Chocolate Caramel Empanadas

I hope you all had a great weekend! My daughter and my son's girlfriend came downtown to our loft for a ladies night with me and my girlfriend, and they stayed the night in my living room. So we had a fun evening. I made a bunch of different Empanadas  so this week is Empanada  week. If you do not know what an Empanada is, it is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried in many countries in South Europe, Latin America, and parts of Southeast Asia. The name means to wrap or coat in bread. 

Empanadas are made by folding dough or bread around stuffing, which usually consists of a variety of meat, cheese, vegetables or fruits, among others things. 

I chose to make some dessert Empanadas. These are my new favorite Empanadas. You need these in your life for the times you get a cheat day, or just need good old comfort food. You can make the dough ahead of time so that on a whim you can whip some together. 

Gluten Free Chocolate Caramel Empanadas

Pastry:
1 1/2 cups better batter gluten free flour
1 pinch of salt
3 tablespoons sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
1/4 cup ice water

Filling:
Chocolate Chips
Caramel Candies (Kraft are gluten free)

Place flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of a mixer. 

Add the butter and cut in with a paddle until it resembles wet clumpy sand. Add the egg yolk and mix until incorporated. Add the water in a slow drizzle until it comes together in a ball. 

Place the ball of dough on plastic wrap. 

Flatten the dough into a disk, and then wrap the dough tightly and store in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before using, or overnight until ready to use. The dough can also be frozen.

Roll out the dough.

Use a 4 inch cutter, you should have about 1 dozen disks. Place on parchment paper or silicone baking mat to ready for filling.

Fill with Chocolate chips and caramel candy chips (note: in my picture the chocolate is melted because I was out of chocolate chips so I made them from bakers chocolate, whipping cream and sugar).

Place a heaping tablespoon in the center of each disk. Brush the edges with water and fold the dough over the filling, pressing the edges shut. Crimp with a fork to seal. 

Heat up canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry the empanadas on each side until they are golden brown. 

Best served immediately, hot!

Bite in to these bad boys for a gooey mix of chocolate and caramel. Delish!