How To Make Christmas Pastelitos de Guayaba
During the holiday season homemade treats are everywhere. Maybe you have on office Christmas party, a cookie exchange with friends or a family gathering and this year you would like to do something a little different. I have your answer. Christmas pastelitos de guayabe (guava pastries). What makes these Christmas pastelitos de guayaba different from regular guava pastries you ask? I am going to go the extra mile and make the dough from scratch. I can hear you now, "Forget it!"
Wait, don't leave yet. This "rough puff" dough recipe is super simple. This 5 ingredient recipe will leave you and everybody else amazed at how good it is. It's so much better than store bought puff pastry dough, I promise.
I'll be honest I did have a few failed attempts with different recipes until I found the best one to use and follow (thank you Sally's Baking Addiction) so you don't have to fail like I did and say I told you, "Forget it!"
What Is Rough Puff Pastry?
Rough puff pastry is also known as flaky pastry or quick pastry that is a thin and light unleavened (no yeast or baking powder) dough similar to puff pastry. Rough puff uses chunks of butter instead of a slab of butter when it is incorporated into the flour.
Recipe Tips
Use cold butter and ice cold water. If the butter is too warm it will break down too much and there won't be any flaky layers. The butter will mix into the flour and when it cooks you will have more of a tart not layers. (This was my first fail - the butter was too warm and my pastelitos came out like a pop tart).
Use your hands to mix together. Using your hands will prevent you from breaking down the butter too much as well. If you lose the chunks of butter you will also lose the flaky layers. (This was my fail number 2 - I used a pastry cutter and broke down the butter too much).
Time and Prep. Don't let the time scare you away from trying this rough puff pastry. Cube the butter first and keep it cold. The first step of combining the flour, butter and water will only take about 10 minutes. You can refrigerate the dough the first time for 2 - 24 hours if you need to and come back to it.
Watch and refer back to this video from
Sally's Baking Addiction.
[embed]https://youtu.be/zSnxZuxwllo[/embed]