puffed up

I've said it before, and I'll no doubt say it at least a hundred more times before my laptop becomes obsolete: Puff pastry is magical.

In this instance, I made some itty bitty purses filled with a sweetened cream cheese mixture. These are extremely easy to make and leave lots of room for personalization. In the past, I've flavored the filling with extracts like lemon, almond, or coconut. I've also used a Nutella mixture and then sprinkled the outside with cocoa powder. Go wild!

Cream Cheese Puffs
Ingredients:

• 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed

Directions:
First, prepare your filling by beating the ingredients in a stand mixer or with a handheld mixer until smooth.
Then, roll out your sheet of puff pastry to approximately 10" x 7.5". Cut out 12 squares measuring 2.5" x 2.5":

Put a glob of filling in the middle of each square:

Take opposite corners of a square and fold them toward each other, then pinch them together:

Do the same with the other opposing sides:

Voila:

Nestle the 12 little packages into the cups of a mini muffin tin and bake them at 350F for about 25-30 minutes.
Once out of the oven, give them a good shower of powdered sugar and serve.

Boom.