Apple pie empanadas

What’s better than apple pie??? APPLE PIE EMPANADAS! That’s right, I went there. Why not get two of my favorite foods and make it one?! I thought about then when I was making apple pie last year and ended up with leftover filling. I had empanada dough thawed out in my fridge, & thought why not!? Now the dough I used is to fry but you can also bake these babies. Take it from me, frying is the way to go. The crunchy bite of the crispy empanada exterior with the oooey gooooey apple pie filling surprise inside. Unreal....Now I wanted to take it to the next level so I of course coated them with a sinfully delicious cinnamon sugar crust. It’s so wrong on so many levels, but this makes the PERFECT cheat day bite.

For this recipe I chose honey crisp apples which are my personal favorite. After my road trip upstate in NY, I really became intrigued with all the different types of apples. I know Granny Smith is traditional for apple pie filling but I just feel like honey crisp has the perfect sweet & tart balance. Serve these warm with vanilla bean ice cream.

Ingredients

• 2 large apples (I like to use honeycrisp) Peeled, cored & cut into tiny cubes.

• Juice of 1 lemon

• 1/4 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup AP flour

• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

• a little bit of grated nutmeg

• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1 tsp. corn starch

• Empanada wrappers for frying

• Vegetable oil

Cinnamon sugar

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 2 tbsp. ground cinnamon

Makes 20 mini empanadas

Instructions

1. In a large bowl toss together the apples, brown sugar and lemon juice. Let it hang out for 30 min. so all the juices come together.

2. In another bowl mix together your granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, & salt. Pour this mixture into your apple mixture bowl and bring all these flavors together.

3. Now, in a medium size saucepan over medium heat start cooking this apple mix for 6-7 minutes until the apples start to soften cook down. Add your butter, vanilla & corn starch and keep mixing with a wooden spoon. The corn starch will start making your filling nice & thick. Once cooked, spread your filling evenly onto a sheet pan so that it fully cools (pictured below)

4. Defrost your empanadas wrappers. Moisten the outer edge of each wrapper with water and put a tiny spoonful into each wrapper making sure to not overfill. Wrap your dough around the filling to form your empanada. Using a fork, crimp the edges of the empanadas. Set aside. In a small bowl whisk together your cinnamon sugar ingredients.

5. Heat oil in a fry pan to about 350F. Once the oil is hot, add one empanada at a time, flipping after about 5 minutes on both sides until golden brown. Once your empanada is done take out of the oil & immediately toss in your cinnamon sugar bowl making sure both sides are covered in that delicious sweet mix. There you have it!