Sweet Potato Apple and Chickpea Empanadas

Ingredients

• For the Dough
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cups shortening
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 2 1/2 - 3 cups all-purpose flour
• For the Filling
• 2 cups sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup apples, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
• 1 cup cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 2 tsp. shredded Parmesan cheese
• 2 tsp. fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• For Finishing
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. water
• About 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Make the dough. In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer. Pour the heated milk into the bowl of your stand mixer and add the shortening and butter. Let everything sit for 10-15 minutes, until the fats have melted and the liquid has cooled to 105-115 degrees Fahrenheit. Stir in the yeast and let everything sit for another 10 minutes.
2. After 10 minutes, start mixing with the dough hook attachment on low speed. Gradually add in 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Once the flour is incorporated, beat the dough on medium speed for 5 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic. If the dough is sticky, add in another 1-2 tablespoons of flour. Using your hands, shape the dough into a ball and then place it back in your mixing bowl. Cover the bowl loosely with a towel. Let the dough rise in a warm spot in your house until it has doubled in size, about 35-45 minutes.
3. While the dough is rising, make the filling. In a medium saucepan, combine the sweet potatoes, apples, coconut milk, garlic and curry powder. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Cook, covered, for about 12-15 minutes. The potatoes and apples should be very soft. Remove from the heat. Pour off any remaining liquid you may have. Then lightly mash the mixture with a fork. Fold in the remaining ingredients. Set aside.
4. Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. In a small bowl, beat together the egg and the water. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
5. Punch down the risen dough. On a well floured surface, roll the dough out into a long, thin log. Then cut the dough into 22 equal-sized pieces. Working with just a couple of pieces at a time, shape the dough pieces into balls. Then roll them out into 3 1/2- to 4-inch circles. Prick the surface of the dough with a fork, then brush the edges with the egg wash. Place a rounded tablespoon of the filling in the center of each dough round. Fold the dough in half and press the edges together, first with your fingers and then with the tines of a fork. Transfer the empanadas to your parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Continue working until all the empanadas have been formed.
6. Bake the empanadas in your pre-heated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush the tops with the egg wash. Then sprinkle with some of the shredded Parmesan cheese. Return the empanadas to your oven and bake for another 3 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and the cheese has melted . Remove from the oven and let the empanadas cool slightly on their baking sheets.
7. Using a spatula, transfer the empanadas to a serving platter. Enjoy while still warm.
8. Empanadas are best when eaten fresh from the oven. But they can be stored in an airtight container in your refrigerator for 1-2 days and re-heated before serving.

Brie and Jam Pretzel Hand Pies

Brie and Jam Pretzel Hand Pies
A Girl Versus Dough original
Yields: About 16 mini pies
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1/4 lb brie, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water (egg wash)
Sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions:
Combine water, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer; let sit 5 minutes until foamy.
Add flour, salt and butter; stir to combine. Using a dough hook, knead dough on medium speed 5 minutes until smooth, elastic and slightly tacky (alternatively, you can turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand 10 minutes until smooth, elastic and slightly tacky).
Shape dough into a ball and place in a large, lightly greased bowl. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place 1 hour until doubled.
When dough is nearly doubled, combine water and baking soda in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
Punch down dough. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Use a round biscuit or cookie cutter to cut out circles of dough. Re-roll out scraps as needed.
Spoon a teaspoon or so of jam into the center of half the dough circles. Top with a piece of brie. Top with another dough circle to form a pie; use fingers or fork tines to seal the edges. Transfer pies to a lightly floured baking sheet or platter.
Place about 3 hand pies at a time in the boiling water bath; boil 30 seconds. Using a slotted spoon, remove pies and transfer to a parchment paper or silicone mat-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pies, placing pies about 1 inch apart on baking sheets.
Lightly brush tops of pies with egg wash, then sprinkle with sea salt. Bake 12 to 14 minutes until golden brown and puffed. Cool slightly on a cooling rack before serving.

Homemade Pop Tarts

• 1 pkg. prepared pie crust
• chocolate hazelnut spread or nutella
• strawberry jam
• blueberry jam
• cinnamon and sugar mix
• assorted sprinkles

Other things you’ll need:

• pizza cutter
• baking sheet
• rolling pin

Ingredients for the glaze:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2-4 tbsp. milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• food coloring (I used red and violet)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay out your prepared pie crust or if you want to make it from scratch, you may also do so. Now using a pizza cutter, cut it in 2×3 inch rectangles.

Set the excess aside. Take a tablespoon of your preferred filling, and place it in the middle of your cut pie crust. Cover it with another cut pie crust.

Take a fork and gently press the edge together. This will seal the pie crust and ensure that your filling will not ooze out when you bake it.

Repeat this until you’ve used up all your cut pie crust and place them in your baking sheet.

I didn’t forget about the pie dough I set aside earlier. Roll it out until flat and you can still make about one pop tart out of it!

Now that you’ve made all your beautiful pop tarts. Put them in the oven for about 8-10 minutes or until they’re golden brown. Let it cool before you decorate.

While waiting for the pop tarts to cool, make your vanilla glaze first by combining all the ingredients except for the food coloring. Mix them together until you have a smooth consistency.

I like variation in my decoration so I’m adding my food coloring last. Grab a few cups (depending on how many colors you want to make) and put your finished glaze in it. Take a few drops of food coloring and mix it until you have your desired color. Repeat this process until you have all the colors you want.

Now the fun part! Decorate your pop tart however you want to. Just don’t forget to put your glaze first before adding your sprinkles. Do this while it’s still wet.

Savory Irish Stout Pies

Ingredients

For the Filling
• 1 lb ground hamburger
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup diced carrot
• Use whatever vegetables you have one hand if you prefer in addition to the ones above
• 2 Tbsp Worcestershire
• 1 Tbsp dried thyme
• 1 Tbsp dried garlic or 1 bulb fresh garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (12 oz) bottle Guinness
• 
  
For the Pastry Dough
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 4-5 Tbsp cold water
•  
• INSTRUCTIONS
  • Brown hamburger, drain off fat.
  • Add onion, celery and carrot, along with spices. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly until veggies have started to soften.
  • Pour in bottle of Guinness and cook over medium until most of the liquid is gone.
  • Take off heat and let cool slightly before placing in pastry.
  • This recipe will make more than you need.
  • We made about 8 hand pies and had a lot left over.
  • In a medium bowl stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea-sized.
  • Sprinkle 1 Tbsp water over part of the mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to the side of the bowl. Repeat, using 1 Tbsp at a time, until all the dough is moistened. Form dough into a ball.
  • Onto a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten dough. Roll from center to edge. However big you want this is fine, it just needs to make 16 circles total.
  • We used a 5 inch round glass and cut around to form the circles. Make 16 for tops and bottoms of the hand pies.
  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Place about 1/3 a cup of the beef mixture on a pastry circle.
  • Dab some milk on the bottom edges with a pastry brush. Top with another pastry circle.
  • Press the 2 together and seal with a fork. Make it as pretty as you want!
  • Continue with all of them until you are finished.
  • Place on a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  • For browning, you can brush tops with a mixture of 1 egg yolk and a tablespoon of water.
  • Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.