Chimichangas With Matcha Green Tea Cream Cheese And Strawberries

I prepared this dessert for a Mexican themed evening with my Girl Gang. It looks absolutely amazing and it’s super easy to prepare. I was looking for some Mexican dessert online, but I wanted something less complicated than flan. Then I remembered Ashlee Marie’s Cream Cheese Chimichangas, they are simply irresistible and I tried them before. But this time, I wanted a twist, so I swapped white granulated sugar for healthier coconut sugar, added strawberries and matcha green tea powder. The outcome is sweet and creamy, a lovely combination of juicy strawberries and subtle bitterness of the matcha green tea. And the colours are fabulous! I believe this filling would work great with crepes too.

Trust me, it’s super easy. Looks very complicated, but it isn’t at all. All in all takes about an hour to make them.

Yield:

12 chimichangas

Ingredients: 

12 regular size tortilla wraps

150g digestive biscuits, crushed

Vegetable oil

Toothpicks

For the filling:

600g cream cheese

400g strawberries cut into pieces (halved quarters)

5 tbsp Organic Coconut Sugar – 500g (Certified Organic)

2 tsp of matcha green tea powder

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

For the sugar coating:

3 tbsp of Organic Coconut Sugar – 500g (Certified Organic)

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

Method: 

Crush the digestive biscuits. Put them into a clean plastic bag and use a rolling-pin. It doesn’t matter if they are not perfectly and evenly crushed.

Make sure the cream cheese is room temperature when you start using it. With a food processor, beat the cream cheese, the coconut sugar, the matcha powder and the vanilla extract all together. Beat the egg in a cup, scramble, then add it to the mixture and lightly mix it in with a wooden spoon. Lastly, fold the strawberries into your batter.

Prepare your coating sugar, by mixing the sugar with cinnamon.

Start filling your tortilla wraps. Lay out a tortilla wrap, place 2 tbsp biscuit crumbs in the middle and put 3 heaped tbsp of batter on the top of it. Place them right next to each other, quite tightly, so they would form a rough rectangle shape. See photos. Fold the sides, I formed small envelopes, which I quite like. Secure it with a toothpick.

Heat the oil and fry them on 170C. It only takes 2 minutes each sides. Keep an eye on them, they can burn quickly. Roll them in the cinnamon sugar.

I had to reheat them to serve them at the party, it was good, however not so good when cold. Obviously, the best when served immediately.