Recipe for Quesitos Puertorriqueños

One of my favorite Puerto Rican treats is the quesitos (keh-see-tos). I would stop at bakeries only to buy these sweet treats. That is why I decided to search the internet far and wide for a recipe that tasted like the real thing but was easy to make at home. Here is how you can do it too. 

The first step is to gather all of your ingredients. 

You will need:

• 1 puff pastry sheets thawed - I used Pepperidge Farm but have also substituted with phyllo dough in the past. Phyllo dough is an extra step because you need to build the sheets before cutting and preparing the quesitos. 
• 8 ounces of cream cheese room temperature - my favorite is Philadelphia, but you can use whichever brand is your favorite. Can even be flavored cream cheese if you want to give it your own twist. 
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• Additional 1/2 cup of sugar - this one will be for the topping
• Egg white from 1 egg
• 1/4 cup of honey
• Parchment paper
• Cookie Sheet

After gathering all of your ingredients, the next step would be to preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Next, you will mix the 8 ounces of cream cheese with the cup of sugar and teaspoon of vanilla extract until creamy. I used a hand mixer to make sure it was well combined. 

Set your filling aside. After, you will separate your egg white and mix it with 1/4 cup of the honey until it foams at the top. Set this aside as well. 

Unroll your puff pastry and cut into 3x3 squares. Each sheet of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry makes 9 equal sized squares. 

After your squares are all set, pour a tablespoon of the cream cheese filling onto each one from corner to corner diagonally. Be careful not to overstuff them or your puff pastry will be too heavy and not rise in the oven. 

To roll them, you will roll one corner over the filling. Use a brush or your fingers (make sure they are clean!) add some of the egg white and honey mixture onto the corner you just folded. After, overlap the other corner and brush the entire pastry with the mixture. 

Transfer them onto your cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle them with the additional 1/2 cup of sugar you had reserved. 

Place them in the oven to bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. I baked mine for about 15 minutes before turning off the oven and letting them rest inside for the remainder 5 minutes. 

Once you remove from the oven let them cool completely to room temperature before transferring them to a plate to enjoy!

 

You can find the original recipe here. 

Share with me your quesito creations on Instagram by using the hashtag #LoveNashiBakes and tagging me @love_nashi. I'll write to you all soon. 

Love Nashi.