Why do I want to show you how to make a cheese puff stuffed with phyllo? Because there is a story behind it. 
With a happy-go-lucky tone in my walk and in my voice, one early Saturday morning (about 4 years ago) I decided that I was going to make my new husband one of his favorite baked treats – Gibanica/Banica (Bah-knee-tsa), or a Cheese Puff made with eggs, cheese, and milk. And I also thought that it would be “sooo cute” (remember those words) if I made banica in individual sized portions. I quickly did the math and jotted down a recipe that would enable me to put a phyllo pastry inside the filling and have enough of that filling to fill all twelve muffin cups.
As I was working on the filling, my husband walked in. With a seriously puzzled look on his face he asked me “what the heck” I was doing. I explained my idea of having individual-sized banica and he responded with a snotty remark, “Oh so you’ve decided that your idea of an individual-sized banica is the right idea and the right amount for everyone else?” (Did I just hear fighting words?!?) So then I told him that I just thought it was a cute idea. “CUTE!?! Do I look like I should be eating something that’s cute?” (He’s about 6’4 tall, 200-and some lbs.). By this point I was annoyed and I responded with my own fighting words; “Are you PMS-ing??? – Pissy Man Syndrome – You’re pissin’ me off – go play some soccer!”
He left and I went back into my kitchen, got my ingredients ready, and started to work.
Moral of the story? If you can describe something as ‘cute’, don’t serve it to your husband/boyfriend. Or, if you are going to serve it to him, do not label the treat as ‘cute’ in front of him.
But, it didn’t bother him to “kill” six of these in one sitting. Go figure.
Phyllo-Stuffed Cheese Puffs
You will need:
- 1/2 roll of frozen Phyllo Dough, sliced crosswise, slices should be about 1/2 inch thick
- 1 cup of plain yogurt
- 1/2 cup of oil
- 1 cup club soda
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup feta cheese
- Sesame Seeds
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Slice up the frozen phyllo dough.
- In a large, deep mixing bowl whisk in the yogurt, oil, club soda, baking powder and eggs.
- Add in the feta cheese and mix until well combined.
- Lastly, stir in the cut up phyllo and mix it all together.
- Pour the batter into a muffin pan, sprinkle the tops with sesame seeds, and bake it for around 20 to 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
- Makes 12 “so cute”, individual-sized cheese puffs.
What a pretty little cheesy morsel! Yum!
Oh, and if he doesn’t want to eat them, then that’s just more for you! His loss!
Well, they ARE cute!! I think we’ve all had conversations along those lines with our spouses…’why is it so small’….’what good is a mini cupcake?’…they just don’t understand the thrill of eating 3 mini cupcakes just to say “I ate 3 cupcakes”…they don’t get it at all! These look fantastic….I love feta cheese….mmmmmm….
Yum! Please tell me a serving size is five puffs. Great recipe and great photos. We really love your fabulous food creations.
Your friends at Food Frenzy
this looks delicious and yummy looking puffs
Oh yummy, these look awesome! And your story is too funny haha I am such a sucker for things that are mini and “cute” and my husband always makes fun of me! They just don’t get it
I do love your stories. And yes, they are cute but that’s just giving bate to the other half! I’m sure we’ve got many stories to swap
Love your “PMS-ing”. If I could count the number of times…..
I’m rolling on the floor laughing
))) PMS-ing 
)))))
these little cheese puffs are so cute. I love the idea of using cut puff pastry inside. Thanks for sharing Kate.
Have a wonderful Sunday afternoon
You got me at the title, but when I came down to the end of the page, I was drooling!!! Yeah, with this sorts of food portions should NOT be limited!!! Lovley story
hahaha, yes, cute is the word of the day
. lovely cheesy bites!
Cute or not, they sound fantastic.
Wow, these look incredible!!! I love individual sized everything, so cute or not, I’m a huge fan of your version!!!!
oh, these are cute. i love the touch with the sesame seeds on top. looks great. i have a new site now, http://veggietestkitchen.com.
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these look amazing. “pmsing” – so gonna be using that saying!!!
This sounds fantastic Kate..I never had gibanica this way, and they do look cute! Awesome photos, and great story behind the cuteness:))))
I think when my husband’s not sure of my food plans and says so, I usually tell him that saying “thank-you” that I am feeding him well would suffice. So cute is gone – they are “enticements”… “bedazlers”…. and they are indeed all of that – just scrumptious. He’s lucky you didn’t serve him just one and eat the rest yourself!
They are indeed cute! You know what I at times buy cutlery because they look CUTE and Arvind can never understand why do i need something that is cute
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Haha love your story and these cheese puffs look amazing!!
lol, men! what do they know? =P
these sound amazing… i haven’t worked with phyllo dough yet, but this looks easy enough for me to attempt! =)
They are indeed very cute! Husbands…what do you do.
I think these are simply adorable!
The BF and I have rules about the kitchen. He doesn’t really come in unless I ask him too and I don’t often tell him what Im making because he always have some retort before he’s even tried it. Now I sneak all kinds of things in (cute and others) that he loves until he asks questions…
This is indeed a brilliant idea! They look so wonderful.
Oh, BOYS! Gah! I think they are adorable
this is the most adorable story. I love it. men whats wrong with them? I know men don’t want something cute unless its their beautiful wife/girlfriend but either way they’ll be a human garbage can to anything tasty. Some people need to keep their opinion till after they eat! haha
These look so amazing. I’m gonna keep these for later
Funny story
And these look so good. They sound pretty easy to make too!
What a lovely idea to make such CUTE
banica-muffins, Kate!!! Sounds easy and very delicious!!!
Ok, no cute, no cute! (But they are sooooooooo cute!) Hahahahaha! These look SUPER tasty Kate, I totally see why your husband ate 6 in one sitting!
Very “cute”
Great Nosh Idea!
They are cute, and I am sure they taste great! What a silly, silly man
These little puffs look so adorable and appetizing. I love how you added yogurt and club soda to them as well. What clever ideas! Thanks for sharing!
Love this post and recipe! I won’t call them ‘cute’ when I serve them to my husband. Thank you!
This recipe is beyond brilliant. LOVE IT!
Cute or not these look delicious! I never would have thought to make cheese puffs like this, thanks!
Oh man … if Poppa Trix said something like that while I was making something for him, I would have promptly dumped it all in the trash. Seriously! He’s lucky you’ll put up with that – tell him I said so! ; ) You should make miniature versions of everything for a month just to teach him a lesson, don’t you think? They are very CUTE and look DELICIOUS!
hehehe
I actually did want to throw it in the garbage, but because I wanted to eat them, I decided against that idea 
You had me at cheese and pastry! Yum:)
Ha! Yes, describe it as cheesy and eggy, for sure. ‘Cute’ is good if it’s an appetizer. And only an appetizer. And if there are lots of other things, too.
But these do look like cheesy and eggy deliciousness! Just not cute eggy and cheesy deliciousness!
Such delicious little bites! Love the the idea! 5 star foodie junior & I will definitely be making these!
LOL. You had me laughin’ about your little “cute” story re: hubby. :-p It’s even more hilarious that he ate 6 of them! Seriously, though, they definitely turned out looking “cute” and so delicious looking. Congrats!
This looks absolutely delicious. I cannot wait to try! I’ll be picking some phyllo dough up at the grocery store this weekend!
I was cracking up during the story but you had me laughing out loud with PMSing. I love it and will be using it on my man. These look fantastic. I have some left over phyllo and can’t wait to give these a try. Thanks!