Baked Empanadas

Make pastry crust. Mix softened butter and cream cheese by hand or stand mixer until smooth. Add half and half and combine. Add salt and flour, mix till just combined. Knead the dough until one cohesive dough ball forms. Wrap the dough in plastic, forming it into a disk. Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.

While the dough is chilling make the filling. :) In a large skillet add a tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil, diced potatoes, onions and carrots sautéing until softened.

Add ground beef to the skillet cooking until no longer pink. Drain off any fat.

Make seasoning blend. In a small bowl combine: 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder with parsley, 1/2 teaspoon of Mexican oregano leaves, 1/4 teaspoon of cocoa powder, 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander, 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin and 1 teaspoon of salt.

Add the tomato sauce to the skillet.

Add the seasoning blend to the meat and 1/2 cup of drained peas stirring until combined. Once everything is heated through, remove from heat and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a floured worksurface, roll out the dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut 6-inch circles out of the dough. I cut my circles using an upside-down medium mixing bowl which works great!

Fill each 6-inch circle with 2 tablespoons of filling.

Fill a small bowl with water. Dip a fork (tines) into the water and crimp the empanadas. Dip, crimp, dip crimp until sealed.

Place the empanadas on the prepared baking sheet and brush with olive or vegetable oil. Bake for 10 minutes then rotate and bake for another 10 minutes or until the empanadas are a light golden brown.

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!