Guava Empanadas

5 from 16 votes

Made with a flaky homemade crust that surrounds a luscious cream cheese and guava paste mixture, these guava empananadas is sure to please a crowd.

Prep Time1 15

Cook Time30

Total Time1 45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: latin, Mexican

Servings: servings

Calories: 323kcal

Author: Jocelyn Delk Adams

Ingredients

For the Crust

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup very cold unsalted butter cut in cubes
1/2 cup very cold water up to 2/3 cup if you need it

For the Filling

8 oz cream cheese
21 oz guava paste Goya

For Assembly

1 large egg
2 tbsp water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

For the Crust

In a medium sized bowl, add flour, sugar and salt and whisk together to combine.
Next add your butter cubes to flour and using your pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until various sized crumbs appear.
Slowly add the cold water into the flour until a ball of dough forms. Start with 1/2 cup and add more water if you need it. Knead the dough quickly to bring it together. Don't worry if there is any flour left in the bowl.
Remove the dough from the bowl, cut into 3 or 4 sections and round into balls. Cover each ball tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30-45 minutes to rest.

To Assemble

Remove dough from the fridge and add a bit of flour to a working surface or clean counter and place dough on it.
Using a rolling pin, quickly roll dough out to about 1/4 inch thickness.
Cut out circles using a large cutter the size of about 4 ½ circumference.
Spoon 1 tablespoon of cream cheese onto the lower half of the disc and use the back of your spoon to spread it a bit. Be sure to leave about ½ an inch of space around the edges. Spoon another layer of guava paste on top of the cream cheese.
Whisk together egg and water in a small bowl.
Brush a little egg wash around the outside of the dough circle, and fold it in half so the other side comes down over the filling, creating a semicircle.
Seal each hand pie by pressing the edges of the dough together with the tines of a fork then add two tiny slits to the top of each pie.
Combine sugar and cinnamon in a separate bowl.
Brush pies with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
Place back in the refrigerator for about 20-25 minutes to firm up before baking.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Once firm, bake for about 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and puffed. (If you made super thick dough, you would have to bake for up to 40 minutes). Cool until room temperature or just warm.

Notes

NOTE 1: I only use about ½ the container of guava paste. You can enjoy the leftovers as a snack with crackers and cheese, in a sandwich, or baked into another dessert! Some stores might sell smaller containers if you’d prefer that.

NOTE 2: If you have a pre-made cinnamon sugar, go ahead and use that. Otherwise, mix ½ a cup of granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons of ground cinnamon.

Nutrition