Apple Empanadas

My daughter's class is learning about North America this month and I had volunteered to bring in a snack that reflects this continent.... After some thought I decided on these Apple Empanadas and decided to make my job easier by using puffy pastry sheets instead of making the pastry from scratch. I also filled and formed the empanadas the night before & froze them. So, come wednesday morning, all i had to do was let them thaw out for an hour before popping them in an oven and taking them to school when I dropped her off. The teacher told me that the class really enjoyed it and my husband and I managed to sneak a few to taste and we loved it too. The pictures were taken in a hurry so aren't that clear.

APPLE EMPANADAS


Ingredients:
Apples - 3, peeled, cored and cubed into small pieces
Sugar - 2/3 cup
Raisins - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/2 cup
Cinnamon powder - half tsp
Lemon juice - half tsp
Cornflour - approx 1 heaped tsp
Puff pastry sheets - as required

Method:

1) Heat water in a pan and add the cubed apples. Simmer, cover and and allow to cook for about 3 minutes.

2) Add the cinnamon powder, mix, cover again and cook till the apples are tender. Add the raisins now. If there is water still remaining, open the lid, increase the flame and allow it to evaporate..

3) When almost dry, add in the sugar and lemon juice and cook till it melts and thickens a bit (about 3-5 minutes)

4) Dissolve the cornflour in little water to make a paste and add this to the apple mixture... It will thicken rapidly - so keep stirring. Allow to cool a bit.

5) Meanwhile, thaw pastry sheet & roll out to make it thinner.. I kept it pretty thin and managed to get 20 small squares from that 1 sheet.

6) In each square.. place about 2-3 tsp of filling (don't over stuff it) in the middle, fold over to form either a triangle or rectangle. If you want it to look more like the traditional empanadas.. cut out circles and fold over to form semi-circles instead. Crimp the edges with a fork (it helps form a good seal).

7) Bake in a pre-heated oven at 425F for about 15 minutes.. till golden brown on top. Allow to cool a bit, because the filling will be extremely hot, before digging in.