I keep a couple of packages of puff pastry in our freezer in case we want to make a special treat. About six months ago, Bon Appétit featured a Spinach Puffs recipe with the most beautiful picture, and I just had to save the recipe and make it for Cam, who loves feta and spinach.

But I had a good problem: The recipe only uses half of the puff pastry. So I thought of Miami and my favorite treat when I lived there. Guava empanadas, with their tangy cream cheese and sweet guava paste, are so comforting and delicious. These Guava and Cream Cheese Puffs have the same shape as the spinach puffs. If you put them side by side, they look quite similar.

Both of these treats are like tiny puff cupcakes filled with scrumptiousness. That’s the only way I can describe these tiny pockets of happiness. Enjoy!

Spinach Puffs

Ingredients

• 1 10-ounce spinach leaves, wilted and chopped or frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 3/4 cup crumbled feta
• 1/2 cup minced shallots
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large eggs
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17.3-ounce package), thawed, rolled out to a 12-inch square, kept chilled

You’ll also need 

• A standard muffin pan

Preheat oven to 400°

Mix spinach, feta, shallots, oil and garlic. Add salt and pepper.  In a separate bowl beat 1 egg and add to the spinach mixture.

Cut pastry in three equal strips/pieces then cut each strip into 3 squares.  You’ll have a total of 9 squares.  Place the squares into muffin cups pressing centers into cups and making sure the corners of the squares are pointing up.  Pour filling among cups and fold dough corners over filling, pressing corners together to meet in center.

In a small bowl beat remaining egg to blend, brush pastry with egg wash and bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating once, until pastries are puffed and golden. Cool in pan on wire rack, 10 minutes.  Gently twist pastries to release from cups. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 6-8

Spinach Puff recipe adapted from Bon Appétit, November 2012

Guava and Cream Cheese Puffs

Ingredients

1 8 oz. package of cream cheese

1 teaspoon half & half or milk

3 tablespoon caster sugar (superfine sugar)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 cup guava paste, cut into 1/3-inch cubes (about 8 oz.)*

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17.3-ounce package), thawed, rolled out

to a 12-inch square, kept chilled

1 egg

You’ll also need 

• A standard muffin pan

Preheat oven to 400°

In a medium bowl mix cream cheese, half & half, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest mix well using a hand mixer.

Cut pastry in three equal strips/pieces then cut each strip into 3 squares.  You’ll have a total of 9 squares.  Place the squares into muffin cups pressing centers into cups and making sure the corners of the squares are pointing up.  Put 1 1/2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture in the center of each cup, top it with 1 cube of guava paste and fold dough corners over filling, pressing corners together to meet in center.

In a small bowl beat egg to blend, brush pastry with egg wash and bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating once, until pastries are puffed and golden. Cool in pan on wire rack, 10 minutes.  Gently twist pastries to release from cups. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 6-8

*Want to know where to get Guava Paste? Try your local Latin markets or online at amazon.com