Goiabinhas @ Brazilian Guava Cookies - Cookies #4

baked and lightly golden :)

Someone close to me went to Brazil on a business trip and asked me if I needed anything. The first thing that sprang to my mind was Goiabada, the pink guava paste that I once read about on Lena's Romeo and Juliet cake.

When  this person went there.... the hotel he was staying was just right beside a supermarket, and so he tried to find it  for me. He told me, "You are soooo lucky. These are the last 2 packs on the shelf".

There are many versions online and many types of pastry. I saw one rolled up cookie  on Elin's blog, and so I think I want to try that, as it uses cream cheese. Seems interesting.
The pastry was nice to work with, pliable, and easy to roll and wrap. The cookie had  a crisp tender crumb, and didn't taste too buttery. But one down side is that, it  doesn't keep well for  more than 2 weeks in my kitchen. It started to smell stale after that.

The guava paste wasn't well liked by us when eaten just like that, a bit too sweet. But they taste delicious when baked as a cookie, they taste tarter. When I served it to my guests during  Chinese New Year (year 2012, haha, seriously been in draft this long), I made them guess the filling...non got it  right. It came rather as a surprise that it's guava.

Few months later.. I got  4 more packs of goiabada flown in from Brazil, and they are still in my fridge now :)
Waiting for  the day when I will start doing something with them again, of which this lazy bum just never got the engine revved up.

What else can I do with them? Any suggestions?

before baking

Goiabinhas
Makes 100 cookies (depending on size)

170gm cream cheese
230gm salted butter
2 Tbsp caster sugar
200gm all purpose flour
125gm cake flour
300gm goiabada (guava paste). Cut into 3cm long, 7mm thick sticks

1. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, butter,and sugar  on medium
speed until light, about 2 minutes.
2. Then on low speed, gradually beat in the flour just until mixed. A crumbly mixture will form.
3. Using your hands, pat the crumbly mixture together to form a dough ball.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a square or rectangle about 1/8 inch (3mm) thick.
5. Cut the dough into even 4cm squares. Put one slice of the goiabada diagonally onto the pastry square. Roll it up. Repeat to use up all the dough.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 150(fan)/170C for 15 minutes or lightly golden

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