By: Pablo Contreras

Empanadas is a dessert that I have only made once and there’re many different variations of empanadas; you can add in any filling that you want. For example, the first ever empanadas that I’ve ever made had yams as the filling, the second time that I made empanadas was with arroz con leche as the filling.

For those of you who don’t know what arroz con leche is, its English name is rice pudding.

Now, when I was little I absolutely hated rice pudding but when I made these empanadas I slightly (but not too much) liked the flavor. The rice pudding empanadas were definitely better than the yam empanadas.

There are many different variations of empanadas, I believe that the dough is made the same but the filling changes. You can add in meat like beef and chicken inside or cheese, but this recipe focuses on rice pudding empanadas.

Before we start, just to let you all know, this recipe is not mine, it belongs to La Cocinita De Lorena Marin. Now that that’s out of the way, here is how to make the empanadas.

Empanadas de arroz con leche

Here is what you are going to need to make the empanada dough:

1. 2 cups of flour
2. 1 teaspoon of Baking powder
3. 1/4 cup of Butter (room temperature)
4. 1egg
5. Half a cup of water
6. 2 tablespoons of sugar
7. 1/4 of Water
8. A pinch of salt

Here are the steps to make the dough:

1. In a big bowl add in 2 cups of flour
2. Then in the middle of the flour make a little hole in the middle and add the 2 tablespoons of sugar
3. Next add in the 1 egg, the room temperature butter, a pinch of salt, and 1 teaspoon of baking powder and mix
4. When it starts to be a dough texture, start to add in the 1/4 cup of water and mix
5. On a flat surface you are going to start to knead the dough
6. When it starts to get sticky, add in a little bit of flour (the dough needs to be smooth and not sticky)
7. Once it’s done leave it in the same bowl and use plastic to cover the top and leave it to rest inside the fridge for 30 minutes

Now, while we wait for the dough here is what you are going to need to make the arroz con leche

1. 1 cup of rice already rinsed and drained
2. 2 cups of milk
3. 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
4. 2 mini cans of condensed milk
5. A few drops of lime
6. A stick of cinnamon

1. First, in a pot put in both cups of milk, then place in two mini cans of condensed milk and mix
2. Next add in the rice, leave the stove on medium-high and put in the cinnamon stick
3. Now you are going to add in 1/2 teaspoon of lime juice inside and let it boil for a little bit and then add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
4. Let this cook for 10-15 minutes
5. Once the ten minutes are up, and if it’s dry, turn it off and take out the cinnamon stick and let the rice cool (if the rice is not dry leave it on for another 5 minutes until its dry)

Now while we wait for the rice to cool down, here is what to do next with the dough:

1. Once the 30 minutes are up, you are going to use a rolling pin to roll the dough out
2. Once it’s all flat use a circular cookie cutter to cut out the shape for the empanadas
3. Now, once more roll out the small dough

Once the rice pudding is completely cooled down:

4. Add a spoonful onto the empanada in the center
5. Then fold the empanada in half to cover the filling and press the edges together
6. Bake the empanadas for 15 minutes at 380
7. Once the 15 minutes are up take the empanadas out and let them cool down
8. To add more flavor, mix cinnamon with sugar on a plate and when the empanadas are no longer hot, mix the empanadas in the sugar and enjoy 🙂

To find the original recipe, and to learn more, here is the link to the recipe, and beware the video is in Spanish:

• https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oqt3W-8b4S4&feature=youtu.be