Flour Empanadas Recipe

These flour empanadas are filled with cheese but you can use whatever kind of filling that you want, you can use chicken and ground beef. You will start by making the dough, in a bowl add all-purpose flour and salt then mix them then add cold unsalted butter and crumble them with your hands. You can do this in a food processor which will be much faster.

Add in an egg and cold water then start kneading the dough with your hands, if your dough is dry you can add a little more cold water. On a work surface, shape the dough into a ball then wrap the dough in a plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes to an hour. After chilling, flour your work surface then roll the dough will a rolling pin, don’t roll the dough too much because otherwise the dough will come out tough and your empanadas will be dry.

Flatten the dough as much as you can then using a round-shaped bowl, cut the dough to make the empanadas disks. Fill each disk with ham and cheese or your choice of filling then rub both edges with a little bit of water and this is to help them seal better. Fold the empanadas in half and using your fingers, press the edges then fold over the corners, and press again the fold over until you reach the other end.

The other way, you can use a floured fork and crimp all the edges. Brush the empanadas with egg wash so they can come out shiny and golden brown once baked. Bake them a 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 35 to 40 minutes or until they come out golden brown.

Ingredients

• 2¼ cup (315 g) all-purpose flour
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1 stick (113 g) unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 cup (80 ml) cold water or more, if needed
• Ham slices (Any type and any amount you want)
• Shredded cheese (Any type and any amount you want)
• Chicken filling
• Beef filling
• Water
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Instructions;

1. In a large bowl mix the flour with the salt. Then add the butter and crumble it with your hands or a fork. This process can also be done in the food processor.
2. Add the egg and water and knead the dough until firm but don’t overwork it so your empanadas don’t come out too hard. Add more water if you see that the dough is too dry.
3. Knead the dough for a few minutes, form it into a ball, wrap it with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
4. Pre-heat oven at 400ºF (204ºC).
5. Roll out the dough on a floured surface with a rolling pin until it’s really thin. Cut out the dough into medium-sized circles (approx. 4-5 inches or 10-13 cm) with a large cookie cutter or a bowl.
6. Fill the empanadas with the filling of your choice, cheese, ham and cheese, chicken, or beef, moisten the edges of the dough with a little bit of water, fold it over in half, and seal the edges with your fingers.
7. Now, twist the edge by folding over one of the corners with your thumb and pinching it. This will form a new pointed edge, fold this new edge over with your thumb and pinch it again. Do this until you reach the other corner of the empanada.
8. Brush the empanadas with the beaten egg and bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. You can also fry them at 350ºF (180ºC) for about 6-7 minutes or until golden brown.