Guava and Cream Cheese filled Sandwich Cookies
These cookies are so buttery, crispy and sandwiched guava and cream cheese filling and taste sweet and slightly tangy. Cookies also have pink peppercorns. Perfect for holidays or any other occasions.
My dad used to bring cookies from some bakery from another city from where I grew up every time he visited for work. I still remember the taste. These cookies are no where close to those. But every time someone says sandwich cookies it reminds me of those buttery soft cookies filled with chocolate filling.
With the passing of my dad, we stopped eating those cookies. None of us know which bakery he used to bring those cookies from. I am on a mission to find out about this bakery on my next visit to India from the little cues I have about it. Every time I visit India, it’s a busy trip filled with family and friends. But for now, we will find peace with some other type of sandwich cookies.
I had this idea of using guava and cream cheese in a lot of different ways. Last year I made cheesecake bites with guava topping. It was so good, perfect balance of sweet and tangy and tartness.
Guava and cream cheese are very tropical flavors. In India also we find very good guavas. At one point, every wedding you attend there will be a welcome drink made of guava juice, lol.
So, I decided to use guava and cream cheese flavored cookies and came up with this recipe.
The cookie base is adapted from my pistachio cardamom cookies.
Cookies – You probably have all the ingredient at home. It is again a very easy to follow recipe. If you are allergic to almonds, use all -purpose flour or macadamia, cashew other nut flour. It might alter the taste slightly. I cannot suggest you swap it for more flavorful nuts like pistachios, or hazelnuts.
Make sure you fluff the butter and sugar until its light. That’s the only important step as far the cookies go. Cooling the cookie dough is also important. You cannot roll cookie dough if the butter is soft.
I have used pink peppercorns in the cookie base. They add very mild fruity floral flavor. You can easily add ½ tsp more. If you cannot find any or want to skip it, its totally doable.
Be careful while baking the cookies, you do not want to burn them. Use timer for sure. If your oven runs high in temperature, they will be done in 10 min mark.
Filling – Filling comes together before you know it. I have used food processor only so that we can break down the guava paste. If you do not have a food processor or do not want to use one, then you might want to heat up guava paste with 1 tbsp of water until it looks smooth liquid-y paste.
Make sure you add to the cream cheese after cooling it if you attempt on heating it. If you have small chunks of guava paste in the filling, its totally okay. They should not be big chunks.
Leftover guava paste can be served on a cheeseboard. You can also make Indian style tamarind chutney instead of tamarind use this guava paste. Interesting fact about guava paste, it keeps well for a long time. I make chutney by diluting the paste with some water and then adding some red chili powder, cumin-coriander powder, salt and sweetener. You can use it in Indian recipes like chaats, or dahi wadas, any appetizers. etc.
Back to cookies, these need to be stored in the fridge due to cream cheese. It helps stiffen up the cream cheese filling. I have used very little sugar compared to buttercream cookies that have double the sugar, its slightly soft filling. Confectioner’s sugar is what makes buttercream filling stiff and doable at room temperatures.
Please do not use regular sugar in the filling. I love adding salt to ay baked goods as it intensifies the flavors. I used all 3 tbsp of guava paste, but if you want less then start with 2 tbsp and then taste and add more. If you need more, then add 1 tbsp more at a time.
There will be leftover filling, eat it as cheesecake or may be use it on toasted bagel.
Guava and Cream Cheese Sandwich Cookies
Ingredients
cookies
- 1 stick butter room temperature
- 6 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup almond meal/flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp pink peppercorn crushed
filling
- 1/2 cup cream cheese room temperature
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3-4 tbsp guava paste
- Pinch salt
Instructions
Cookies
- In a standing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla extract.
- In another bowl, mix all the dry ingredients both flours, salt, baking powder and crushed pink peppercorns and give it a stir. Add the dry ingredients in the butter and sugar mix and let the stand mixer go on for just a few minutes until everything gets well incorporated.
- Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure everything gets well incorporated.
- The dough will look crumbly, don’t worry. It will come together.
- Transfer the dough on a parchment paper. With the help of your hands, form a round flat disc and bring it together, cover the dough with parchment paper and keep it in the refrigerator for at least for an hour.
- While it rests in the fridge, make cream cheese and guava filling – Check below.
- You can freeze the dough at this point for long time if you plan to bake cookies some other day. If not, then proceed with the next step.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
- Remove the cookies from the fridge. Lightly dust some flour and gently, roll out a flat or round shape disc about an inch on the sides. Using a cookie cutter, cut the desired shaped cookies. Re-roll the dough into disc until you have all the cookie cut out. Move cookies to a tray and freeze them for 5 minutes. If your cookies are very soft leave them in fridge for a little bit longer.
- Place cookies on parchment lined baking sheet and bake them for 10-12 minutes until you see the sides have little bit of browning and they look done. They will not be extremely crispy when you remove them, but they crisp up eventually as they cool down.
- Remove the cookies on a cooling rack and let them cool down completely.
Make the filling
- In a food processor add the cream cheese, butter, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla, salt and guava paste and pulse few seconds until it looks smooth and guava paste has broken down and mixed thoroughly. It should not have any lumps and should look smooth.
- Once the cookies cool down completely, fill a piping bag or ziplock bag with cream cheese guava filling.
Assemble and sandwich cookies
- Cut out the end of piping bag about half an inch and pipe blobs of cream on half of the cookies. Make sure you keep the other half cookies away and not end up piping all cookies. Cover the cream filled cookies with another cookie making a sandwich.
- Store cookies in the fridge and remove them whenever you are ready to serve.
Notes
- Pink peppercorn has a very light floral taste. If you cannot find any or wish to leave it out. It’s optional.
- 3 tbsp guava paste was enough for me, but if you want more guava flavor add little bit more.
- You can increase the amount of sugar in the filling. I wanted perfect balance of sweet and slight tart ness.
- You can keep the cookies slightly thicker. Depending on the cookie cutter you use, it will yield more or less than suggested quantities. I used 2 -inch cookie cutter and ½ -inch thickness.
Happy Holidays!
XO, Devangi