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
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1 1/4 cups flour
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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1 teaspoon granulated sugar
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1/2 cup (4 ounces) chilled unsalted butter
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4 ounces chilled cream cheese
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1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
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1/2 cup dulce de leche
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1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
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1 large egg yolk
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1 teaspoon water
Steps to Make It
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Gather the ingredients.
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Add the flour, salt, and sugar to the bowl of a food processor and pulse briefly.
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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.
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Add the vanilla and pulse twice more briefly.
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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.
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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.
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Place a small dab of dulce de leche (a little less than a teaspoon) on half of the squares.
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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.
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Top it with another square of pastry, and pinch edges together, extending them slightly as you do.
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Repeat until all of the pastries have "tops."
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Take a sharp knife and trim the edges of the pastries slightly, so that they are perfect squares.
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Chill pastries well, at least 1 hour.
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Preheat oven to 350 F.
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Mix cinnamon with the brown sugar.
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Whisk the egg yolk with a teaspoon of water.
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Press the edges of the chilled pastries together with the tines of a fork, being careful not to pierce the filling.
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Brush the pastries with egg yolk and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar.
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Bake pastries for 10 to 12 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.
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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) | |
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323 | Calories |
19g | Fat |
33g | Carbs |
5g | Protein |
Nutrition Facts | |
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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. |
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