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Golden crescent cups filled with ground beef, chopped mushrooms and melted cheddar

Beef and Mushroom Crescent Cups

Eight crescent pastry cups filled with ground beef, chopped mushrooms and cream cheese, with melted cheese on top. Cook the filling in a skillet before baking the cups in a standard muffin pan.
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Resting time 5 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Appetizer
Servings 8 cups

Ingredients
  

The dough

  • 1 can refrigerated crescent roll dough 8 oz / 225 g; 8 triangles

Beef and mushroom filling

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • ½ small yellow onion finely diced
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • ½ lb lean ground beef 85/15 or 90/10 blend
  • 1 cup fresh mushrooms cremini or white button, finely chopped
  • ½ tsp kosher salt
  • ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • ¼ cup cream cheese softened

Cheese topping

  • ½ cup shredded cheese cheddar, mozzarella, or gruyere blend

Instructions
 

  • Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Lightly grease 8 wells of a standard muffin pan. Separate the crescent dough into 8 triangles and press one into each prepared well, covering the bottom and sides. Pinch any tears closed and leave the pointed edges at the rim.
    Unbaked crescent dough triangles pressed into standard muffin cups
  • Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion for 2 to 3 minutes, then stir in the garlic for about 30 seconds. Add the ground beef and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, breaking it into small crumbles, until fully browned. Drain any pooled fat.
    Browned ground beef crumbles with finely diced onion in a skillet
  • Stir in the finely chopped mushrooms. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the liquid they release has cooked away. Keep cooking a little longer if there is still liquid pooled in the skillet.
    Finely chopped mushrooms mixed with browned ground beef in a skillet
  • Add the salt, pepper, smoked paprika and thyme. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the softened cream cheese until melted and evenly mixed through the filling. Remove the skillet from the heat.
    Ground beef and chopped mushrooms lightly coated with melted cream cheese
  • Divide the warm beef and mushroom filling evenly among the 8 dough cups. Leave the pastry edges visible. Sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly over the tops.
    Raw crescent cups with beef and mushroom filling and shredded cheddar
  • Bake on the center oven rack for 12 to 15 minutes, until the pastry is golden and baked through and the cheese is melted. If the pastry points brown before the bases are done, cover the pan loosely with foil and continue baking.
    Baked beef and mushroom crescent cups with golden pastry and melted cheddar
  • Rest the cups in the pan for 5 minutes. Gently loosen any stuck edges with a small silicone spatula and lift the cups out. The bottoms should be set and baked through. If a bottom still looks raw, return the cups to the pan and bake a little longer, covering the tops loosely with foil if needed. Serve warm.
    Warm beef and mushroom crescent cups with browned pastry bases on an ivory plate

Notes

The cooking time includes the skillet filling and 12 to 15 minutes of baking. Allow about 50 minutes in all, including the 5-minute rest. Pan and oven differences may change the baking time.
Use a standard muffin pan and grease 8 wells. A 12-cup pan works; leave the extra wells empty. Cook away the mushroom liquid, drain any pooled beef fat, and keep the dough thickness fairly even for baked-through bases.
Cheddar, mozzarella or a Gruyère blend can be used for the topping. The yield is 8 individual pastry cups. Double the ingredients for 16 cups, using two pans and cooking the filling in a larger skillet or in batches.