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.
Talk about a jaw- dropper for football party! I wll take a dozen, please :)
Thanks :)
Thanks for this idea. I love all of these ingredients but would never think to put them in puff pastry! I must try.
Oh my, these look and sound AMAZING. I may have started drooling when looking at those pictures – some of my favourite flavours right there! They’d definitely make ideal party bites too :)
I absolutely love puff pastry and I will often make my own veggi sausage rolls but not much else. I really love the taste of warm avocado and being small size they are good for the little ones. I will definately get into the kitchen and give them a go. thanks for the inspiration!
This is one of the most creative recipes that I have seen in a long time! Great idea; I can’t wait to try!
thanks so much – I appreciate the compliment!
These get a huge standing ovation!
I just got the Stevia giveaway! Thank you! Now excuse me while I spend the night in the kitchen!
Glad you got it!
love the new profile pic too.
oh my gosh girl i just luuurve you.
avocado in the middle? yes please.
i am such an avocado junkie.
and thank you for the shout out
love you XOXO!
Glad you saw this one because I thought that you, the former CA girl, probably likes her avos. Your raspberry hand pies sound so good…raspberry trumps avo for me. These were my husband’s idea of fabulous though.
Thanks for the compliments on my profile pic. I appreciate it! :)
xo
mmmm those avocado crisp look so good!!! Those would be amazing for a summer party!
Gosh darn, Averie, you are so evil!!! I’ve been completely craving something like this all day today, but I can’t because of the liquid diet I’m on (wisdom teeth…)…Ugh!
Can’t wait until I feel better so I can make these!!!
well they’re super soft…maybe you could gnaw on one? :)
Oh…oh….oh my goodness. Averie, this is one of the best things you’ve ever posted. First of all, I love puff pastry. Like, I could eat it all by itself. Crispy golden buttery flaky salty YES. And then you go and add avocado. And cream cheese. Two of the world’s most perfect foods. And the salsa? Another level Averie, another level.
I HAVE to make these and eat a million asap.
come to think of it, this is YOUR perfect food isn’t it. The avo, the salty/savory, salsa, doughy bready…this is so you…I wish I could make them for you!
I don’t know if they have anything gluten-free that would be like puff pastry, but either way I’ve never tried anything with it. But you know me, I’d totally go for a sweet filling if given the option. Yum!
I told another commenter (Katie) above you about gluten, why I don’t know if it would work, but you could try something else…check out that comment if you have a sec.
Those look like little pockets of heaven!
You’re killin’ me here….as I eat Trader Joe’s Vodka Pasta Sauce over Spaghetti Squash. Have never tried working with puff pastry….saw Julia Child “whip up a batch”. Methinks the pre-made is the way to go, unless of course, you have a LOT of time on your hands and a lot of wine to drink. I love anything cheesy and oozy. Might have to try cream cheese stuffed jalapeno’s wrapped in puff pastry–with a smidge of hot pepper jelly…..yes, I surely think so. Your photos look good enough to eat :D
Premade is the way to go! I used half the box, i.e. $1.50 worth, and made ALL those puffs I showed in the pics.
The hot pepper jelly I have been told is out of stock in San Diego til perhaps next holiday season at TJs. Sniff. No one knows for sure but I’m out and using a groc store brand that’s no where near as good but wanna make bites with that in it, too.