Spanish Empanadas

Holy smokes. Color me astounded. I had made some bread-rolls with FiberFlour, and I liked them well enough; They were pretty dense and damp, and they had the vaguely unpleasant "twang" that I associate with a lot of low-carb baked goods, but I thought I could figure out some work-arounds. While waiting for my next shipment of flour, I thought I'd try making up a batch of empanadas, cleaning out the fridge for the filling.

I made a pretty standard dough -- 400 g FiberFlour, 200 g butter (frozen, grated, and then tossed with the flour), 4 T cream cheese (I think I will leave that out next time), and enough chilled water to bring it all together to a dough. I patted it into two disks, wrapped them in plastic, and let them rest in the fridge for an hour or so.

I rolled out one of the disks. It was a bit fiddly to work with -- very sticky (thanks in part to being so short, which is why I think I'll leave out the cream cheese next time), and with almost no stretch. On the other hand, it patches very easily. I made up three empanadas, baked them at 400F for 20 minutes, then egg-washed the tops (which I should have done from the beginning), turned the oven down to 375F, and baked for another 10 minutes. They are PERFECTLY cooked.

And they are seriously delicious. Wow. The pastry is rich and crumbly, and although I had a hint of "twang" in the first bite, by the time I finished, there was not a twang to be found. This is a total game-changer for me.

For what it's worth, the filling I used was a mix of chopped cooking chorizo (mild and picante, mixed), chopped bell peppers and onions, both sauteed in olive oil, and grated Manchego, all tossed together with some chopped parsley. I am so happy I have more, I cannot TELL you.