Easy Empanada (Baked)

Empanada is a festive and filling food. 🥳

When I worked in the events and management areas of a Spanish restaurant food chain, the empanadas were made fresh daily.

Then they were fried like most empanadas.

But as a healthy person, I was determined to make a healthy baked empanada that had a hearty warm (comfort) center that tasted just as delish. ❤️

You can fill an empanada with any savory foods and it will be good.

..I added potatoes (like patatas bravas), collard greens, and onions in the middle.

Instead of a tomato sauce, I made a brown gravy out of yogurt, Worcestershire sauce, and red chili flakes.

My dipping sauce and empanada recipe was easy to make, with little prep, and these are the little steps… 👣

For easy first of all, there’s no need to proof or refrigerate the dough that makes them easy to make any time.

Warm water is used like a hot water pastry crust if you know what that is… that’s oil, warm water, and flour.

You can add extra virgin olive oil as the healthy fat to the flour that is half all-purpose flour and I mixed with brown rice flour (healthy whole grain).

That made for a healthy shell that held together because usually healthy ingredients are a challenge because they don’t add to smooth texture and often leave a crumble.

…So that’s why blending flour ingredients is a good workaround.

Then when the dough is formed into a ball, you can add some bench flour and rolled your dough out to about one-fourth inch thick dough.

I used a drinking mug to cut out circles and then added the filling but you can use cookie cutters or anything in your kitchen for the round shapes.

Since water is already in the ingredients, there’s no need to add more to seal the half moon (or folded in half circles). 🌗

They naturally want to seal. 💋

I used a fork to create a crimp look (like you see in breakfast pastries or pies).

Then I baked in a 325°F/165°C oven for about 30-35 minutes to golden brown. About 10 minutes before done, I flipped them over to give the tops a little brown.