need to fold the pastry over itself, encasing the cream cheese inside.

The best way to approach this is by doing it in thirds as it creates a nice visual look after it’s been cooked, and it also is less prone to squeezing the filling out.

Do this for the first 2 thirds of the pastry leaving the last one unfolded.

Step 9:

Brush the egg wash onto the last fold and use it to cover the other 2 folds and cream cheese.

Finish the rest with the egg wash and cut into 4 slices diagonally.

Step 10:

Place all of the rolls onto a lightly greased cooking sheet and bake at 400°F for 15-25 minutes, depending on the oven.

Keep checking it every 5 minutes to see how golden it is, don’t be afraid to take it out early if it looks done!

Step 11:

Once they have finished baking you can sprinkle some sugar on top to taste and you’re done! If you want you can also put a little melted butter on top too.

Ingredient substitutions

While the pasties are pretty simple things by design, there are definitely some good substitutions you can make to change and adapt the flavor, keeping things a bit more interesting.

1. Cottage Cheese

Cottage Cheese is surprisingly similar to cream cheese, but it’s a little bit lower in fat and has a chunkier texture.

It makes a great filling that doesn’t affect the taste of the rolls too much, and also offers that more substantial and textured filling.

2. Maple Syrup

If you’re out of vanilla extract or just looking for something a little different in flavor, maple syrup is many people’s go-to substitute.

They share a similar sweet aroma and both have a mellow and non-abrasive flavor so can slip into the dish without overpowering it.

What to serve with Porto’s Cheese Rolls

Cheese rolls can easily make a meal all by themselves, but as a sweet breakfast or lunch meal/dessert, there are many things people will often order alongside it to satisfy their cravings.

Coffee

If you’re grabbing a quick pastry in the morning before work, nothing complements it better quite like a cup of black coffee.

Not only does the unsweetened coffee flavor go perfectly with the sweet, sugar topped roll, but it’ll also wake you up for the day ahead!

Salty crackers

Oftentimes when we eat a pastry like this we are not trying to make a well-balanced meal that covers all our protein and vitamin needs.

So some nice savory salty crackers pair perfectly with the roll as a great snacking side.

Sure it’s carb-heavy, but it makes a great treat!

Chocolate Sundae

While in the spirit of enjoying a sweet kind of dessert, the nice sugary creaminess of an ice cream Sundae works great with the pastry.

How to reheat Porto’s Cheese Rolls

Cheese rolls are great for making in bulk and storing for later on.

They keep quite well and (depending on how you reheat them) will retain all of their delicious flavor and texture.

How to reheat Porto’s Cheese Rolls in a pot

This is a less common way of reheating a Cheese Roll as we essentially need to fry something that’s baked, but it does work, just expect your roll to get a little bit more crispy!

Start by heating a little (and we mean a little) bit of oil in the pan and place your pastry in, heat 1 side for 3-4 minutes, flip it over and cook for the same duration on the other side.

How to reheat Porto’s Cheese Rolls in a microwave

Arrange the cheese rolls onto a microwave-safe plate and in order to prevent them from drying out too much cover them with a slightly damp (and clean) kitchen towel and microwave for 30-45 seconds to adequately warm them through.

How to reheat Porto’s Cheese Rolls in the oven

Preheat the oven to 350°F, it’s a good idea to coat the top with a little melted butter to help the pastry reheat but it’s not completely necessary.

Bake until they are warmed through which should take 7-10 minutes.

How to reheat Porto’s Cheese Rolls in an air fryer

Preheat to 210°F and place the cheese rolls in the frying basket, cook for 4-5 minutes and they should be good to go!

How to store Porto’s Cheese Rolls

If you eat them within 1-2 days it’s better not to refrigerate them as the moisture from the cold air can soften the pastry.

But if you need to store them longer then absolutely either refrigerate or freeze them.

Store in the fridge

Make sure they have first cooled to room temperature and either wrap them tightly in plastic wrap or place them in an airtight container.

They will last a little longer this way and retain much of that nice texture. But be sure to let them come back up to room temperature before reheating and they will taste much more delicious!

Once refrigerated they will last for 6-7 days.

Store in the freezer

For freezing it’s best to place them either in a sealable freezer bag, ensuring you press all the air out beforehand, or alternatively any sealed plastic container can also work.

Once frozen they will keep for 6-9 months.

Ideal if you want to make them in bulk and use some later!