Empanada Dough II

On the way to the refrigerator

Total time:  15 minutes.

* 3 cups flour
* pinch of salt
* 2 teaspoons sugar
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 cup lard or shortening
* 3/4 cup chicken stock
* 1 egg

Preparation:
Mix the dry ingredients together. Cut in the lard with a pastry cutter or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk egg and mix into chicken broth. Mix the broth and egg into the flour mixture and knead until dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Lightly flour a surface and roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 4-inch circles for small empanadas, 5-inch for medium ones or 6-inch for large ones. Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of the dough circle for small empanadas, 2 tablespoons for medium and 3 tablespoons for large.

Fold dough over to make a filled half circle and use a fork to press the edges together. Refrigerate uncooked empanadas for 3 hours.

Fry in 350 degree oil for 6-7 minutes or until golden brown.

Update June 16, 2009 – Used this dough recipe for potato pockets, and it was cuppylicious! I didn’t use a circle cut-out, though. Instead, I divided up the dough into 12 equal fist-sized balls and rolled them individually. Also, 1/4″ is a little thick for me, so I rolled mine thinner. It’s really preference.

When I put flour down on my board, it seemed to make the dough sort of elastic-feeling, so I wiped the board clean and rolled without. I think Empanada Dough I is “flakier” than this recipe. Perhaps if I’d only rolled the dough to 1/4″ thick instead of so thin like I did…? Regardless, my potato pockets recipe made the exact right amount to use all the dough. Woohoo!