Guava and Cheese Pastelitos

I feel as if the line between breakfast and dessert is blurred. In fact, I feel like sometimes I accidentally cross over from breakfast to dessert. But you know what? I don't mind at all.

You've heard it before - breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If I can eat dessert for "breakfast" and say I'm doing something good for my body, I'm all about it. So let me present: pastelitos.


These treats literally translate to "little pastries" (pastel=pastry, ito=little). While pastelitos have a Cuban origin, you can find them in many Latin American bakeries today. Pastelitos are often filled with sweetened cream cheese and tropical fruit pulps. However, like empanadas, pastelitos can also be made with savory fillings like beef, chicken or ham and cheese.

When I was in a specialty store in Pittsburgh the other weekend, I found some guava paste {can you think of a more tropical fruit then guava?} and felt inspired to make these. Guava paste is more solid than guava jelly, so it doesn't tend to spread and leak from the pastries when baking. However, guava paste is more difficult to find and either one will work - so go with what is easiest for you.

I used frozen puff pastry to make these because making puff pastry from scratch is very time consuming and I just wanted to eat these as soon as possible. In fact, once these came out of the oven, I felt an overwhelming urge to eat them immediately even though I knew they were molten lava in the center. Needless to say I burn my tongue, but it was well worth it. These are that good.

Guava and Cheese Pastelitos

Yield: 20 pastries | Prep time: 10 minutes | Total time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed

• 4 oz. cream cheese, softened

• 1/3 cup powdered sugar

• 1 tsp. lemon juice

• 8 oz. guava paste

• 1 egg, whisked

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a mini-muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon juice with an electric mixer until light and fluffy; set aside. Cut guava paste into thin 1-inch squares (about 1/2-inch thick); set aside.
3. Roll out puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Cut puff pastry into 2 1/2-inch squares - this should yield about 20 squares. Place squares into prepared mini-muffin cups and gently shape puff pastry into the cups. 
4. Into each puff pastry cup, place 1 guava paste square and a spoonful of the cream cheese mixture. Brush the edges of the pastries with the whisked egg. Bake pastries in a preheated oven for 22-25 minutes. Allow pastries to cool before devouring (can be served warm or at room temperature).

Nutritional information per serving (4 pastries):
Calories: 200
Total fat: 12 grams
Carbohydrates: 20 grams
Fiber: 1.5 grams
Protein: 4 grams
Weight Watchers points: 6

Enjoy and thanks for reading!