A satisfying sweet treat for your afternoon cup of tea.
Ingredients
For the Dough
2 oz. softened cream cheese
2 T salted grass fed butter, cut into small cubes
1 T palm shortening ( I use Spectrum brand)
1 egg
1¼ cup THM Baking Blend
¾ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ C sweetener (I used Pyure Organic Stevia, All Purpose Sweetener, use 2 T THM Sweet Blend)
For the Filling
2 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
pinch of high mineral salt (less than ⅛ tsp.)
¼ C sweetener (or 2 T THM Sweet blend)
1-2 T sugar-free fruit preserves or slim belly jelly (optional)
For the Glaze
1 oz. softened (almost melted) cream cheese
2 T sweetener, powdered (or 1T powdered THM Sweet Blend)
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
1 T organic heavy cream
Instructions
for the Dough
Preheat oven to 325 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, prepare dough ingredients. Combine THM Baking blend, cream cheese, butter, shortening, baking powder and salt. Use a fork or pastry blender to cut the cold butter, cream cheese and shortening into the flours to create a thick dough.
Add in vanilla, sweetener and egg and mix with a large spoon until a light dough forms.
Use a cookie scoop or two teaspoons to make golf ball sized balls of dough 2 inches apart on lined baking sheet.
Flatten each pastry with the back of a spoon. Using your fingers, gently create shallow wells in each pastry, bringing up a small lip along the outside of each pastry. (Each pastry should be about 2½ inches in diameter)This dough is very tender, so you have to use a light touch to do this or it will crack and break.
Place pastries, unfilled, in the oven on the middle rack and pre-bake approximately 3-5 minutes.
For the Filling
Place softened cream cheese, egg yolk, vanilla, salt, and sweetener into a small bowl and beat either until smooth. The mixture will be thin.
Remove pastries from oven. Allow to cool for a few moments and use your finger once again to very lightly press the wells down a bit if they've risen. You want to make sure you have well defined wells for the filling.
Fill each pastry with about one teaspoon of cheese filling. It should be full, but not overflowing. If desired, place a dollop of sugar free fruit preserves (I used Polaner's Cherry) in the middle of the filling.
Bake at 325 for about 20 minutes or until the centers are firm but not cracked and the crust is golden brown.
For the Glaze
In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, sweetener, vanilla and heavy cream and mix until smooth.
Pour the glaze into a baggie and cut a small hole in the tip, drizzle glaze over each pastry.