Baked Whole Wheat Empanadas

I haven’t made empanadas since last fall. Mine are always baked now, not fried because it is healthier. For the same reason mine dough is whole and sprouted wheat and not white flour.

To keep our dinner healthier I served a few of these with a little guacamole to dip them in, along with a big green salad with hummus. Both the hubby and I enjoyed these tonight. Here is what I made.

Baked Whole Wheat Empanadas
Makes 20

Dough Ingredients:

1 cup whole-wheat flour
½ cup sprouted whole-wheat flour (or substitute whole wheat flour)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
½ cup warm water, or more

Filling Ingredients:

½ red onion, peeled and finely diced
½ cup water
1 tablespoon tomato paste
½ cup golden raisins
½ pound ground seitan
¼ teaspoon oregano, dried
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon chili powder
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper

1 tablespoon canola oil, for drizzling on top of finished prebaked empanadas

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper, or silpat.

Place the dough ingredients in your food processor and process until combined. If the dough does not form a ball add a little more water, a tablespoon at a time until the dough forms. Wrap the finished dough in plastic cling film and set while you make the filling.

Water sauté the onion until soft. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. You may need to add a little water or wine to encourage the tomato paste to meld with the other ingredients. Allow the filling to cool before placing in the dough.

Roll 1/6th of the dough as thin as you can. Cut out circles with your largest biscuit cutter (mine was approximately 3 inches). Place a tablespoon of the filling in the center of the dough and use your fingers to seal the dough. Then use a fork to crimp the edges. Place the empanada on the half sheet pan. Continue until all the dough has been used.

Drizzle the top of the empanadas with a little canola oil (I may have used a tablespoon), or spray the tops of the empanadas with canola oil spray. Bake the empanadas for 30 minutes until firm.

Serve hot with guacamole or lime flavored tofu sour cream for dipping.

Nutritional Information (for 1/20th of the recipe):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 76.2
Calories From Fat (23%) - 17.62

Total Fat - 2.19g
Saturated Fat - 0.2g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 145.63mg
Potassium - 80.35mg
Total Carbohydrates - 12g
Fiber - 1.84g
Sugar - 2.84g
Protein - 4.47g

Comments:

I was chatting with Rose today and she mentioned ravioli and after that I had filled dough on the brain. Since it had been so long since I made empanadas I thought they would taste good tonight. The hubby was quite quick to agree with me that this was a good idea for dinner. While this isn’t exactly health food, when the meal is more veggie than empanada it is still healthy.

Unrelated note:

Dan is taking tomorrow off so we are spending the day together. I don’t expect to be online much tomorrow and it may be Wednesday before I get another recipe posted, it depends on how much time we spend out of the house.

I still a few recipes from the weekend to post. Right now I have the following posts yet to write: porky seitan cutlets, veggie lo mein with black bean sauce, and revision to the chocolate covered date and walnut truffles.

I hope you all have a great day tomorrow. I will be back as soon as I can with another recipe or two.