I had been wanting to make stuffed savory stuffed puff pastry 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.
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.
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.
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Avocado, Cream Cheese, and Salsa-Stuffed Puff Pastries
Ingredients
- 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)
- ⅓ cup cream cheese, approximately 1 teaspoon of cream cheese per pastry square
- ⅓ 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
Instructions
- 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. Pastries are best fresh, but extras will keep for up to 48 hours airtight in the refrigerator; reheat gently in micro before serving. To keep 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. Pepperidge Farm brand puff pasty is vegan, but of course read the label as ingredients can be changed or varied. Omit the eggwash and if desired, lightly wash with almond milk or soy milk.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Related Recipes
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.
I need to find some gf puff pastry. Is it the same as filo dough? I would LOVE to eat these, but I’m not about to make my own dough. Some company will come out with a gf version soon enough, I suspect.
One of the first things I ever pinned was a recipe for avocado po-tarts that look a lot like these and are made with puff pastry. Back before I was a pinterest addict.
One of the main reasons that puff pastry puffs is b/c of the gluten, I’d suspect. You can google it I’m sure to find a GF alternative dough that has similar properties; or you can just make a standard GF bread dough, roll it thin, and bake it..Or any kind of GF frozen dough, really…as long as you don’t care about the super light, puffy, fluffy, croissant-like texture, you can substitute liberally, I’d think.
Good to know!
you, my friend.. are awesome. over the holidays, i bought puff pastry and never goto to use it, as i never found the “perfect recipe” to make it with. problem totally solved!!!
I bought mine before the holidays, too, and Xmas baking took a priority and we were gone and so now was the perfect time to play around. LMK if you end up making it!
they do look really crispy! I love crunchy appetizers it’s just that I love to dip them but the best part of these puff pastries is that they are filled with avocado which I never thought about doing
Hi! These look delicious! I have yet to try a gluten-free pastry. It’s on my “to-bake” list. I’m happy to hear that your gluten-intolerance has settled down. I’m hoping that in 7+ years, mine will too. I’ve heard that some people can keep it out of their diet for seven years and all of their cells will be replaced with new ones and then possibly be able to digest gluten without the old side effects. One can hope right?!
Have a great night!
I don’t eat tons of gluten, and I pick and choose my spots. And I was strictly GF for a good 5+ years. That, probiotics, healing my gut..all helped me to tolerate it in modest amts now.
Oh, these look goooooddddd. I might make these for a little get-together I’m going to this weekend…they’re different than the usual appetizer and sounds like they have a great texture combination. Thanks for sharing!
LMK if you make them and the reactions!
So funny you said that about allergies. Mangos I’m good with but I am allergic to latex. I love avocados, but I get a nasty stomach from them.
I highly suspect latex allergy to that family, i.e. birch, mango, banana, latex, rubber. Google for more.
I learned so much when going thru various food allergy things which lasted about…a decade. All I did was read about it and am a wealth of random factoids. Lol
Total yum! Your little pastries look wonderful! I think I’m allergic to avocado, what do you recommend I could put in place of the avocado that would be fruit or vegetable?
mashed sweet potato? mashed cauli that’s been steamed, mashed grapes, mashed peanut butter…seriously..the sky’s the limit :)
if you’re allergic to avo, you may have a latex family sensitivity…do bananas, mango, or latex bother you? any redness, mouth or skin swelling after them?
I think Scott is talking about a Spanakopita! Basically it’s puff pasty with cheese and spinach stuffed in the middle. So delicious! I love puff pastry but due to gluten intolerance, can no longer enjoy such delicacies ;(
https://www.google.ca/search?client=safari&rls=10_5_8&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&hl=en&q=spanakopita&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi
you’re probably right…but for all I know, he could mean baklava. Seriously he is so NON-specific :)
These look amazing, I’m so going to try these sometimes soon.
Thank you
Tab
my-cliffnotes.blogspot.com
Yummy! These are right up my alley as I love avocado, cream cheese and mango. Put it all in a pastry shell and you got me :) You come up with the best recipes girl!
thanks, Jackie!
Hubby would most definitely love those. They’d be perfect appetizers for a party too.
I’m thinking superbowl parties. Oh wait, I hate football and won’t be hosting a party like that :) But for other people, yes. Party on!
Must make these. Now.
I think I might have to ruin the convenience aspect of them, though, and make my own puff pastry. Oh well, at least they’d still be delish!
For 2.99 for 2 sheets, i.e. $1.50 for the entire batch I made that’s shown b/c I made 1 of the 2 in the box, it was the best 1.50 I ever spent. Time is valuable$$$ too :)
yum! These pics make me drool. I just love savory puff bites! They are so versatile. I often use a stuffing similar to a vegan chilli and it is so good.
ooooh good idea w/ the chilli!
and very tasty :)
Sweet and savory both sound amazing! Sweet would have to be nutella and savory anything with avocado!
Oh. My. Yum!
Brooke
http://www.TheAnnessaFamily.com
WOW. Amazing recipe! I love how you managed to use avocado in the recipe and keep it bright and fresh–not a scrap of brown anywhere! They’re that perfect mix of fresh/light and comforting/cheesy/baked. I did. Bigtime.
And it’s vegan-friendly/vegan-adaptable as I noted in the recipe w/ tofutti cream cheese and make your own pastry or there is probably a pre-made dough of some sort in specialty groceries that’s vegan dough. And yes, it’s got all those elements of light/comfort, fresh/baked.
The greenness…ok the avos are locally grown HAND PICKED from the tree avos from here in CA (I had a giveaway for a case of them last week)…anyway, those little buggers stay green for SO long. I can slice and expose to air and 3 hrs later, they’re still green. Normally an avo would be brown or black by then!
Pepperidge Farms brand puff pastry is vegan, but it does have some hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup… Not exactly healthy, but it is vegan.