This is a recipe from our ebook Paleo Olé – we thought it’d be fun to share a recipe from it with everyone here on the blog. We love these little hand sized pockets of goodness, and this new pastry recipe is simply wonderful. It only uses one flour, Otto’s Cassava Flour…minimal, real and simple ingredients.
These little pockets of tastiness go by many different names all over the world, but according to my Aunt Rita, they are empanadas in Mexico and they are filled with sweetness! Pumpkin and pineapple are two scrumptious choices, both are amazing and perfect little pockets of taste bud happiness. Hand held pastry filled with just enough flavor inside to keep you grabbing for more.
However, don’t let that stop you from filling this amazing pastry with something savory, simply skip the cinnamon…or leave it in, depending on the filling. A little hint of cinnamon with a savory filling could also be very delicious.
paleo empanadas
perfect little cassava flour paleo empanadas
Credit: backporchpaleo.com
Ingredients
- empanada dough
- 1 cup Otto’s Cassava Flour
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Redmond Real Salt
- ½ cup organic lard
- 1 large room temperature egg, whisked
- ¼ cup raw milk
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbl raw milk
- 2 tbl maple or coconut sugar pumpkin filling
- ½ cup pumpkin
- 1½ tbl butter
- 1½ tbl maple syrup
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp Redmond Real Salt
- pinch of cloves
- pinch of nutmeg pineapple filling
- ½ cup fresh pineapple, very finely diced
- 3-4 tbl maple or coconut sugar
- pinch of Redmond Real Salt
Directions
- filling
- pumpkin: combine all ingredients in small saucepan over low heat until, until warm & aromatic
- pineapple: spoon finely chopped pineapple right onto prepared empanada round, sprinkle with a little maple sugar and a teeny pinch of salt
- Mix together, cassava flour, cinnamon and salt.
- Add lard and work into flour mixture with your fingers until crumbly.
- Pour whisked egg into flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until it all comes together.
- Add ¼ cup raw milk (or full fat coconut milk) and with the wooden spoon stir it well until the dough ball comes together and sides are clean.
- Use your hands to roll dough ball around in the bowl and knead against the side of the bowl until it’s smooth. Remove dough from bowl, roll between your hands until you have a nice smooth dough.
- Preheat oven to 425 ̊
- Roll dough out between two pieces of parchment dusted with flour until approximately ¼” thick
- Cut out 3½” circles from dough, re-rolling scraps until you have used up all the dough. You should get approximately 12-14.
- Place circle of dough on parchment lined baking sheet with around 1½ tsp of desired filling. Carefully fold dough over to create a half circle and press down to seal edge all the way around. Use a fork to crimp edges shut or finish off edge as desired.
- In a small bowl, mix together remaining yolk and 1 tbl of raw milk, brush each empanada lightly with the egg wash and dust with maple sugar.
- Cut a tiny slit in the top to allow steam to release during baking.
- Bake for 15-17 minutes or until golden, sprinkle with additional maple sugar when you remove them from the oven and they are still hot. Let cool slightly before enjoying, that filling is hot!
