Pastelitos de Dulce de Leche

By
Marian Blazes
Marian Blazes
Marian Blazes is a freelance writer and recipe developer with a passion for South American food. She wrote a cookbook focusing on the cuisine of Brazil.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 12/26/22
Pastelitos de dulce de leche recipe

The Spruce

Prep: 90 mins
Cook: 15 mins
Total: 105 mins
Servings: 8 servings
Yield: 25 cookies

These little bites of pastry filled with dulce de leche are a special treat. We like to make pastelitos de dulce de leche when we have leftover scraps of pastry dough. Especially after rolling out a pie crust. But they are so delicious you will want to make a whole batch of pastry dough dedicated only to these little cookies. It's difficult to keep the dulce de leche from leaking out during baking, but don't worry about it. When the leaking dulce de leche pools around the pastries in the oven, it gives them a delicious candy crunch on the bottom.

Frozen puff pastry dough works well for these pastries too.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4 cups flour

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

  • 1/2 cup (4 ounces) chilled unsalted butter

  • 4 ounces chilled cream cheese

  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

  • 1/2 cup dulce de leche

  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

  • 1 large egg yolk

  • 1 teaspoon water

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Gather the ingredients
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  2. Add the flour, salt, and sugar to the bowl of a food processor and pulse briefly.

    Flour in food processor
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  3. Add the butter, cut into 1 tablespoon pieces and the cream cheese (also cut into pieces) to the bowl and pulse several times, just until mixture starts to come together.

    Add butter
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  4. Add the vanilla and pulse twice more briefly.

    Add vanilla
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  5. Turn dough mixture out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Bring dough together into a disc, wrap with plastic, and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

    Turn dough out
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  6. Roll out dough on a floured surface, to a thickness of about 1/4 to 1/8 inches and cut into 2-inch squares with a sharp knife.

    Score dough
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  7. Place a small dab of dulce de leche (a little less than a teaspoon) on half of the squares.

    Add dulce de leche
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  8. To cover the squares with the dulce de leche, wet one finger and run it around the edge of the pastry dough with the dulce de leche.

    Cover with dulce de leche
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  9. Top it with another square of pastry, and pinch edges together, extending them slightly as you do.

    Cover with dough
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  10. Repeat until all of the pastries have "tops."

    Repeat
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  11. Take a sharp knife and trim the edges of the pastries slightly, so that they are perfect squares.

    Cut edges
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  12. Chill pastries well, at least 1 hour.

  13. Preheat oven to 350 F.

  14. Mix cinnamon with the brown sugar.

    Mix cinnamon
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  15. Whisk the egg yolk with a teaspoon of water.

    Whisk the egg yolk
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  16. Press the edges of the chilled pastries together with the tines of a fork, being careful not to pierce the filling.

    Make edges with fork
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  17. Brush the pastries with egg yolk and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.

    Brush egg yolk
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  18. Bake pastries for 10 to 12 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.

    Bake pastries
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  19. Serve and enjoy!

Recipe Variation

Raw cane sugar or turbinado sugar is a great alternative to brown sugar because it has large granules which sparkle more.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
323 Calories
19g Fat
33g Carbs
5g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 8
Amount per serving
Calories 323
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 19g 25%
Saturated Fat 11g 57%
Cholesterol 97mg 32%
Sodium 215mg 9%
Total Carbohydrate 33g 12%
Dietary Fiber 1g 2%
Total Sugars 16g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 1mg 3%
Calcium 82mg 6%
Iron 1mg 7%
Potassium 130mg 3%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)