What to do with these cranberries??

These are my leftover cranberries from the holidays, pretty little things aren't they? But what to do with them.........

...quick bread?  Hmmmm....

...muffins?  Ehhhhh...

...empanadas? Ooooooo...

YES! Empanadas it is.

Why empanadas?  As a little girl my family and I would go to Laredo to visit my aunts, uncles and cousins.   My most fond food memory of Laredo was the pumpkin empanadas.

Ok, you say but what ARE empanadas?  They are fantastic little half-moons of spiced pumpkin tucked into delicate doughy pastry.  They are the fantastic companion to a cup of coffee in the morning and a neat little hand-held, all-in-one breakfast.  I consider myself a kind of pumpkin empanada snob, not just any will do.  I don't like the apple or pineapple varieties and there has to be the perfect ratio of pumpkin to pastry.  When I find the perfect empanadas that bakery is on my frequent stop list. 

Ok so you must be wondering after all this talk about pumpkin empanadas, where the cranberries come in?   Easy, I had a craving for the sweet little pastry but had no pumpkin.  What I did have was a bunch of those lovely little red cranberries.  Cranberries + empanada craving = cranberry empandas.  Perfect!  So I set out to create the solution to my simple equation. 

These are a winter wonderland version of empanadas.  Cinnamon dotted, orange juice infused dough with a tangy cranberry filling that is dusted with a touch of orange zest.  As a cozy little flourish I blanketed them with an orange glaze.  Sounds good doesn't it, need still more convincing:

Ok...now go....make them already!  :D



Cranberry Empanadas

Filling

1 cup sugar
2 1/3 fresh (or frozen) cranberries
6 Tablespoons cold water
2 Tablespoons cornstarch

In a medium saucepan combine sugar and cranberries.  In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup whisk cornstarch and water together until dissolved and smooth.  Pour into pan with other ingredients.  Over medium heat bring cranberries to a slow boil and simmer until thickened.


Dough

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice
4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
3 cups flour

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.

In a bowl of a mixer with a paddle attachment combine the first 7 ingredients as well as 1 1/2 cups flour. On low setting beat until ingredient are well combined and a soft dough forms.  Add shortening and mix well.  Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups flour and mix until combined.  Place dough on counter and divide into 4 equal parts.  Out of these four parts divide again into fourths.  You should have 16 small balls of dough.  On a floured surface flatten out balls of dough and then using a rolling pin roll out to about 1/8" thickness.  They should roughly have a 4 inch diameter.

In the center of each round fill with  about a tablespoon and a half of filling.  Fold over dough to form a half moon shape and crimp edges with a fork.  Just to be on the safe side I moistened the edge of the round before folding over and crimping to make sure the seal was secure.

Place each filled empanada on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 18-22 minutes until lightly golden on the bottoms.  Let cool completely before glazing. 


Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar
Vanilla extract
Orange juice

This glaze is a simple powdered sugar glaze.  So the measurements are rough and you can use your judgment on how much is enough.

In a small bowl combine powdered sugar, a small splash of vanilla (I love vanilla so I added something like 1/2 teaspoon, but just go by taste with this).  Add small amounts of orange juice just until you get a pourable consistency.  Add this slowly, I poured the oj into a 1/4 cup measure and would just pour in a little at a time while mixing, until I got the consistency I wanted.  Using a spoonful at a time pour over each empanada.  Let the glaze set before moving to a serving dish, or storage container.