Blueberry Empanadas

After trying to stomach a dairy-based soup the other night and nearly vomiting all over the place, I lamented yet again that I cannot eat dairy or gluten products. I don’t really care about soups; the real kicker is that I get to pass by the breads and pastries in the store and can’t get any.

My husband has a potluck coming up soon and there are a few people like me (except worse) so I wanted to make something tasty that we could eat. It’s usually pretty difficult to find safe things to eat at a potluck because most people don’t think about the allergens they’re putting into their food. Let’s face it – why think about it if it doesn’t affect you?

I found a simple recipe for Blueberry Hand Pies (empanadas) posted by Carol Kicinski at Simply Gluten-Free and tested it out the other day. Here’s what I learned:

• don’t bake wax paper at 400 degrees – it burns and sets off the smoke alarm
• lightly flour your work surface when rolling out the dough
• don’t over-fill your pie – it will explode

Blueberry Empanadas:

Ingredients:

2c blueberries

1/4c sugar

1/2 lemon – juiced and zest finely grated

2tsp cornstarch (or tapioca starch)

1 box (7.5oz) Chebe Original or All-Purpose Bread Mix

3 large eggs

2tbsp melted butter or vegetable oil

Directions:

In a saucepan combine 1 1/2c blueberries with 1/4c sugar, lemon juice and zest. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes or until blueberries are very soft and start to burst. Combine cornstarch with 2tbsp water and stir into blueberries. Bring back to a boil and let boil until mixture thickens (about 30 seconds). Add remaining 1/2c blueberries and let cool completely.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat.

Stir together bread mix with 2 eggs, 2tbsp oil/melted butter, and 1/4c water. Knead until smooth (about 1 minute). Divide dough into 6 equal portions and roll into balls. Sandwiched between wax or parchment paper, flatten a dough ball into a disk and roll into a 6″ circle. Spread 2 heaping tbsp of cooled blueberry mixture on one half of dough, leaving a 1/2″ border at edge. Fold dough over to form a half circle. Pinch dough edges together, fold over to crimp, and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining balls.

Using a fork, poke holes in the top of each of the pies several times. Whisk the last egg with a splash of water and brush on top of each pie. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes or until crusts are lightly browned. Let cool.

Servings: 6

This recipe is gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free. Those are the only allergens I can remember right now. I used cornstarch because I had some and didn’t want to spend extra money just for tapioca starch. I also used Arrowhead All-Purpose Baking Mix instead of the suggested Chebe Original or Bread Mix. The “butter” I used is a buttery spread so it’s really a fake butter made with vegetable oil. Tastes the same to me. At least, I don’t remember how real butter tastes so I assume it tastes the same. hehe

I got to use my grater for the first time since I bought it about 2 years ago. Yay! This recipe also allowed me to finally buy a rolling pin. I was super excited to try it out! My husband was impressed that I made the dough all by myself instead of it being premade. He missed seeing me look all house-wifey with a rolling pin and kneading dough.

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