Pastelitos de Guayaba are a delicious dessert, popular in bakeries all over Latin America! You’ll love making these simple treats in your own kitchen!
Pastelitos de Guayaba
During Irving’s college years in Puerto Rico he worked at a bakery, Ricomini, and every time we go back to visit we make daily trips, indulging in baguettes, desserts, and my favorite— Pastelitos de Guayaba. Pastelitos are simply puff pastry stuffed with a filling— it can be meat, cheese, or in this case guava! I use guava jelly, but you could use any flavor jelly that you can find (traditionally a guava paste is used, but it’s a little trickier to find). For bonus points, sneak a little bit of dairy free cream cheese in there too and you’ll really have a treat!
Irving and I have made 4 trips to Puerto Rico in the 12 years we’ve been together—it helped that his parents lived there up until recently, so we were able to stay with them each time. We’d spend lazy days, heading to the beach in the morning, returning home to have a big feast for the main lunchtime meal, and then we’d nap for the afternoon while the daily rain pounded on the roof, splattered with claps of thunder. After our nap we’d have a light snacky dinner and head to Ricomini. There we’d pick up treats for the evening—Pastelitos de Guayava were always among our haul. Always. Then we’d walk up the street into the town square where there would be musicians playing music, lights twinkling, and little coqui frogs chirping in the night. I’d eat my pastelito, sprinkling flakes of puff pastry everywhere. What I wouldn’t do to be transported back there right now!
^^^ On a visit in 2010.
Since I can’t go on an endless trip around the world like I’d like, I’ll keep bringing the flavors of the world into my home. I love our global society, and that we can share recipes with people around the world from our own kitchens. Until my next big travel adventure this will have to tide me over.
^^^ That flakey inside!
You’ll love these simple Pastelitos de Guayaba. Seriously—they are so easy, and so delicious. Just roll out some thawed puff pastry (yep, most are accidentally vegan!), cut out your shapes, dab some jelly on, top with another piece of puff pastry, seal with aquafaba, and crimp the edges. Whatever you do, do not forget to seal them with aquafaba. It is NECESSARY! See below.
^^^ This has hot mess written all over it. Don’t forget to seal the inside edges!!!
Once you’ve got your pastelitos sealed and crimped together give them a quick vent for the steam to escape, brush the tops with aquafaba, and sprinkle on some sugar if you’d like. Pop them in the oven for 20 minutes and you’ll have a beautiful dessert finished in less than a half hour! I made these for a moms’ night in a few weeks ago and my friends couldn’t stop raving about them.
Make these Pastelitos de Guayaba for your friends—they’ll never know that they took you less than 30 minutes! And when you do, be sure to take a picture and post it on social media. Give me a tag so that I can see! {#frieddandelions // @frieddandelions}
The little pie crimper gadget used in the video can be purchased here!
Yields 10
Pastelitos de Guayaba are a delicious dessert, popular in bakeries all over Latin America! You'll love making these simple treats in your own kitchen!
10 minPrep Time
20 minCook Time
30 minTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 1 package puff pastry (I like Aussie Bakery brand)
- 1 jar of guava jelly (or other fruit jelly)
- 3 Tablespoons aquafaba (the liquid from a can of beans—trust me on this one!)
- sugar for sprinkling, optional
- dairy free cream cheese, optional
Instructions
- Allow puff pastry to thaw (you can move it from your freezer to refrigerator to allow it to thaw overnight).
- Preheat oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- On a clean floured surface roll out one sheet of puff pastry slightly (this is not entirely necessary, but doing so will probably allow you to get at least one more pastelito out of your puff pastry!)
- Cut the puff pastry into 10 rounds using a cookie cutter (optionally you can cut it into squares)
- Place each round onto prepared baking sheet.
- Place one heaping teaspoon of jelly onto the center of each puff pastry round. (If desired, you can also place a small teaspoon of cream cheese in with the jelly)
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 with the second sheet of puff pastry.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the edges of the puff pastry rounds that have the jelly on them with a bit of aquafaba one at a time. Top each one with a new round of puff pastry. Crimp the edges closed using a fork.
- Repeat with all 10 pastelitos.
- Make a small slit in the top of each pastelito with a sharp knife to allow the steam to escape during baking.
- Brush the tops of all pastelitos with more aquafaba. Sprinkle with sugar if you'd like.
- Bake in a 400° oven for 20 - 25 minutes (probably closer to 25 minutes, but check early just in case!), or until the tops are golden brown and crisp.
- Allow to cool and serve!
Notes
Save your scraps! I like to toss all of the puff pastry scraps in a bowl with the leftover aquafaba. I sprinkle on a little bit of sugar and cinnamon and gently toss to coat. Then I place the scraps onto a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake for 20 minutes at 400°. So delicious! Or you could of course just make square shapes, but then you'd miss out on all of the scraps. I vote for the scraps!
^^^ Easy as 1, 2, 3…..
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