Guava Coconut and Cream Cheese Rolls

Whenever my friend visits Miami, I try to destroy her diet..er.. bake her a treat. It's usually brownies and once I made cookies but I am not the best cookie-baker. In the last several months, she has become quite the baker herself. So what do I make for someone who bakes? How do I one-up my previous treats and the ones that she has made? I really had no idea but then I remembered that I do make a decent bread and she doesn't make that. Yet. That thought led to these amazing guava, coconut and cream cheese rolls.

I made similar rolls back in 2012 when I took part in Willow Bird Baking's baking challenges. However, I used white chocolate cream cheese spread and no coconut. I don't see those cream cheese spreads in my supermarket anymore. But that's probably a good thing. They were extremely delicious and it was way too easy to eat way more than my fair share in one sitting. Goodness. Now I am craving that stuff. I need to check if other stores nearby carry them.

For these rolls, I adapted Pioneer Woman's cinnamon roll dough. I added more flour and used less sugar and less yeast. It's a really sticky dough even with the additional flour so chilling it is a must. I chilled it after adding the filling and chilled it again before slicing. It's just less stressful (for me) that way. There's a stiffer dough that I have used to make rolls in the past but I wanted to try this one.

This recipe makes 24 rolls. If you don't want that many rolls, freeze half the dough and use it at a later date.

 

Guava Coconut and Cream Cheese Rolls

Recipe by: Kelster Adapted from: Dough adapted from Pioneer Woman

Yield: 24 rolls

Ingredients Dough 2 cups milk ½ cup oil ¼ cup sugar 1 teaspoon active dry yeast 4 ½ cups flour plus ½ cup 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder Flling 8 oz cream cheese 6 tablespoons butter or margarine 14 oz guava paste 2 cups sweetened coconut flakes

Directions Combine milk, oil and sugar in a large pot. Heat until bubbles just start to form around the edges (but before boiling) and turn off burner. Allow the mixture to cool for an hour. When the mixture is warm (approximately 110 degrees or lower), add the yeast and 4 ½ cups of flour. Stir mixture to thoroughly combine. Ensure that all of the flour is moistened. Cover and let sit for 1 to 2 hours or until mixture has doubled. Add the remaining ½ cup of flour, baking soda and baking powder. Stir thoroughly once more. Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight. Grease four 8-inch baking pans or two 9 x 13- inch pans. Cream the butter and cream cheese together. Slice or grate the guava paste into small pieces. Remove dough from fridge. On a floured surface, roll out half the dough to approximately 12 x 16 inches. With a 12 inch side facing you, spread half the cream cheese mixture over the dough, top with half of the guava paste and a cup of shredded coconut. Leave approximately half an inch of dough on the opposite 12 inch side without filling. Tightly roll up the dough then slice into 12 pieces. Place the slices into the prepared pans. Cover and let rise for approximately 20 minutes. Repeat with remaining half of the dough. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350 F. After rolls have risen/doubled, place in preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Remove. Cool slightly, eat.

Notes If you don't wish to cream the butter and cream cheese, you can spread them on the dough individually. Guava paste is very sticky. If you find that it's hard to slice, you can always soften it slightly in the microwave. If at any point the dough becomes hard to work with, place it in the fridge for a few minutes. I don't add a glaze to this because I think there is already enough sugar here. However, feel free to add a cream cheese glaze/frosting.