Flaky-on-the-outside and creamy-on-the-inside quesitos from Puerto Rico. These are one of the easiest desserts that you can make using puff pastry. Just 5 ingredients + 20 minutes!
Quesitos in Spanish means “little cheese”. And this is exactly what this recipe is: little rolls of puff pastry filled with sweetened cream cheese. They are delicious with a cup of cafe con leche in the morning. Yes, I love a sweet breakfast!
You can add guava/guayaba and get an explosion of tropical flavor with the creaminess of cream cheese. This would give you a similar result to my guava pastries (pastelitos de guayaba).
The filling of a quesito is a mix of softened cream cheese with powdered sugar and vanilla. Simple but powerful combinations.
How to fold quesitos puertorriqueños?
Quesitos are pretty easy to fold because the filling is dense and can hold its shape easily.
I start cutting the dough pastry sheet into squares of about 4 inches per side ( you can make bigger or smaller quesitos, this is just the standard size). I managed to get 9 squares from my puff pastry sheet.
Then I add 2 tsp of filling in the center of my puff pastry squares and I fold one of the tips over the filling. Then I grab the diagonal tip and fold it over. This time I stretch a bit the tip to try to get almost all the way to the back of the quesito. That’s it! A folded quesito.
If you are having a hard time getting your tips folded, you can wet the tip to make it extra sticky.
How to serve quesitos boricuas?
I prefer my puff pastry desserts fresh out of the oven. They are at their peak of flakiness and I love to eat them while warm.
These quesitos can be served simple or with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.
I highly suggest you prepare just the amount of quesitos that you are going to eat because they are not as good when reheated.
Alternatively, you can keep the filling ready and just assemble and bake when you need them. Fresh quesitos every time!
