Spiced Apple Empanadas Baked

Spiced Apple Empanadas Baked

This is a mashup of two favourite traditional recipes. We’ve taken an empanada which is traditionally a small handheld fried savoury turnover and filled the pastry with apple pie filling instead! The dough works great either baked or fried. For the fried version.

Makes
16
  • Ingredients

    Spiced Apple Filling

    2 1/2 cups Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored and diced into 1/4” pieces (2 large apples or 625 mL)

    1/3 cup raisins (75 mL)

    1/4 cup brown sugar (60 mL)

    1 tsp ground cinnamon (5 mL)

    1 tsp ground ginger (5 mL)

    1/4 tsp ground nutmeg (1 mL)

    1/4 tsp salt  (1 mL)

    Pastry

    2 cups all-purpose flour (500 mL)

    1 tsp cinnamon  (5 mL)

    1/2 tsp salt (2 mL)

    1/2 cup canola oil (125 mL)

    1/3 cup cold water (75 mL)

    1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (15 mL)

    Assembly

    1 egg, beaten (1)

    2 Tbsp granulated sugar (30 mL)

     

  • Directions

    Spiced Apple Filling

    1. In a large heavy-bottomed pot, over medium heat, add ingredients and stir together. Cook for 10 minutes or until the apples are just tender. Stir often, being careful not to overcook.
    2. Remove apple mixture from the pot and chill in fridge.

    Pastry

    1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon and salt.
    2. Add canola oil and, using your hands, mix the oil into the flour mixture until it becomes a pasty texture.
    3. In a small bowl, mix the cold water and apple cider vinegar together.
    4. Make a well in the flour mixture. Add the water and vinegar to the centre of the well. Slowly mix together but do not over-mix. Form dough into a ball and wrap with plastic. Place in fridge for at least an hour or overnight.

    Assembly

    1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
    2. On a lightly-floured work surface, roll the cold pastry to an even 1/4” thickness.
    3. With a 4” (10 cm) round cookie cutter, cut out 16 circles of pastry and lightly brush each round with the egg wash. Gather the scraps and re-roll the pastry as needed.
    4. In the centre of each circle, place 1 Tbsp of the apple filling. Keeping the filling in the centre, fold the pastry in half. Pinch the ends together tightly with your fingertips to close the half circle. Either fold the ends up or crimp closed with a fork and place on prepared pan.
    5. Brush the tops with remaining egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. With the tip of a sharp knife, cut two vent holes in the top of each empanada and set pan in fridge for 10-15 minutes.
    6. Preheat oven to 400 ºF.
    7. Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden. Let stand on pan for 5 minutes, transfer to baking rack and let cool. Enjoy warm or room temperature.

    TIP: A cooking apple such as Granny Smith is a great choice for this recipe.

    TIP: Apples like the cold. It is best to store them in a perforated plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper separate from other fruits and vegetables.

     

Nutritional Analysis

Serving Size
1 empanada
Servings
16
Calories
171
Total Fat
7.9 g
Saturated Fat
0.7 g
Cholesterol
11 mg
Sodium
94 mg
Carbohydrates
23 g
Fiber
1.4 g
Sugars
9 g
Protein
2.6 g
Potassium
77 mg