Cinnamon Apple Empanadas

For our first family taco Tuesday during quarantine, I decided that I wanted to go all out and make dessert empanadas (more like mini hand pies) as a sweet treat. The first time, I filled the pockets with a cinnamon banana mixture, but we have then settled on a mutual agreement that cinnamon apple was a much better version. Feel free to try these out with anything else, from strawberry, rhubarb, and peaches to blueberries, apricot, and chocolate!

Apple empanadas with sprinkled cinnamon sugar

These sweet empanadas are the perfect balance of sweet and salty with the warm, sugary filling and buttery, salty dough. The crust is utterly delicious—crunchy with the sprinkled sugar, flaky and crispy on the outside with a perfect amount of chewiness from the egg, which is commonly omitted in most pie crusts or pastry dough. The sprinkled sugar is optional: you can choose to only use an egg wash. I recommend trying it both ways though! My mom and sister prefer it without the cinnamon sugar because you can taste the salty, buttery flavor of the crust, but my dad likes both versions.

This recipe is dedicated to Javan (aka the best gym buddy), who baked this recipe with me through FaceTime during quarantine :)

Cinnamon Apple Empanadas
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 25 mins
Yield: 12 empanadas

Ingredients
For dough:

• 270 g all-purpose flour
• 1½ tsp kosher salt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 stick butter, cold (8 tbsp)
• 80 g ice water

For filling:

• 200 g Fuji or granny smith apple, finely diced
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp light brown sugar (or to taste)

For assembly:

• 1 egg, beaten
• water, for sealing empanadas
• cinnamon sugar (optional, to sprinkle)
  
  

Directions
Dough preparation:

1. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt.
2. Add cold butter to the flour mixture. Use a pastry cutter to incorporate cold butter until it resembles small crumbles.
3. Add beaten egg and stir with a wooden spoon.* Slowly pour in ice water while stirring to combine into a dough.**
4. Use your hands to knead a few times into a ball. Avoid over kneading: your dough will form too much gluten, or the butter may begin to melt. Dough should be pliable.
5. Remove dough ball from bowl. Divide into 12 even balls (I use a kitchen scale for accuracy) and place onto a plate or small tray. Cover in plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator for at least an hour.

Filling preparation:

6. While the dough is chilling, prepare your filling.
7. Add all filling ingredients to a medium-sized nonstick pan over medium heat. Stir and cook until apples are soft and mixture is thickened., around 15 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl.

Assembly:

8. Remove chilled dough from refrigerator.
9. On a parchment lined surface, place a ball of dough and another parchment square on top. Use a glass baking dish to press down and flatten the ball into a circle, approximately 4 inches in diameter. Place back into refrigerator while finishing the rest of the dough balls. (Alternatively, use a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface). If the dough begins to soften again, place in refrigerator again to chill until firm.
10. Remove all disks from refrigerator. Spoon a bit of filling into the center of each disk. Dip your finger into a bit of water and dampen the outer ring of the disk before folding it into a half-moon shape. Use a fork to seal the seam and repeat with all pies.
11. Mix 1 tsp water into beaten egg and use a pastry brush to paint on top of the pies.
12. Use a serrated knife to slash steam holes in the top of the pies or pierce with a fork. Sprinkle with sugar (optional).
13. Transfer all pies to a lined baking tray with a bit of space in between. ***

Baking and serving:

14. Bake pies in a preheated oven at 350°F for 25 minutes or until lightly browned.
15. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes before serving with ice cream and a drizzle of salted caramel.

*I sometimes remove 1 tsp of the first beaten egg with a few drops of water that I set aside for the egg wash, so I do not use an entire egg later. The consistency of the dough will be unaffected.

**Use more or less water if necessary, depending on the absorbance of the flour.

***Bake immediately afterwards or store in the freezer with wax paper—bake frozen and add 5 minutes to bake time.

Empanada dough: 155 calories: 17.2 g carbs; 8.3 g fat; 2.9 g protein

Apple filling: 20 calories: 5 g carbs; 0 g fat; 0 g protein