Beef Empanadillas

Note: Prep time does not include time for dough to rest or for meat mixture to cool. Cooking time does not include time to bake several trays. This recipe does take some time to make from start to finish.

Dough: Add flour, baking powder and salt to the food processor and pulse briefly to combine. Take cold butter and shortening, cut into small pieces, add to the processor mix and pulse until mix is the size of coarse crumbs. Add ice cold water and pulse just until the dough holds into a ball. Remove, divide dough in half, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate for an hour or overnight. The dough will be soft.

Filling: Saute onion and garlic in oil just until soft. Add ground beef and saute just until browned. Spend some time breaking the meat into the smallest pieces possible while cooking. Drain any excess grease. Add potatoes, tomato, oregano, salt, pepper, and thyme. Cover and cook until potatoes are done about 5 to 10 minutes. Uncover and continue to saute until the mixture is fairly dry. Allow to cool completely.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use ungreased, flat cookie sheets to bake empanadillas.

Roll out dough until very thin. Cut into 3 or 3-1/2 inch circles. Add a tablespoon or so of filling to each dough circle, fold in half and press together. I have found that since the dough is soft that it works best to put a circle of dough in the palm of my hand, add the filling, fold the circle in half, place on ungreased cookie sheet and crimp the edge with a fork for a nice decorative effect.

Egg Wash: Combine egg, milk and salt. Brush on top of the empanadillas.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. May be served warm or at room temperature. These also reheat nicely for 30 seconds in the microwave. Making these appetizer-sized, you will end up with about 72 empanadillas and all of the dough and filling gets used up completely.