Printable Recipe: Erie Empanadas Recipe

Erie Empanadas: Alien Larvae with Blood Sauce

With their funky green crust, these eerie empanads look much stranger than they actually taste! Bite sized and easy to eat, these will be a Halloween party appetizer hit, I promise. The sweet potato filling is creamy and wonderful and oh-so autumn-y. I serve mine with a choice of two kinds of "blood sauce." Either a Mojo sauce, or a sweeter homemade cranberry sauce. Either way, they're delicious.

This Halloween appetizer recipe makes about 40-50 bite-sized empanadas. They taste nice either hot or at room temperature.

Ingredients:
2 (15 oz) pkgs. refrigerated pie crust
3 egg yolks, beaten
Green food coloring, as needed

Filling:
2 1/2 lbs. sweet potatoes or yams, cooked, peeled, and pureed
2 tbsp. butter, softened
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4-1/2 tsp. salt, or to taste
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Instructions: 1. In a mixing bowl, combine your sweet potato puree, butter, cumin, salt, and pepper until well mixed. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to use (will keep covered in the refrigerator a couple of days).

2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F while you assemble your empanadas.

3. To assemble your empanadas, unfold your pie crust and place on a floured board. Roll it out slightly to thin it out.

4. Using a 3" biscuit cutter or a floured glass, cut 40-50 pie crust circles from your two prepared crusts.

5. Scoop about a tsp. of filling into the middle of each circle. Fold over into a half-moon shape. Seal with your fingers or a fork.

6. Place your empanadas on a parchment paper-covered baking sheet, about 1" apart. You'll need to cook them in batches.

7. In a small bowl, combine the egg yolks and food coloring as needed to get a bright green coating.

8. Brush each empanada lightly with green egg mixture.

9. Bake 10-12 minutes until crisp and cooked through. Cool on a rack.

Tip: I generally use concentrated green paste food coloring to make these, and it works wonderfully. You may need to use a lot of regular liquid food coloring to get the right color.