Description
Delight in flaky, buttery strawberry cream cheese breakfast pastries featuring a smooth cream cheese and strawberry jam filling topped with fresh diced strawberries. These charming heart-shaped treats are baked to golden perfection and dusted with powdered sugar, perfect for a special breakfast or brunch.
Ingredients
Scale
Pastry
- 1 (8.6 oz) sheet puff pastry
Filling
- 2 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/2 Tbsp strawberry jam
- 1 drop red food coloring (or use beet powder), optional
- 2/3 cup very small diced strawberries
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg whisked with 1 Tbsp water
For Serving
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructions
- Prepare Puff Pastry: Thaw the puff pastry according to package directions. While thawing, preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit to ensure it reaches the right temperature in time for baking.
- Make Cream Cheese Filling: In a small bowl, combine softened cream cheese, strawberry jam, and red food coloring if using. Use a rubber spatula to press and mix the ingredients against the bowl’s sides and bottom until smooth with no large lumps. Refrigerate this mixture until ready to fill the pastries. For faster chilling, briefly place it in the freezer near the end of the puff pastry thawing time.
- Cut Puff Pastry Shapes: On a clean surface, use a 3-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut heart shapes from the thawed puff pastry sheet, placing shapes as close as possible to maximize the number of pastries.
- Prepare Baking Sheet: Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner or parchment paper. Transfer the cut hearts onto the sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart to allow for oven expansion.
- Score Borders on Pastry: Using a sharp paring knife, lightly score another smaller heart inside each puff pastry heart. The scoring should be about 1/3 inch from the edge but not cut fully through the base of the dough.
- Fill Pastries: Spoon about 1 teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture into the center of each heart shape. Gently spread it outwards, keeping it within the scored inner heart and not covering the outer edging strip.
- Add Strawberries: Place the diced strawberries evenly over the cream cheese layer, again avoiding the outer 1/3-inch edge of dough.
- Apply Egg Wash: Using your fingertip or a brush, lightly brush the exposed 1/3-inch edge of each pastry heart with the egg wash (whisked egg and water). This will give the edges a lovely golden finish when baked.
- Bake Pastries: Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes until the edges turn golden brown and the pastry is puffed and cooked through.
- Cool and Serve: Remove pastries from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool briefly. Once cooled, dust generously with powdered sugar. Serve the pastries on the same day they are prepared for the best freshness and texture.
Notes
- For a quicker prep, cut 6 rectangles instead of heart shapes, and slice strawberries rather than dicing. Increase cream cheese to 3 oz, strawberry jam to 2 1/2 Tbsp, and strawberries to 1 cup for this adjustment to cover the larger surface area.
- Make sure to keep the puff pastry cold until you’re ready to cut and fill to maintain flakiness during baking.
- The red food coloring is optional and mainly for visual enhancement; beet powder can be used as a natural alternative.
- Serve these pastries fresh as puff pastry loses its crispness over time.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 pastry
- Calories: 210 kcal
- Sugar: 8 g
- Sodium: 150 mg
- Fat: 13 g
- Saturated Fat: 6 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6 g
- Trans Fat: 0.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 3 g
- Cholesterol: 40 mg
