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!
3 Ingredient Vegan Pastelitos de Guayaba
Ingredients
- 1 package puff pastry (many are vegan, I like Aussie Bakery brand)
- 1 jar of guava jelly or other fruit jelly
- 3 Tablespoons aquafaba (the liquid from a can of beans)
- 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
^^^ Easy as 1, 2, 3…..
I just happened upon this recipe in 2020 LOL but i wanted to ask, could you use vegan butter instead of aquafaba?
To brush the top and seal the edges? Sure! Or even just a brush of soy milk is great!
Thank you for your guava-licious contribution to my Fairy Tea Party Round up!
HI! i am wondering what other puff pastry is vegan and could work for this? I like in California and i can only get stuff from Sprouts, Whole Foods or grocery stores. Any idea? Thanks!
Sorry Susy, just seeing this message now! Yes, I use a brand from Whole Foods called “Aussie Baking” and it’s delicious! And Pepperidge Farm is accidentally vegan and is pretty widely available.
I eas going to make these for m6 vegan coworker with the Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, but she said that the mono and diglycerides ingredients weren’t vegan 🙁
Pepperidge Farm puff pastry IS vegan! Healthy, no, but vegan, yes! I also like the brand Aussie Baking, which I can get at Whole Foods and my local health food co-op.
I just learned that Pepperidge Farm puff pastry is vegan!
Check them out at their web site.
Don’t you love finding accidentally vegan items!?!
Can’t wait to try this. This has always been my favorite pastry when I visit Puerto Rico. My family knows about my love of guava and they always have a box of these fresh from the local bakery when I arrive. Thanks for posting this simple recipe, now I can make my own!
Loving your recipe, website, and new video- great music! Wishing you the best 🙂
Myra! Hi friend! I’ve missed you! Thanks for the compliments—let’s get together soon and make Pastelitos!!!
Oh my, these look heavenly! I’ve never heard of these before. I love learning about yummy foods from other cultures. The guava jelly sounds insanely good too 🙂
My husband’s family is from PR too! Just went to Ricomini in December, yum!! I was looking for a treat to make for Superbowl and I think these are a winner!!! I’ve never heard of aquafaba!! Sounds so weird to use that but I trust you!!!! Thanks for the recipe!! 🙂
Oh, that’s awesome! My husband’s family lived in Mayagüez! We’ve been to a couple of the Ricomini locations though—everything is so good! And yes, I know, aquafaba sounds totally weird, but it really works and doesn’t have any flavor. It’s kind of like magic! Plus it’s already in your pantry 🙂
So simple yet delicious looking! I need to get my hands on some guava to try this!
Yes! You know, you can make them with any flavor jelly you like. We tried 4 different kinds tonight and all were delicious!
I would love these! Those flaky layers! Great pics too!
These look so good and they are so easy! I am loving that little pie making contraption you have too! I need one of those in my life.
I’ve never heard of these before but they look delicious! I love how easy they are.
Wow, Sarah, I can’t believe these only take 3 ingredients to make. They look awesome, and I’m loving the video!
Oh, my gosh. These look SO DELICIOUS, and great job with the video!!