Time for Tyler Florence Fridays, this weekend eve I have a fun treat with south of the border flair...Tyler's Chocolate Banana Empanadas! I stumbled across this recipe on the foodnetwork site and knew I had to try it.
Chocolate Banana Empanadas
4 large ripe bananas
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 recipe empanada dough, recipe follows
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, broken in chunks (I used semisweet chocolate chips)
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Mash the bananas, sugar, and cinnamon together in a mixing bowl until creamy, but not completely smooth – you should still have pieces of banana chunks.
Spoon a generous tablespoon of the banana filling on the empanada pastry circles and stick a piece of chocolate on top. I actually just mixed the chocolate in with the mashed banana.
Form and bake the empanadas as directed in the recipe.
Empanada Dough
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup masa harina
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash (I skipped the egg wash)
Butter, for greasing the pans (not need on baking mat)
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, masa harina, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the melted butter. Gradually add 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup of water, working it in with your hands to incorporate; the dough should be easy to handle and not sticky.
Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic, and chill for 30 minutes. I did not chill my dough, I think I would have had a really tough time rolling out if I had.
Lightly flour your rolling pin and counter. Divide the dough in 1/2 so it will be easier to work with and roll it out to 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 4-inch cookie or biscuit cutter, cut out 10 circles of dough; repeat with the other 1/2.
Spoon 2 generous tablespoons of filling into the center of each pastry circle, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Brush the edges with the egg wash and then fold the dough over in 1/2 to enclose the filling and form a semi-circle. Tightly seal the edges by crimping with the tines of a fork. Chill at least 30 minutes before baking. I also skipped this chilling, I just didn't think it was necessary. I'm often skipping chilling times I deem unessential to the final result, so naughty :)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Place the empanadas on a buttered baking sheet and brush the tops with additional egg wash. Using a fork, prick a few holes in the top of the empanadas for steam to escape. Bake for 30 minutes, until the pastry is golden brown.
Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve hot.
Results & Changes: My only change was to add about 1/4 sugar to the empanada dough, I had read some reviews that it was bland. These little empanadas were a really fun little treat and the kids loved them. Picky husband was not even remotely interested in trying one, I thought they were pretty good. They are not difficult and the empanada dough is really easy to work with, I would say this is a great recipe to do with kids since it's really basic, even though there are a few different steps. Thank you for visiting, head on over to Tyler Florence Fridays to see what other delicious Tyler dishes people picked to try this week :)
