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Hi Bold Bakers!
I love the idea of sweet, chocolate Empanadas because they are a twist on the norm, something you don’t see every day. I thought Empanadas, being a very popular Latin American food, would pair perfectly with a sweet that is commonly enjoyed in Latin countries, Dulce de Leche.
The first time I ate empanadas was when I moved to the United States I was smitten. I had to make the cornmeal pastry when I worked as a bread baker for my first job in the U.S. That was also new to me, and I could not believe the perfect marriage of Dulce De Leche and this delicate pastry.
Dulce de Leche is prepared by slowly heating sweetened condensed milk to create a substance that derives its taste from cooking the sugars in the milk, changing its flavor and color. Literally translated, it means “candy made of milk.” This caramel has many uses, including the gorgeous caramel in Banoffee pie and I used it in my Dulce de Leche Homemade Ice Cream recipe.
This is the first recipe I’m showing you using my new Alfa Pizza Wood-Fired Oven. I have had so much fun making a variety of recipes in my oven, and I am very excited to share bread making and baking with you on a whole other level. So let’s get baking!
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Chocolate Dulce de Leche Empanadas
Ingredients
Chocolate Pastry Dough
- 2⅓ Cup (315g/10oz) plain flour
- 3 Tbsp icing sugar
- ⅓ cup (2oz/60g) cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- ¾ cup (200g/6 ½ oz) cold butter, cubed
- 2 egg yolk
- 4 Tbsp water , milk or coffee
- generous pinch of salt
Dulce De Leche Filling
- 1 can of condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
- egg wash
Instructions
- Start out by making the Dulce de leche (caramel):Peel the paper wrapper off a can of condensed milk. Line a small pot with a small tea towel (this is a cushion for the can and stops the can bouncing around)
- Place in a few cans and cover with water, up to 2 inches over the cans. I like to cook 3-4 cans so I have it for the future.
- Simmer for 2 hours. You can leave them undisturbed for this time.
- When the time is up, pour off the water and leave the cans to good cold.
- Inside your can you have lovely caramel. This will keep fresh in the can for months at room temperature.
- To make the pastry: Put the flour, icing sugar and salt in a large bowl (or in a food processor).
- Add the sieved cocoa powder and cinnamon.
- Rub in the cold cubed butter until it resembles bread crumbs.
- Mix together the egg yolks and water and add to the dry ingredients.
- Mix in until a dough forms. It doesn't take long.
- Wrap the pastry in cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minute to allow the gluten to relax. (you can freeze the pastry at this point)
- Roll out your dough on a floured surface until ¼ inch thick.
- brush egg wash around the rim of the pastry
- Spoon a teaspoon of your caramel on one half of your pastry disc. I like to sprinkle a tiny bit of salt on the caramel at this point.
- Fold the empanada discs and seal the edges gently with your fingers, then use the tip of a fork to further seal the edges. I like to curl up the edge at this point but it is optional
- Lightly brush the top of the empanadas with the egg wash; this will give them a nice golden glow when baked.
- Chill the empanadas for at least 30 minutes or until ready to bake, this will help them seal better.
- Bake the empanadas in a pre-heated oven at 375 F (190oC) for 15-20 minutes. The exact time will vary based on your oven and size of the empanadas.
- Serve the dulce de leche empanadas warm. You can sprinkle them with a little bit of cocoa powder and I highly recommend serving them with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream or simply on their own.
Hi I am from Ontario Canada….have making all your recipes even your recipe for banaffoee pie turned out so good..I have just made the empanadas and I it in the freezer as I do not have time to finish making them is it ok to leave froze for a few days….thankyou
Dear Gemma,
If I fry the empanadas, do I have to make some holes with fork to make the steam come out? Thank you so much.
II just made a batch of these and I loved the texture of the empanadas, but they were missing a level of sweetness (here is where my Mexican cajeta nostalgia kicks in). I wonder if I rolled the dough too thick so the ratio of chocolate bitterness and dulce de leche sweetness was then off…or maybe iI can sprinkle some sugar on the empanadas after baking?
I really love the way you introduce your recipes with no machine at all. Great work you have.
Is it okay if I’m going to make this recipe and sell it to my neighbors. I’m a stay at home mom who would like to help with our daily expenses. I have a son who needs special attention so I always browse through your website to look for recipes that I can make for sale. Salamat at mabuhay ka.
Hello Gemma. I love your recipes and always looking forward to your videos, but unfortunately this recipe didn’t work for me. I was following the recipe exactly, then I was up to the part then you put the dough in the fridge, but I accidentally left out a crucial ingredient, which was the cocoa powder. I was following the recipe exactly, that I didn’t even notice that I left out a very important ingredient, so the next thing I did was mix the cocoa powder with the dough with all my might, then I decided that it was ok enough… Read more »
Loved the recipe,glad i found your website!!!
Also how big should the pastry cutter be?
Thanks again 🙂
Hi! I made the chocolate empanadas. But, the dolce de lechie seems to either leek out and nothing is inside or it gets completely absorbed and again nothing inside.
Any replacement for egg?
I’m so excited to try this recipe. What is icing sugar?