For those of us who tend to eat breakfast on the go, breakfast empanadas are an excellent option. Empanadas
can be made ahead on the weekend, when there's more time to cook a
large breakfast. Set aside some extra bacon and eggs for the empanadas,
which can be baked, cooled, and then frozen. Empanadas reheat well in
the microwave on a busy weekday morning.
Breakfast empanadas don't
have to be filled with bacon and eggs. Traditional fillings like chicken
and beef are also delicious, or you can make vegetarian empanadas with beans, vegetables and/or cheese fillings.
Ingredients
- 1/2 recipe empanada dough
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 8 eggs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 8 pieces of bacon
- 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 3 scallions, finely chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 egg (for egg wash)
Preparation
- Prepare the empanada dough and let the dough rest in the refrigerator for at least one hour (overnight is best).
- Cook the bacon until crispy and drain on paper towels. Crumble the bacon roughly.
- Whisk the eggs with the milk and season with salt and pepper.
- Melt the butter over medium heat in a nonstick skillet. Add the chopped scallions and cook for 2-3 minutes, until soft.
- Pour in the eggs and cook, stirring, until well scrambled and just cooked. Stir in the cream cheese just before removing eggs from heat. The cheese does not have to be mixed in well.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Roll out the empanada dough and cut into 8 6-inch circles of dough. Let circles rest for 5 minutes.
- Place spoonfuls of the egg mixture in the middle of each dough circle, dividing the mixture evenly between the empanadas. Sprinkle some crumbled bacon and grated pepper jack cheese on top of the egg mixture, dividing the cheese and bacon evenly between the 8 empanadas.
- Fold and seal the empanadas .
- Place empanadas on a baking sheet. Whisk an egg with a tablespoon of water, and brush empanadas carefully with the egg wash.
- Bake empanadas for 25-30 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool. Empanadas can be wrapped well and frozen. Thaw empanadas and reheat in the oven or microwave.
By Marian Blazes
South American Food Expert
