I absolutely love empanadas and below you will find a recipe for a basic empanada dough. For those of you that don’t know what a empanadas are, think Mexican pierogies. There are savory empanadas filled with meats and vegetables as well as sweet desert empanadas. Wikipedia has a good article about all the different variations of this magical treat. Empanadas might very well be the most versatile food on planet earth. Space food is way more versatile.
Basic Empanada Dough
1 1/2C All Purpose Flour
1C Masa Harina
1t Baking Powder
1t Salt
1/2C (1 stick) Melted Butter
3/4C Water
1. In a bowl mix together the flour, masa harina, baking powder and salt.
2. Pour in the melted butter and mix to combine.
3. 1/4 cup at a time, mix in the water until the dough sticks together when you squeeze it with your hand.
4. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for 30 minutes.
5. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out on a counter with a dusting of flour. You’ll want the dough to be 1/8 inch thick.
6. Using a circular cookie cutter, cut circles out of the dough. Its up to you as to what size, but a circle with a 4 inch radius is standard.
Once you have these circles you are good to go. You can fill them with pretty much anything you can think from meat to fruit. My personal favorite is chorizo and within the next few days here I’ll be posting my little how-to with chorizo potato empanadas.
Once you have these filled, bake them in an oven at 375° for about 30 minutes or until they are a nice golden brown color.
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