Guava pastelitos (guava pastry) made with puff pastry and guava paste. These sweet guava puffs look so fancy but are so easy! Enjoy these heavenly, flaky bites for breakfast, snack or dessert.

Guava Pastelitos

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a Puerto Rican dessert, so I thought I’d share this quick recipe for pastelitos de guayaba (guava pastry). Only two ingredients (if you don’t count the dusting sugar) and they’re so delicious!

All you need is a box of frozen puff pastry and guava paste. The puff pastry you can get in the grocery’s freezer aisle. It’s usually by the frozen pie crusts and desserts.

This stuff is heaven. As in layers upon layers of buttery, flaky dough that puffs up when baking.

You can find guava paste in the Hispanic aisle or at a Hispanic market. It comes wrapped in plastic or in a tin. To those who have never tried guava paste, the taste reminds me of raspberry or strawberry jam, but deeper.

Guava paste is a thick, chewy, sticky concentration of guava fruit, similar to quince if you’re familiar with that. You can definitely eat it plain, but it’s pretty sweet, so it’s usually paired with cheese or another ingredient to cut the sugar.

You can whip these up for an easy breakfast pastry or serve them for dessert. I recommend them after a meal like Pernil (juicy roasted pork) and Puerto Rican Beans or a comforting dish of Puerto Rican Chicken Stew (pollo guisado). But you don’t have to limit yourself to Puerto Rican cuisine – they’re tasty anytime!

If you’ve never worked with puff pastry before, you’ll need to let it thaw first. On one sheet of pastry you’ll lay pieces of guava paste.

Then top with the other sheet of puff pastry. To make it easy, use a little pastry wheel or pizza cutter instead of a knife.

If you cut them into thirds, you’ll get nine perfectly square guava pastelitos that are a pretty decent size. I like my food dainty, so I like to cut them by fours – twelve pieces total.

They’ll be rectangular in shape, but I think they’re the perfect size. Finish with powdered sugar for a festive look!

Guava Pastelitos

Yield: 9

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Guava pastelitos (guava pastry) made with puff pastry and guava paste. These sweet guava puffs look so fancy but are so easy! Enjoy these heavenly, flaky bites for breakfast, snack or dessert.

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Ingredients

• 1 box (1 lb) frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
• 9 tablespoons guava paste
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Layout 1 sheet of puff pastry. Evenly dot the pastry with 9 tablespoons of guava paste in rows – 3 across and 3 down.

Cover the guava with the other sheet of pastry. Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut the pastry into 9 squares like tic-tac-toe lines.

Transfer pastries to a baking sheet and bake at 400°F for 15-20 minutes, until puffed and golden.

Remove pastries to wire rack to cool and dust with powdered sugar, if desired.

Notes

Pastelitos de guayaba can be made in any size. If cutting into 12 pieces, use about a teaspoon of guava paste for each puff.

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