• Thaw out the frozen phyllo dough overnight in the fridge.
• Prepare a cloth napkin that's large enough to completely cover the phyllo dough (at least 12 x 16 inches), by soaking it in room temperature water. Then wring out the excess and keep it aside until needed.
  1 lb phyllo dough package
• Carefully unravel the phyllo dough on your countertop or a tray.
• Place the damp napkin over the dough and set it aside. Make sure the dough is always covered with a damp napkin or towel to prevent it from drying out.

Yield of shells

• Four sheets of phyllo layered on top (12 x 16 inches) can be used to cut out 12 - 15 circles to make that many phyllo shells.
• With one phyllo pastry dough package, you should be able to get 48 - 66 phyllo shells.
• You can make as many or as little as you need. Place the remaining dough sheets in the original plastic packaging and wrap it with plastic wrap. It can be stored in the fridge for a couple days.

Layering the phyllo dough

• Carefully remove 1 sheet of phyllo and place it on your countertop.
• Carefully brush the phyllo sheet with melted butter. Gently but firmly hold down the phyllo with one hand while brushing it with butter to prevent tearing. If the butter becomes thicker, or hardens, melt it in the microwave again, as it will be easier to brush on.
  226 g unsalted butter
• Lay the second sheet of dough on top. Try to align the edges of the two sheets to make sure the whole surface is evenly layered.
• Repeat this process (brush with butter, then layer the next phyllo pastry sheet) about 2 more times. You should end up with 4 sheets of phyllo layered with melted butter. You can do another layer if you like, but I find four sheets is more than enough.
• Repeat this whole process with the remaining phyllo dough. If you started with 18 total sheets of dough, there'll be 2 sheets remaining (after using up 16 sheets). These two sheets can be buttered and folded in half, and then layered together with melted butter to make a 4 sheet phyllo stack that is half the size.

Cutting the phyllo dough

• Make sure to have the phyllo dough stacks under a damp napkin, and have another damp napkin to keep the pastry circles under as well.
• Use a sharp round cookie cutter that's between 4.5 - 5.5 inches in diameter. Mine is about 4.75 - 5 inches.
• Cut out circles from the phyllo dough sheet stacks. To prevent the dough from tearing, slowly rotate the cookie cutter clockwise and counter clockwise, while gently but firmly pressing it down on the dough. This will help you cleanly cut through the dough without tearing.
• Repeat until you have cut enough circles through the whole sheet of dough. If any of the circles have loose dough sheets, stick them back together using a bit of melted butter. I'm able to cut about 15 circles from one stack.
• Make sure to keep the dough circles under a damp napkin to prevent them from drying.
• Repeat with the remaining phyllo dough stacks as well.

Shaping phyllo cups

• Preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C.
• Brush the mini muffin pan wells with butter. Take each phyllo dough circle and make mini accordion-style folds along the edge (see pictures in the post for reference). Once you’ve done this, the cut phyllo circle will form a loose cup shape, with folded lines along the side.
  226 g unsalted butter
• Use your fingers or a tart tamper to gently push down the circle into the well. Press it down to the bottom so that the pastry sits flush with the bottom of the muffin pan well.
• Then use your fingers to flatten the sides against the walls of the well, using the fold creases to fit the pastry in the well.
• Repeat to fill the mini muffin pan. Keep any unused pastries covered with a damp towel.
• Prick the bottom of each shell in the muffin pan with a fork.

Baking the phyllo shells

• Place the muffin pan on a half sheet pan, so that it's easier to remove the pan from the oven.
• Bake this in the preheated oven for about 15 - 20 minutes, or until the shells turn a golden brown in color. The time can vary, depending on your oven and the baking pan, so keep an eye on them.
• Once baked, remove from the oven and let the phyllo cups cool slightly. Then while it’s still warm, remove the cups from the muffin pan and let them cool completely on a wire rack.
• Repeat with the remaining phyllo dough circles.