Foundation
Empanada Dough
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Prep
20 minutes, plus 2 hours chilling
Total
2 hr 20 min
Serves
Makes enough for about 12 to 14 empanadas
Keeps
Wrapped and chilled up to 2 days, or frozen up to 1 month.
A flaky, all-purpose dough for any empanada. Self-rising flour and masa harina give it lift and a tender, corn-scented bite, and cold butter cut in rough keeps it shatter-crisp. Make one batch and fill it however you like.
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups (840 ml) self-rising flour
- 1 cup (240 ml) masa harina
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cup (170 g) unsalted butter, cold, cut in small dice
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 2/3 cup (155 ml) water, cold
- 2 Tbsp white distilled vinegar
Instructions
- 1Combine the self-rising flour, masa harina, and salt in a large bowl.
- 2Cut the cold butter into the flour until it looks like rough crumbs, with some pea-sized pieces still visible.
- 3In a separate bowl, whisk together the cold water, vinegar, and beaten eggs.
- 4Add the wet to the dry and mix gently until the dough just comes together. Do not overmix.
- 5Wrap in plastic and chill at least 2 hours before rolling.
- 6To use, roll the dough thin, cut rounds, fill, fold into half-moons, and seal the edges before frying or baking.
How to Use This
The base for any empanada. Roll thin, use about 1 ounce of filling per 1.5 ounces of dough, fold and seal, then fry or bake. Used in Bone Marrow Empanadas and Huitlacoche Empanadas.
Why This Foundation Works
Self-rising flour gives lift, masa harina adds corn flavor and a tender bite, and cold diced butter cut in rough keeps the dough flaky. A splash of vinegar relaxes the gluten so the dough rolls thin without springing back.
Make It Yours
- For an extra-rich, shatter-crisp shell (the bone marrow version), swap about a third of the butter for an equal weight of cold beef fat (suet), cut into the flour alongside the butter.
- Keep everything cold.
Keep Cooking
