These are SO GOOD I cannot recommend them enough, and my mom completely agrees. (makes about 16 empanadas)
No-Fry Empanada Dough
3 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 sticks butter, cut into small cubes
2 eggs
1/4-1/2 cup water
- Mix the flour and salt together. Add the butter and work it into the flour with your hands until it’s the texture of sand.
- Add in 1 of the eggs and the water as needed until a clumpy dough forms. Let it rest while you make the filling.
Beef Empanada Filling
1 lb ground beef
2 tsp oil
1 medium white onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground paprika
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup raisins
- In a pan, brown the ground beef over medium heat. Remove from pan. Add the oil, and sauté the onion and pepper until soft.
- Add the spices to the pan and stir, cook for about a minute. Add the beef back in and stir to coat with spices. Mix in the sugar and raisins until combined.
- REMOVE from heat while you roll out the dough so that it cools enough to work with.
Putting it all together:
- Preheat oven to 375F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. (If you don’t want to bake a whole batch now, just put the sheets of empanadas in the freezer and transfer to a bag once frozen)
- Roll out the dough into a thin sheet, and cut out circles using a bowl.
- Using your finger, wet the edges of each circle with water. Fill each circle with about 2-3 tbsp of filling. Fold the circles in half to encase the filling, and seal by pressing the edges with a fork.
- Whisk the remaining egg with a tsp of water. Brush this over the tops of the empanadas for a nice, golden finish.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden.