Cherry Empanadas

Cherry Empanadas

Sweet cherry filling wrapped in a delightful cream cheese crust. Heaven in a little hand held pie.  Make these Cherry Empanadas for Cinco de Mayo or wait until May 8th, National Empanada Day.  Who knew there were such great national days to celebrate all about food?!

Cherry Empanadas

Make the dough ahead of time and flatten in to a disc shape before placing in the fridge.  This dough will need to chill a bit before rolling it out and making the empanadas.  I have a great little video on FaceBook explaining the magic behind chilled dough.  You don't want to skip that step with these.  The crust should be tender and flaky and light.  And......cream cheese in the dough....YES PLEASE!

CherryEmpanadas6

Just like when I made the Apple Pie Taquitos, I used the lid to a food container from my fridge to cut this dough.  I don't happen to have a round cookie cutter (I love the fun shapes instead) so I had to improvise.

CherryEmpanadas7

This picture is a tad deceiving, that is only 1 tablespoon of cherry pie filing in each circle.  if you over fill it, they will not seal well and the dough won't cook up light and crisp.  So, go easy on the filling.

Cherry Empanadas

You can seal up the edges using a fork, but I used my fingers and just kind of rolled and folded the dough along the edges as I would when sealing up a double crust pie.  Even if these don't look perfect, they will taste amazing.  I promise!

Sweet cherry filling wrapped in a delightful cream cheese crust. Heaven in a little hand held pie.

Cherry Empanadas

By

Ingredients
  

  • 1 ½ cup butter softened
  • 1 package 8oz cream cheese, softened
  • 3 cups flour sifted
  • 1 can cherry pie filling
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Instructions
 

  1. Cream butter and cream cheese together until smooth and creamy. Slowly add in flour and mix well to combine.
  2. Shape dough in to a smooth ball and flatten to a disc shape. Wrap in saran and refrigerate 4-8 hours.
  3. Remove dough from refrigerator and let set on counter 30 minutes.
  4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  5. In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon together and set aside.
  6. Roll out the dough, using extra flour as needed to prevent sticking.
  7. Cut out circles with a 3-4 inch round cookie cutter or use a lid from a cream cheese or sour cream container like I did.
  8. Place 1 tablespoon filling in center of each circle and fold over to seal the edges with fingers or a fork.
  9. Place on prepared cookie sheet and bake 16-18 minutes until light golden brown.
  10. Immediately roll empanadas in cinnamon sugar mix and let cool.
  11. Enjoy!
Did You Make This Recipe?Share it on IG or Facebook and tag me @joyfulmomma

Sweet cherry filling wrapped in a delightful cream cheese crust. Heaven in a little hand held pie.

Liked the Cherry Empanadas? Then you can't miss out my Churro Cookies