What is the traditional empanada crust?

April 28, 2017 10:37 AM

Short crust, hot water crust, puff pastry, something else entirely?

I have been tasked with making empanadas for a party tomorrow. I will confess that I have only had an empanada once in my life, despite being an adventurous cook and eater, and they were terrible. I know they make rounds of dough for empanadas but I can't find them, so, I will be making my own. They need to travel well or I would just go straight for my American pie short crust recipe. They seem like a hot water crust sort of food, like a pastie. I'm really just taking a shot in the dark. Any ideas?

posted by Foam Pants to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

I grew up with influence from northern Mexico cuisine. We always used the same kind of piecrust that we use for pumpkin and peach pies. Your regular pie crust should be fine for either sweet or savory empanadas.
posted by tilde at 10:46 AM on April 28, 2017

Pie dough will work great and be super tasty for any application.

However, just about everyone in the latin world has something they call an empanada, and it can be pretty different. The widest swing I think is Colombia, where theirs are made out of deep fried masa.

As usual, Serious Eats has a great breakdown of the types and differences of the all encompasing term.
posted by furnace.heart at 11:08 AM on April 28, 2017

We didn't have empanadas much, but when we did we always used a pie crust-type recipe. Lard is traditional, and Crisco was my grandmother's preference but butter will do, too.

My mother will sometimes roll out and cut/shape the boxed or refrigerated pie crust dough, but she doesn't like to cook very much and fully admits a homemade dough is better if you've got the time or talent.
posted by PearlRose at 11:13 AM on April 28, 2017

I have used my regular pie crust recipe for Chilean-style large baked empanadas with no problems. Online recipes seem to be simpler (this one has butter, the ones I am seeing in Spanish from Chilean sources veer toward shortening or lard).
posted by vunder at 11:20 AM on April 28, 2017

Shortening will make a flakier crust, and butter will make a more flavorful crust. Lard is like the best of both worlds. A lot of crusts use half-butter, half-shortening to get a mix of flavor and flake.
posted by muddgirl at 11:25 AM on April 28, 2017

I always made them with P.A.N. harina blanca (pre-cooked masarepa). But that seriouseats link furnace.heart posted has me wanting to try all the varieties. I think if you make a meat-pie stuffed with latin-american flavors and deep-fry it, you can call it an empanada of some sort.
posted by dis_integration at 11:41 AM on April 28, 2017

The Argentine ones are kind of in between pie crust and puff pastry, iirc.
posted by rhizome at 4:30 PM on April 28, 2017

I think you're on the right track thinking its's a hot water crust. For Chilean empanadas, I've seen recipes calling for boiling water, or warm water as in this online recipe:

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup lard, melted
3/4 cup warm milk
1/4 cup warm water

Mix flour with salt and baking powder. Add melted lard, milk, and water. Mix well, until it comes together as a smooth and non-sticky dough. Let rest for 1/2 hour, then divide into pieces so they will be easier to roll out.
posted by needled at 6:06 PM on April 28, 2017

I ended up going with a short crust but one that had egg yolk in it. I figured it would be a little sturdier than my traditional short crust with only flour, fat, and water. They turned out pretty well and managed to make it to the party. However, I do plan on trying a hot water crust at some point because I have a feeling it would completely eliminate any leaking and could be rolled out a little thinner.
posted by Foam Pants at 9:29 PM on April 29, 2017