Vegan Quesitos are crispy, flaky, and decadent puff pastry filled with a delicious vegan cream cheese filling.
Vegan Quesitos – Puerto Rican Cream Cheese Puff Pastries is my vegan version of the most delicious and popular pastries in Puerto Rico. You can find them around the island in bakeries, food stands, and restaurants. I grew up eating quesitos from my neighborhood bakery in the town of Bayamon. They had the best pastries in my town. After moving to the states, it was hard for me to find them here, so I learned how to bake them. They were a big hit when I ran my bakery in Kentucky. My vegan quesitos won’t disappoint you!
The regular recipe calls for cream cheese, corn syrup, and an egg wash. My vegan quesitos are; refined sugar-free, easy to make and so delicious. Make your own puff pastry or simplify your life by buying it. Pepperidge Farm is probably your best bet when looking for a vegan puff pastry. Many store-bought puff pastries are made without dairy or egg because it makes them more shelf-stable.
These Puerto Rican Vegan Bacalaitos are crispy, fluffy, fish-free fritters that are great for any occasion.
Bacalaitos are a staple in our Puerto Rican street food culture. You can find them everywhere around the island, especially at food stands, carnivals, and even at your church’s cafeteria. My grandmothers used to make them all the time. I never liked cod-fish, so I used to take it out of my fritter while eating them. These are regularly made using codfish, in Spanish “bacalao”. Here’s my vegan version of these delicious cod-fish fritters.
This is my favorite fritter, even though I don’t make it often. How can you make a vegan version of bacalaitos? Well, the flavors of these fritters come from the marinade. As long as you marinate your protein substitute you will have an amazing crispy and fluffy fritter.
These fun Peanut Butter Jelly Fruity Caterpillar Kebabs are loaded with fresh fruit and protein. They’re a healthy snack the kids can help to prepare!
This is a fun idea for breakfast or snack for all your family. The ingredients are simple pantry staples that you probably already have. I used creamy peanut butter, guava jelly and fresh fruits but you can use your own ingredients.
I also used sugar eyes that I had for my cake decorating but you can use a tiny piece of banana or a chocolate chip.
RECIPE VIDEO
I hope you try this recipe and like it as much as much as I do! If you give this recipe a try, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and share it on my Facebook page or tag it #thehungrydragonfly on Instagram! I love seeing your creations!
For this recipe I used:
Ingredients & Tools:
Whole Wheat Seed Bread ( you can use any bread)
Creamy Peanut Butter
Guava Jelly (use your favorite)
Bananas
Strawberries
Green Grapes
Blueberries
Sugar Eyes (optional)
White candy melt, melted (for gluing eyes if using)
Round cookie cutter (you can use a knife)
Kebab sticks
Instructions:
Spread PB and Jelly.
Cut sandwich into small circles.
Wash and prepare fruits.
Slice banana and cut just the top of each strawberry.
Assemble kebabs starting with PBJ circle and alternating fruits. The last fruit should be the strawberry.
Melt candy melt or chocolate and using a toothpick glue the eyes.
Empanadas are usually filled with ground beef or other different fillings. These empanadas are my vegan version. You can enjoy them as an appetizer, main dish or main course. They go well with my easy guacamole recipe.
Hello, my beautiful friends! Here’s my Puerto Rican Black Beans Empanadas. You can make your own dough or buy store-bought at your local supermarket in the Hispanic or international frozen aisle. They are easy to make and you can add other ingredients if you want. Empanadas are great for breakfast, brunch, or as a main dish. In Puerto Rico, we called them “empanadillas” or depending on the dough “pastelillos”. They sell them around the island almost everywhere.
I hope you try this recipe and like it as much as much as I do! If you give this recipe a try, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and share it on my Facebook page or tag it #thehungrydragonfly on Instagram! I love seeing your creations!
Sauté garlic, green peppers and onions for 2 minutes.
Add beefy crumbles and cook for about 4 minutes. Stir in marinara sauce, nutritional yeast and garlic powder. Cook for about 3 minutes.
Lower heat to medium-low, add sweet plantains and fold until well incorporated.
Add black beans, corn, salt & pepper, cayenne pepper if using, cook for another 3 minutes.
Fold ingredients in cheese, turn stove off and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
On a lightly floured work surface, using a rolling pin, roll out discos until ½” larger in diameter. Spoon about 1 tbsp. mixture into middle, fold in half to form a half moon; seal with a fork.
You can also deep fry but I prefer to bake them for about 15 minutes, flip over and bake for another 10 minutes or until they have a light golden color.
Let if cool for about 10 minutes, serve with salsa or guacamole.
For my Easy Guacamole:
Ingredients:
2-3 Avocado Hass
¼ cup red onion, chopped,
Salt & Pepper to taste
½ fresh squeezed lime
Instructions:
Mix all ingredient and stir together until well incorporated.
**Notes: You can find the empanada dough at your local supermarket in the Hispanic or International food aisle. I also use sofrito as a seasoning, you can find the recipe on my blog.
This easy pesto is ready in less than 10 minutes and it has so many uses. Pour over your favorite pasta, eat with crackers or veggies.
Use it on your pizza, wraps, sandwich even as a base when making savory meals. This pesto is similar to my sofrito recipe, but it uses different ingredients and purposes. I use cashews instead of pine nuts because we had allergy reactions with pine nuts. Also, I find that cashews give the pesto more consistency and a nutty flavor that I love.
Enjoy this pesto with your favorite pasta.
When making the pesto you can adjust the ingredients depending on your taste. I love making a big jar and have it available all the time. I adjust the amount I’m using depending on the recipe that I’m making. For example, if I’m using it on a pasta, I add a little bit more of olive oil. But if I’m using it on pizzas, bread or as a dip, I add more cashews or greens.
RECIPE VIDEO:
I hope you try this recipe and like it as much as much as I do! If you give this recipe a try, let me know what you think! Leave a comment and don’t forget to take a picture and share it on my Facebook page or tag it #thehungrydragonfly on Instagram! I love seeing your creations!
