Spicy Chicken Empanadas

Good evening foodies! It's been a very long week chock full of homework, errands, and anxiety. Nothing calms my anxiety more than comfort food, and honestly, there's nothing more comforting than Mexican food. I personally feel that empanadas are a perfect comfort food. They are little folded and stuffed pastries. They are usually fried, but they could also be baked. There are far too many variations to list (almost every country has their own variation), but today we will be sticking with a traditional Mexican variation. I'm eager to share this recipe with y'all, so grab your aprons and vamonos a la cocina!

Empanada Dough

You will need:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, frozen, cubed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 to 5 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg, lightly whisked

1. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. 
2. In a food processor pulse the flour with the cold butter until you get a crumbly mixture. 
3. Transfer to a bowl. 
4. Add the egg and milk and knead in to form a sort of dough. 
5. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and bring together into a ball. 
6. Pat into a circle of 1-inch thickness, wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

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Spicy Chicken Empanadas

Yields 15

You will need:

• 1 onion, diced fine
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced + 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
• 1 teaspoon cumin powder
• 1 egg separated
• 1/4 cup grated cheese
• 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped coriander
• 2 tablespoons oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• Empanada Dough

1. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan. 
2. Saute the onions and garlic until translucent. 
3. Add the chicken, chopped peppers, adobo sauce and cumin and toss to coat. 
4. Cook for a few minutes. If it gets too dry, add water to get the right consistency. 
5. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. 
6. Mix the cheese and coriander into the chicken mixture.
7. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out to 1/8 inch thickness. 
8. Cut out 4-inch rounds. 
9. Place about a tablespoon of the filling a bit off center and spread to the edges leaving a 1/4-inch border. 
10. Brush the border with egg whites. 
11. Fold the dough over the filling and press the edges to seal. 
12. You can use a fork to make groove marks on the edges.
13. Freeze the filled empanadas for 10 to 15 minutes. 
14. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and baked the empanadas for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and flaky. 
15. Cool for just a few minutes and serve immediately.

Thank you  for joining me this week! I'll be back as soon as I can with another delicious recipe. Have a great week, and happy blogging to you all!

~Mandie