A twist on classic empanadas
Holidays are a great excuse to get in the kitchen with the kids and make memories together! It's a great way to bond and teach essential life skills to your kids. Classic empanadas—puff pastry dough filled with your choice of cheese, meats, or veggies—get a fun twist for Easter with these step-by-step instructions on turning your empanadas into Easter eggs.
Decorating tools
You can use whatever decorating tools are available to you, but having an egg-shaped cookie cutter will be handy. Other decorating tools could include food coloring, brush, rubber stamp, paring knife and other cookie cutters.
Ingredients
For empanadas, you will need to make a basic empanada dough or use store-bought empanada dough discs. You’ll need an egg as well as your favorite empanada fillings. Cheese, ham and chorizo are my favorite fillings.
Cut egg-shaped dough pieces
Start by laying the dough flat and cutting as many egg-shaped pieces as possible. You’ll need two cut-outs per empanada.
Keep the dough scraps
After cutting the egg shapes, make use of the leftover scraps by cutting stripes and shapes that will later be used to decorate the top of the empanadas.
Give it a pastel pop of color
To decorate the empanadas with a pop of color, beat a raw egg, divide it into small dishes and mix in a few drops of food coloring to form the colors you wish to use. Use a brush to help you apply the color to the dough.
Add dough decorations
Once the empanada tops are painted, cut extra shapes from the dough scraps to make whimsical and creative decorations. Attach the shaped decorations by brushing one side of the dough with a little water and laying them over the empanada tops, gently pressing down. The possibilities are endless; explore with your kids and get creative!
Fill and cover the empanadas
You can use savory or sweet fillings, whatever you prefer. Spoon filling in the center, leaving a slight border around it. Wet the border with water to help seal the pieces together. With your fingers, press down around the edges to seal the empanada.
Maintain the perfect shape
When pressing down with your fingers to seal the empanada, the shape of the egg may get distorted. Use the egg-shaped cutter once more to give your empanada the perfect egg shape.
Bake your empanadas
Once you’ve filled, sealed and decorated your empanadas, place them in a preheated oven at 450 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes.
Choose a serving platter
Serve your empanadas on a beautiful platter and be ready to have fun picking your favorite masterpiece.
Make a dipping sauce
You can prepare a dipping sauce to go along with the empanadas. For savory empanadas, whip up a batch of cilantro mayo, as pictured, or a salsa.
