Sweet cheese filled pastries

Beat two sticks of soft unsalted butter with the soft cream cheese and a quarter teaspoon of salt on high speed until creamy and combined.

Add two cups of all-purpose flour and mix on low to medium until a dough forms; stop as soon as it comes together. The dough should be very moist and sort of sticky.

Turn out and rest the dough a little, covered with a clean kitchen towel or plastic.

Filling: mix eight ounces of soft cream cheese with three or four tablespoons of granulated sugar and a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract, adding one egg yolk last so the sweetness can be tasted and adjusted. A fork will do; it does not need to look smooth because it bakes.

Roll the rested dough out very thin, about an eighth of an inch, on flour, adding more flour whenever it sticks.

Cut three inch rounds as close together as possible; gather and re-roll the scraps.

Put about half a teaspoon of filling on one side of each round, fold it over and press the edges together, then press with a fork to seal and pattern the edge. Do not overfill or the filling oozes out.

Lay them on the parchment lined trays.

From leftover dough, cut smaller plain rounds at the same thickness or a little thicker.

Topping: melt about three to four tablespoons of unsalted butter, and mix half a cup of sugar with a teaspoon of cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Brush the tops of the pastries and the plain rounds with the melted butter and sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon sugar over them.

To freeze: freeze solid on the tray for about an hour, then transfer to a labelled freezer safe bag with the parchment sheet.

Bake the fresh ones on the centre rack of an oven preheated to 400F for 12 to 15 minutes maximum, until golden around the edges; hers were done at about 12 to 13 minutes. The smaller plain rounds were ready in 10 minutes.

Cool completely before serving.

Thaw frozen ones completely, about 30 to 40 minutes at room temperature on the tray, before baking, or they will not bake evenly at that high temperature.