apple empanadas

My husband and I hosted our very first Thanksgiving last week, and it was super awesome!

My favorite part of the meal was the sixteen pound turkey we roasted.  It was cooked to perfection.  Seriously, I don’t know how it turned out so juicy and so moist, each bite just melted in your mouth.

The side dishes were some of the most delicious I’ve ever tasted: flavorful stuffing with celery and onion, creamy mashed potatoes, sweet cinnamon corn casserole, roasted green beans with shallots and garlic, sour cream strawberry jello mold and a sweet pickle and black olive relish tray.

I find my strong, favorable reaction to our meal slightly odd.

I mean it’s not like I’d never tasted a turkey or those side dishes before. My family has enjoyed the same Thanksgiving meal, with those exact dishes, year after year after year (we are BIG on tradition).

So I don’t know if it was just psychological because we were the ones who prepared the meal or if how I felt really was the truth, but whatever the case, my husband and I both felt like we rocked this Thanksgiving meal.

Dessert was the only part of our meal that was a first for me.

I made mini apple empanadas that were dusted with cinnamon sugar, served with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and topped with a drizzle of caramel sauce.

Everyone agreed, their appearance was just adorable and their taste exceptional, all thanks to a fabulously flaky crust and delectable filling.

I  give thanks for these, enjoy!

Mini Apple Empanadas

Recipe adapted from Sarah Hearts and allrecipes.com

3-4 small/medium apples, peeled and diced
3 T unsalted butter
2 T brown sugar
1/8 t cinnamon

1 c flour, sifted
1/3 c cream cheese, whipped
1/2 c butter, softened

1/4 c sugar
2 t cinnamon

Use a mixer to cream butter and cream cheese together until well blended, add flour and blend. Gather dough into smooth ball, wrap in foil and refrigerate for a few hours. Remove dough from refrigerator 20 minutes before using. Roll dough out thin on a lightly floured surface. Cut 10 circles with 3 or 4 inch round cookie cutter**.

Place diced apple and butter in a saute pan and cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes or until apple begins to soften. Add brown sugar and cinnamon and cook for another 3 minutes (stir constantly).

Place a tablespoon of apple mixture on one half of a pie dough circle, fold dough over and use prongs of fork to seal edges. Place empanadas on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake at 375 for 17 minutes or until golden brown.

When cooled slightly, place each empanada in bowl of cinnamon-sugar mixture, turn over so as to coat both sides. Top with scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and drizzle with caramel sauce.

**I used the open end of a clean, empty soup can since I didn’t have a round cookie cutter.