Averie Cooks » Avocado, Cream Cheese, and Salsa-Stuffed Puff Pastries

Avocado, Cream Cheese, and Salsa-Stuffed Puff Pastries

by Averie Sunshine on January 18, 2012

I had been wanting to make stuffed savory stuffed puff pastries for awhile.

Probably for the past, oh, seven years, give or take.

My sister is the queen of puffed pastry appetizers but this is one of those cooking projects that just never happened for me.

Until now.

When I saw Joy’s bite-sized baked brie and then Dawn’s Raspberry Cheddar Hand Pies (although her pastry is from scratch) that sealed the deal.

Along with a shipment of locally-grown avocados that all decided to ripen on the same day and I wanted to put them to a creative use.

So I got busy puffin’

The assembly line

After baking: Warm, cheesy, melted avocado and salsa-filled bites.

Crispy edges

Scott likes brown corners.

I don’t.

I am all about the melty middles.

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Avocado, Cream Cheese, and Salsa-Stuffed Puff Pastries (with a vegan option)

Makes approximately 9 puffs, depending on size of squares and how thin dough is rolled

1 large sheet puffed pastry, thawed (I used Trader Joe’s brand, look in your grocer’s freezer case)

1 ripe avocado, halved and mashed (approximately 1 tablespoon of avocado per pastry square)

1/3 cup cream cheese (approximately 1 teaspoon of cream cheese per pastry square)

1/3 cup salsa (approximately 1 teaspoon of salsa per pastry square. I used a combination of Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde and Trader Joe’s Mango Red Pepper Chutney)

salt and pepper, sprinkled to taste

1 egg, beaten

Preheat oven to 400F and prepare two baking sheets with either parchment paper, Silpat liners, or spray them well with cooking spray.

Thaw one large square of puffed pastry for about 10 minutes. Flour your countertop or working surface and roll out the pastry square as thinly as possible. With a pizza cutter or knife, slice the puffed pastry into approximately 2-inch by 2-inch squares. From the one thinly rolled large sheet of frozen puffed pastry, I created 18 squares.

On half the squares (9 squares for me), place a dollop of avocado, then cream cheese, then salsa, season with salt and pepper. Use the remaining squares as the lids and place one lid over the filling mounds. Seal the pastry packages by pressing the edges with a fork, taking care to seal the edges well, pressing the fork in repeatedly, so no filling escapes during baking.

In a small bowl, beat an egg with a fork, and apply an eggwash to each of the pastry packages. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until desired browning and puffing has occurred. Watch them closely after 10 minutes in case your oven is hotter or your brand of puffed pastry cooks faster.

Remove from the oven and serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator and if desired, reheat leftovers in the microwave for approximately 45 seconds before serving. Or, store extras in an airtight container on the countertop for a day or so, using common sense because of the cream cheese filling, and reheating in the microwave if desired.

To keep this vegan, use vegan cream cheese such as Tofutti and there are many recipes on the internet for ‘vegan puffed pastry’ that you can make at home. Omit the eggwash and if desired, lightly wash with almond milk or soy milk.

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This is what I used to create the puffy packages.

They were a huge hit with the family and if you’ve never worked with puff pastry before, I assure you, it’s very easy. You don’t even technically need to roll it out if you’re pressed for time. You could just slice it with a knife and insert the filling of your choice.

Scott kept saying they reminded him of something he ate all the time at various Bar Mitzvahs he attended growing up. He said he ate something like this every weekend for about two years as a kid.

I doubt think the mothers of his childhood friends in suburban Chicago in the 70s were puffing up locally-grown fuerte avocados with salsa verde and mango chutney, but I could be wrong.

I told him, “There’s an egg wash on these. I think that may be what you’re tasting that makes them seem familiar.” The man adores eggs in any form, and any time I can use an egg in something, he’s happy.

And he said, “Oh, I like how the egg made them get brown on the top and gave it such a good flavor,” which is as descriptive he ever gets.

Normally when I ask, “Well, what do you think,” I’ll get a It’s Great, Babe. And that’s that.

But then he asked for a third puff. Going back for thirds is always a good sign.

What’s not to love about squishy warm avocado, with melted cream cheese, flavored with two kinds of salsa to give the bites just a touch of sweet from the mango salsa and a kick from the green salsa verde.

All topped off with an egg wash inside a warm, doughy, gluten-ey, fluffy and puffy flaky-layered little package.

This screams both comfort food

and a way to impress your spouse in under a half hour.

They also impressed the almost-five year old.

I stored the extra couple that were left from the batch of 9 (after Scott went back for thirds) in an air-tight container on the countertop and fed them to Skylar for breakfast the next morning.

If savory cheesy baked goods are your thing, I suggest Baked Savory Cream Cheese & Herb Donuts

I have my Avocado Recipes consolidated if those are of interest.

There’s Microwave Pepperjack Tofu with Salsa that you can make in 5 minutes in the micro if you have salsa or various condiment odds and ends that are taking up valuable refrigerator space.

And if you really just want something sweet with cream cheese,

Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies with Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting will hit the spot.

Because I prefer cream cheese in frosting form, over savory form, always.

Have you ever made anything with puff pastry? What was it?

I have many more ideas from savory to sweet; from little bites and puffy packages to logs that have been rolled and sliced. Things are about to get puffy.

Would you stuff your puff with something savory or sweet?

I am a sweets girl all the way and have so many things I want to stuff into them. Marshmallows come to mind, immediately.

And for savory, I would like to make a crab and cream cheese filling or a salmon salad with cream cheese type of filling, but those seem a little fancier, party appetizer food. Guess I need to throw a party or pretend and make the average Tuesday night fancy.