Guava and cream cheese pastries give your dessert a tropical flair

Living in South Florida for many years, I was able to have fresh guava hand pies whenever I wanted. Moving across the country to a different region made enjoying my regular guava and cheese pastries difficult and almost impossible.

Guava, which is native to Mexico and Central and South America, is a fruit that often has a lovely pink flesh, with sweet pulp and a very exotic flavor. While it’s an ingredient in so many different things, I wanted to use guava in a fun and easy handheld dessert similar to what I enjoyed back home.

But it can be hard to find fresh guava when you live in certain areas of the United States, and in that case, guava paste comes in as a wonderful alternative. The paste is in solid form, making it easy to slice or melt down in a pot with warm water. The flavor is similar to strawberries or even mild pears and is perfectly sweet and unique.

These hand pies are a great and easy dessert (thanks to premade puff pastry) when you want to try something different or if you are like me and truly love the flavor of guava. Make these ahead of time, and freeze them. Nothing compares to enjoying a homemade hand pie whenever you get a crazy sweet tooth that needs satisfying.

Tropical guava and cream cheese hand pies recipe

Exotic, sweet guava paste and cream cheese hand pies are an easy way to bring tropical flavors to the dessert table.

Yields 8

Prep time: 20 minutes | Bake time: 25 minutes | Inactive time: 5 minutes | Total time 50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
• 1 cup cream cheese, softened
• 8 slices guava paste
• 1 whole egg
• 2 tablespoons water

Directions:

1. Heat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper, and set it aside.
2. Using a pastry cutter or sharp knife, cut each sheet of puff pastry dough in half and then in half again (you should have 8 pieces total).
3. Carefully move each piece of pastry dough to the baking sheet, spacing them about 1 inch apart.
4. Using a tablespoon, drop a spoonful of cream cheese onto 1 side of each slice of pastry dough, and then top with a slice of guava paste.
5. Gently fold the other side of dough over the top of the cream cheese and guava paste, and press the sides down with a fork to seal the pies. Repeat until all the hand pies are made.
6. To a small bowl, add the egg and water, and mix well.
7. Use a pastry brush to brush the tops of the dough with the egg wash.
8. Bake the hand pies for 22 to 25 minutes or until the tops are a deep, golden brown.
9. Remove from the oven, and allow to cool for 5 minutes (the insides will be very hot).
10. Serve warm or at room temperature, and store any leftover hand pies in an airtight container for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator.

For tons of great recipes, like our I page on Facebook.

More easy hand pie recipes

Chickpea sweet potato hand pies
Chocolate ricotta pear hand pies
Honey barbecue chicken hand pies