Just like I mentioned in my Pastelitos De Carne post, whenever there was is a party, Cuban pastries are near by! These pastelitos de guayaba y queso (guava and cheese pastries) are another staple. These pastries are common to many different cultures, including Puerto Rico & Colombia. Some feature cheese, some don’t, some are dusted with powdered sugar, some are glazed with simple syrup. I combined a little bit of everything in this recipe, and made it into a quick recipe that is perfect for a crowd! You can also make these individually by cutting out puff pastry squares or circles and sealing them together, but I like this method, it’s a lot less labor intensive.
Side note: Guava paste is NOT the same as guava jelly! Make sure you get the paste, the jelly will be too runny for this purpose.
1 box of puff pastry
8 oz guava paste
8 oz cream cheese
1 egg + 1 tablespoon water, beaten
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
Powdered sugar for dusting
Preheat your oven to 400F.
Lay out one sheet of puff pastry on a baking sheet that’s lined with parchment paper.
Evenly divide the cream cheese into 15 pieces and distribute them onto the sheet of puff pastry.
Do the same with the guava paste.
Brush the uncovered portions of the pastry with egg wash, this will help seal the dough when we lay the second sheet on top.
Using your fingers, or in my case, a plastic pastry cutter, press the dough down around the mounds of filling. Don’t forget to seal the edges too.
Brush the top with egg wash, then use a small knife to poke a hole on the top of each mound.
Sprinkle the tablespoon of granulated sugar on top of the dough.
Bake on the top rack of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden brown.
Allow the pastry to cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting.
Using a pizza cutter or a knife, cut the pastry into 15 rectangles.
Lastly, if desired, dust these babies with a light coating of powdered sugar. Serve with a cup of coffee and a smile! 🙂
Check out that gooey deliciousness, these are perfect Pastelitos de guayaba y queso!
Pastelitos De Guayaba Y Queso (Guava and Cheese Puff Pastries)
Ingredients
- 1 box of puff pastry
- 8 oz guava paste
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 egg + 1 tablespoon water beaten
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
-
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
-
Lay out one sheet of puff pastry on a baking sheet that’s lined with parchment paper.
-
Evenly divide the cream cheese into 15 pieces and distribute them onto the sheet of puff pastry. Do the same with the guava paste and lay the guava paste pieces on top of each mound of cream cheese.
-
Brush the uncovered portions of the pastry with egg wash, this will help seal the dough when we lay the second sheet on top.
-
Using your fingers to press the dough down around the mounds of filling. Don’t forget to seal the edges too.
-
Brush the top with egg wash, then use a small knife to poke a hole on the top of each mound.
-
Sprinkle the tablespoon of granulated sugar on top of the dough.
-
Bake on the top rack of the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden brown.
-
Allow the pastry to cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting.
-
Using a pizza cutter or a knife, cut the pastry into 15 rectangles.
-
Lastly, if desired, dust the pastelitos with a light coating of powdered sugar.
20 Responses
Because this have cheese do you have to save in refrigerator?
Yes
Whether or not pastelillos de guayaba can include cheese caused some serious conflict between me, a Puerto Rican from NYC and my bf, who was born and raised in. PR, lol. We compromised and made three versions: guava only, guava with cheese, guava with vegan cream cheese. Thank you for this easily adaptable recipe!
From a Puerto Rican dude , I just want to say thank you very much. Growing up in NYC area I use have these all the time when I was kid. Now I can make it for myself and my kids, they love them. Merry Christmas!
My sister-in law sent me guava paste from Puerto Rico. I saw this recipe and gave it a try ! These were delicious little crunchy puffs of air so light and crispy at the same time ! Thank you for sharing this recipe
How many degrees?
400 degrees F.
I’m not sure what I did wrong, but the whole sheet puffed up like one huge pastelito!
In other words, there isn’t individual pieces to cut.
What happened??
You didn’t do anything wrong. Allow it to cool and cut into squares.
Do you buy one box or two boxes of the pastry?
Just one. One box has two sheets of puff pastry.
Omg I jut made these and I’m not a cooker or baker lol yes weird being I’m Dominican and we are taught to cook at like 5 but these came out sooooo good!!
Glad you enjoyed them Nataly!
These were delicious☺
Do these come out thick or thin? How can I make them thin? Would you recommend a different type of pastry sheets?
You can roll out the puff pastry to make it not puff up so much and use super thin slices of guava and cream cheese
Made these today for breakfast and they were fantastic. I am originally from South Florida where Cuban food is plentiful. I moved to South Georgia a few years ago and this is one of the things that I have been seriously missing. This made my stomach very happy. If my stomach could have cried for joy, it would have because it reminded me of home(South Florida). This recipe is a keeper.
Thanks Shantay! So happy to hear this!!