These crispy baked vegan puff pastry straws “pizza sticks or twists” are the perfect party food appetizers or movie night snacks that are super fun and easy to make! Choose between tomato bell pepper cheese or creamy spinach feta filling – both versions are dairy-free, cheesy, and simply delicious! This recipe can be made with pizza dough too!
Quick and Easy Vegan Puff Pastry Pizza Straws Recipe
Roll out the puff pastry sheet, slap your fillings on, twist, and bake! These vegan puff pastry cheese sticks will be your go-to snack for parties, game days, and movie nights. I used classic pizza flavors to make mine, and they are marvelous!
The vegan tomato bell pepper cheese and creamy spinach feta fillings ooze out of the flaky, buttery twisted pastry. It is exactly like enjoying pizza, but these are lighter, crunchier, and make less mess to enjoy! However, feel free to use homemade pizza dough instead of puff pastry to make pizza sticks!
Savory or sweet puff pastry twists?
The best part? You can use whatever fillings you like to make them. You can keep it classic and simple with tomatoes, vegan cheese, and tofu bacon bits, or go extra ordinary with vegan carrot lox or chickpea tuna salad! Furthermore, you can turn this savory snack into sweet treats by using sweet fillings like vegan Nutella, fruit and berry jams, custard, apple, cinnamon and sugar, or peanut butter!
Is puff pastry vegan?
While homemade puff pastry is traditionally made with butter, most brands that you will find in supermarkets are dairy-free and naturally vegan.
Since the process of making puff pastry from scratch can be a lot of work, like making vegan croissants, it’s way easier when you just buy it. Then it takes you no time to make vegan asparagus puff pastry bundles for brunch, lunch or dinner or strawberry puff pastry danish for dessert.
Ingredients Needed
- Puff pastry: I used 2 sheets for this recipe, one for each filling flavor.
For the Tomato Cheese Filling
- Tomato sauce: to be used as the base for this savory filling. You can also use strained tomatoes as an alternative.
- Ajvar: this is a popular Balkan condiment made primarily of sweet bell peppers and eggplants. It will add a savory and mildly spicy flavor to the filling. You can try making my homemade Serbian-style Ajvar too!
- Garlic: adds the best flavor ever!
- Italian herbs: This is usually a mix of dried oregano, basil, thyme, marjoram, and rosemary. If you do not have this, you can use a combination of any of the above herbs you have at hand.
- Salt & pepper: to taste.
- Vegan grated cheese: melty cheeses like vegan mozzarella, dairy-free cheddar, or burger cheese alternatives are best!
For the Spinach Feta Filling
- Olive oil: or other oil you prefer.
- Onion & Garlic: for flavor.
- Spinach: I used fresh spinach leaves, however, you can also use frozen spinach. Simply thaw it and squeeze out the excess liquid.
- Vegan feta: If you do not have this, you can use vegan cream cheese or homemade cashew ricotta or tofu feta instead.
- Salt & pepper: to taste.
Toppings (optional)
- Soy cream or soy milk: brushed on the puff pastry sticks before baking to give them a nice golden brown color. Feel free to try other dairy-free cream/milk as a substitute.
- Poppy seeds & sesame seeds: or other seeds for sprinkling.
How to make Puff Pastry Straws
As always, I recommend checking out these step-by-step instructions and the recipe video first. Then you’ll find the full recipe with exact measurements in the recipe card below!
Step 1: Make Tomato Bell Pepper Cheese Pizza Sticks
Mix together all ingredients for the tomato bell pepper filling. Next, roll out a sheet of puff pastry, spread the filling over one half and sprinkle with vegan grated cheese. Then fold the other side of the puff pastry over the filling. Cut into strips, about 0.8-Inch (2 cm) wide, and twist them with your hands.
Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, leaving space between each. Optionally brush with a little soy cream or milk and sprinkle with seeds. Bake at 392 °F (200 °C) for about 15 minutes until golden brown and puffed.
Step 2: Make Spinach Feta Pizza Sticks
Start by sautéing the onions and garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. then transfer to a blender. Add vegan feta and blend until creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Roll out the other sheet of puff pastry and spread the spinach cream over one half of the pastry. Then fold, twist and bake until crispy as described above.
Tips when Making Vegan Puff Pastry Straws
- It is important to keep your puff pastry chilled at all times. If you leave it at room temperature and it becomes too warm, you will find it challenging to work with it as is softens. Furthermore, it will not puff as much when baking.
- Place the vegan pizza straws in a single layer on the baking sheet. Make sure to leave enough space in between each stick, so they bake properly.
- Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut the puff pastry sheet cleanly into strips. I sliced them to be 0.8-Inch (2 cm) wide and rolled them quite tight for a crispier and flakier outcome.
How to store leftover puff pastry twists?
They are so good, you would seldom have leftovers! But in case you do, just place them in an airtight container and keep them at room temperature in a cool, dry area of your kitchen or in the refrigerator. Make sure that you consume them within 3 to 5 days and reheat in the oven before eating. They won’t be as crisp but should still be delicious!
Vegan Dips for Pizza Sticks
Place your vegan puff pastry cheese sticks on a serving plate with your preferred dips on the side! They are perfect with herb dip, tzatziki, hummus, guacamole, cashew dip, aioli, or salsa.
These Vegan Puff Pastry Pizza Straws are:
- Quick and easy to make
- Dairy-free
- Eggless
- Customizable
- Flavorful
- Perfect for snacking and sharing
- Certified crowd favorites!
- So delicious!
- A great alternative to pizza bread or pizza pockets!
More vegan recipes for crispy finger food snacks
- Crispy Baked Tofu Nuggets
- Indian Samosas
- Burrito Samosas
- Sweet Potato Falafel
- Spring Rolls
- Turkish Borek
- Barbeque Cauliflower Wings
- Polenta Fries
- Chili Cheese Fries
- Vegan Fish Nuggets
- Cauliflower Nuggets “Popcorn-style”
If you try this vegan puff pastry cheese sticks recipe, feel free to leave me a comment and a star rating! And if you take a photo of your crispy pizza snack and share it on Instagram, please tag me @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka because I love seeing your remakes! Enjoy! 🙂
Vegan Puff Pastry Straws „Pizza Twists“
Author:Ingredients
- 2 sheets of puff pastry 1 sheet for each filling flavor
Tomato Cheese Filling
- ¼ cup tomato sauce or strained tomatoes
- 2.5 tbsp ajvar homemade or store-bought
- 1 clove of garlic pressed
- 1 tsp Italian herbs mix of dried oregano, basil, thyme, marjoram, and rosemary
- salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup vegan grated cheese or vegan mozzarella
Spinach Feta Filling
- 1 tsp olive oil
- ½ onion chopped
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- 3.5 oz fresh spinach or frozen thawed & squeezed
- 3.5 oz vegan feta or vegan cream cheese or cashew ricotta
- salt and pepper to taste
Topping (optional)
- 2-3 tbsp soy cream or soy milk or other dairy-free cream/milk, for brushing
- 1-2 tsp poppy seeds
- 1-2 tsp sesame seeds
Instructions
*Note: Check out the recipe video + step-by-step instructions above!
Tomato Cheese Sticks
- Add tomato sauce, ajvar and Italian herbs in a small bowl. Press in the garlic clove and mix everything together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Roll out a sheet of puff pastry and spread one half with the tomato bell pepper paste. Sprinkle with vegan grated cheese, then fold the other half of the puff pastry over the filling, pressing down gently to seal. Cut into strips, about 0.8-Inch (2 cm) wide, and twist them with your hands as shown in the step-by-step photos or video above.
- Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving some space between each. Optionally brush with a little soy cream or milk and sprinkle with poppy seeds and sesame seeds. Bake in the preheated oven at 392 °F (200 °C) for about 15 minutes until golden brown and puffed.
Spinach Feta Sticks
- Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onions and garlic for 2-3 minutes. Then add the spinach and sauté for further 1-2 minutes until wilted.
- Blend the spinach mixture with vegan feta until creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Roll out the other sheet of puff pastry and spread one half with the spinach cream. Fold the other half of the puff pastry over the filling and twist as described above. Brush with soy cream or milk and sprinkle with seeds as desired.
- Bake the sticks in the preheated oven at 392 °F (200 °C) for about 15 minutes until golden brown and crispy.
Notes
- You can also use frozen spinach. Simply thaw it and squeeze out the excess liquid.
- You can also make the puff pastry sticks with sweet fillings, e.g. with vegan Nutella, jam, custard, apples, cinnamon and sugar, etc.
- More tips and information about the recipe, including storing instructions and more filling ideas, are mentioned in the text above!
IF YOU HAVE PINTEREST, YOU CAN FIND ME HERE AND PIN THE FOLLOWING PICTURE, IF YOU LIKE! 🙂
©Bianca Zapatka | All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post for the recipe. More info here. Thank you for supporting biancazapatka.com!
Disclosure for affiliate links with asterisk (*):This page may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. You can find more information here.
Leave a Reply