Quesitos

• servings: 12 small quesitos
• active time: 15 minutes
• total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

1¼ puff pastry dough, thawed (it normally comes in two sheets)

8 oz cream cheese, cut into eight ½” x 5” long batons

½ cup sugar

½ cup honey / light corn syrup

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup cold water

1 egg yolk

1 tbsp cold water

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line 1-2 sheet pans (depending on size) with parchment paper and set aside. Whisk together the egg yolk and water in a small bowl to prepare the egg-wash.

Flour your countertop and use a rolling pin to roll out one of your puff pastry sheets into a 12” wide x 15” long rectangle. Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces, each about 4” wide by 7” long.

Place a baton of cream cheese on one side of a puff pastry sheet, then spoon ½ tsp of the sugar alongside the cream cheese (facing the interior of the rectangle). Mold the cream cheese baton to have the right length depending on your rectangles as needed. Brush on some egg wash along the edges of the short sides, then fold them over towards the center of the rectangle (covering a bit of the cream cheese batons on each end). Brush egg-wash on the long side opposite to the cream cheese, then roll from the cream cheese side to create a cylindrical pastry. Rock the pastry a little to fully seal the long-edge flap. Transfer to baking sheet.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the other puff pastry sheet, and all the rectangles and cream cheese batons.

Once all of your quesitos have been wrapped and are on the baking sheet, give them another brushing of egg-wash. Poke a vent into the top-side of the quesitos to prevent the pastry from bursting in the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until they are a deep golden color and look a little dry.

While the quesitos are baking, we’ll make our glaze. Add the honey / light corn syrup, ¼ cup water, and ¼ cup sugar to a small saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar, then allow it to boil for 1 minute before removing from the stove. It should have a thin consistency like real maple syrup. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Once the pastries are finished baking, allow them to cool on a wire rack until warm but comfortable to touch. Brush 2 layers of the sugar glaze onto each quesito, with about a minute pause in between applying the two layers. Serve alongside coffee or tea and enjoy.

Notes

A popular cream cheese pastry in Puerto Rico. The cream cheese is wrapped and baked in puff pastry, then covered in a simple syrup glaze. These only take a few ingredients, but are very satisfying to eat. These are most commonly served alongside tea or coffee to balance out the sweetness.