Monday, February 20, 2012

Secret Recipe Club~Apple Empanadas!

It's time for another Secret Recipe Club reveal. We took a little break in January, but we are back in full force this month, cooking and baking our way through the blogging world. For February, I was assigned  the blog, The Foodies at Work. This  blog is so unique, with the 2 girls who are the foodies, writing from two different cities. Melissa posts from Boston and Angela from New York City. This fantastic blog features original recipes, local food events, and restaurant reviews. Stop by their blog, and say hi! I made their Apples Empanadas a la mode today. They are just wonderful. They remind me of some wonderful commercial pies I used to eat when I was a little girl. The pies brought back warm memories for me!! Try these. You will love them!

Apple Empanadas a la Mode
4 tablespoon unsalted Butter
3 large Baking Apples
3 tablespoon Dark Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 box frozen Puff Pastry, thawed(this takes about 40 minutes)
Flour, for dusting
Pinch Salt
Optional: 3 tablespoon Dark Rum
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Peel your apples.
Core your apples, and dice them into small bite sized pieces.
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Once the butter is completely melted, add the apples
and stir them until they are soft. This does not take long.
Once the apples are soft, add your brown sugar,
cinnamon, salt, and rum, if you so desire. I omitted the rum.
Let this cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.
Once the 10 minutes are up, mush the apples with a fork
until it looks like lumpy applesauce.
During the 10 minutes, start to cut out your circles
from the puff pastry. Unfold the puff pastry. Use something 
that is 4-5 " in diameter to cut out your circles.You can see
that I used my funnel which was 4 1/2" wide. It worked great!
Using a paring knife or pastry wheel, cut out your circles.
There is 1 of the 4 circles I cut from 1 puff pastry sheet.
I made 1/2  of the recipe, 
so I only ended up with 4 empanadas.
Scoop 2 tablespoons of apple mixture onto each circle.
Fold each pastry circle in half. 
Pinch the ends closed.
Crimp the ends of the pastry with fork tines.
Pretty!
Take the 1 tablespoon of butter that you didn't use,
melt it, and gently spread it on the empanadas.
Poke a couple holes in the top of each pastry,
allowing it to vent while baking.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until they start to
turn light brown. 
Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream!
Enjoy!






19 comments:

  1. Looks fantastic! I love using puff pastry to get dessert faster!

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  2. Those sound wonderful. Puff pastry makes such fun dishes. These could be served for a casual family dinner or a fancier feast.

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  3. Isn't puff pastry just the best? I really need to experiment with it more. Great pick for SRC...they look amazing! Oh and great call on the ice cream - so necessary :)

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  4. I bet this tastes fantastic, especially with the ice cream. This makes me want to have some!

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  5. Great choice for SRC, these look so delicious! So glad to be in Group C with you! :)

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  6. What a great take on empanadas, using puff pastry is brilliant!

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  7. That was absolutely deserving of a big dip of vanilla bean! Great recipe and choice for SRC!

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  8. Isn't puff pastry amazing....these look delightful! Great SRC choice.

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  9. I love anything apple!! Great looking dessert!

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  10. Hi! Visiting from SRC group C. These apple empanadas look amazing!

    Denise @ Creative Kitchen

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  11. Looks delicious and I love the ease of using the puff pastry dough.

    If you haven't already, I'd love for you to check out my Group 'A' SRC entry: Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites

    Lisa~~
    Cook Lisa Cook

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  12. Love a sweet empanada versus savory! Nice selection. Glad to be part of SRC group C with you.

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  13. These look delicious. Puff pastry is fun to work with. Great SRC choice.

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  14. Okay, these seriously look divine! And I love how easy they sound. Can't wait to try them out. Glad to be in Group C with you!! :)

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  15. Oh my goombas, can you believe we are just now stumbling on this? They look GREAT! :)

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