Chocolate-Banana Empanadas

Today my husband came into the room holding some new recipes that he was very excited about.One of them was a recipe for Chocolate Banana Empanadas. I had never made them before, so I was a bit hesitant at first, but decided, hey, what the heck, right? They seemed pretty easy to make actually, so I figured something was going to go horribly wrong. To my surprise, they were good, and definitely for chocolate lovers. They were a bit much for my taste, but if you love chocolate these are right up your alley.

The recipe is as follows...

Empanada Dough

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup Masa Harina
1 Teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water (for egg wash)
Butter for greasing pans
(Filling recipe is below)

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, masa harina, baking powder, salt. Stir in the melted butter. Gradually add 1/2 cup to 3/4 cups of water, working it in your hands to incorporate; The dough should be easy to handle and not sticky.
Side note: We ended up having to add about a cup of water til the consistency was right, you will  have to play it as needed, when it is too dry it will flake apart very easily!
Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic, and chill for 30 minutes.

While your dough is chilling, you can go ahead and start on the filling for your empanadas. You will need..
4 Large Ripe Bananas
2 tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 ounces semisweet chocolate (broken in small chunks)
Confectioners sugar for dusting.

Mash the bananas, sugar, and cinnamon all together in a mixing bowl until creamy, but not completely smooth-you should still have pieces of banana chunks.  Set aside. Remove dough from fridge.

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 cutter or biscuit cutter, cut out 10 circles of dough, repeat with the other half.
Side Note: Believe it or not, we don't have cookie cutters... I know right?! If you don't have them you can use your measuring cups for templates.

 Spoon about a tablespoon of filling into the center of each pastry circle, leaving a 1/2 inch border.

Place a chunk of chocolate (or as we did, very small bits) onto the top of the bananas.
Side note: Next time around I would recommend mixing the chocolate pieces in with the banana mix individually. Our chocolate sat right on top and it was a bit strong.

Next, brush the edges all around with egg wash, and then fold the dough over in 1/2 to enclose the filling and form a semi-circle.

Seal the edges (above) with a fork. Chill 30 minutes before baking.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place the Empanadas on a buttered baking sheet and brush the tops with egg wash. Using a fork, prick a few holes in the top for steam to escape.
The recipe says to bake for 30 minutes, however, mine went about 23 minutes.
Dust with powdered sugar to desired liking!

  Courtesy of Food Network

Enjoy!