Chocolate and Banana Empanadas

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These sweet empanadas are for you if you’re looking for a simple and super delicious recipe.

Minimal work is involved, and it’s okay to use some premade dough.

Honestly, not everything has to be fancy with recipes. Sometimes it’s fun just to make a yummy, quick treat. 

Are you curious now?

SOME BOOK INSPIRATION:

Something extra from Joshua and Kenzie in Loving Only You (The Winters Family Book Three).

“What’s this?” Joshua picked up a little hand pie covered in what looked like sugar and maybe cinnamon.

Kenzie was finishing washing a sheet pan; she turned off the water and spun around to face him. “Chocolate Banana Empanadas.” She stepped closer and grabbed one. “Aren’t they adorable?”

“I’m not sure if they’re adorable, but they are delicious.” He popped the last bite into his mouth. Then he brushed the sugar off his hands and reached forward to lace his fingers around her waist. “This is more delicious, though.” He flashed his heart-stopping smile and leaned in to kiss her.

“Yeah, yeah,” she giggled and swatted her hand against his chest. “You don’t need to butter me up; there are more in that container over there.”

“Oh, well, in that case.” He attempted to move away, but she gasped and tightened her hands around his shoulders. “I’m kidding. Well, not about you being more delicious.”

“Good.” She lightly brushed her nose back and forth over his and kissed him. After a few minutes, she finally found a way to step back. “Do you think this will be a good snack for our family dinner this weekend? Your mom said to keep it simple.”

“I would call that simple.” He reached for another empanada. “You may want to make extra because they won’t last long with my family.” 

“Unless Izzy makes some out-of-this-world recipe.”

“Which could happen, but your recipe will always be my favorite.”

Kenzie smiled and leaned on her tippy toes to kiss him before stepping back. “On the other hand, these are kind of out-of-this-world, too.”

“You won’t hear me arguing that fact.” He pretended to grab another one, and she swatted at his hand. “Remember, your boozy banana split cake did almost render the family speechless.”

She smiled. “Good point.” It was true, too, the cake layers were perfectly paired, and every bite was irresistible. She did know how to make an amazing recipe, it didn’t matter if it was simple or fancy.

BEHIND THE SCENES:

This recipe was created for two reasons– I had overripe bananas, and I found pre-made empanada dough at a grocery store.

I thought about making a savory recipe when I found the pre-made dough, but sweet hand pies make me so happy.

Growing up, we used to go camping often and we had a camping tool to make hobo pies while sitting around the campfire. The pies used regular white sandwich bread and canned pie filling. My favorite pie filling was tart cherry. The cherry warmed inbetween the bread over an open flame was so freaking good. 

So, yeah, hand pies just make the heart happy.

I was initially hesitant to use bananas and chocolate in the empanadas because I didn’t know if everything would bake together perfectly. 

So I tested it.

The empanadas not only tasted good but the banana and chocolate also helped flavor and caramelize the dough to give the recipe an extra pop with every bite.

Confession: I made a galette to test the banana and chocolate recipe inside a short-crust pastry. We’ll need that recipe next because it was wonderful together.

Something to remember– Not every recipe needs to be made from scratch. Some recipes just need to be delicious and packed full of love. What I mean is– you can use pre-made pie crust, pizza dough, or empanada dough. The pre-made pie crust is very similar to the empanada dough. Just use what’s easier to find at your grocery store.

You’ll find the recipe is easy to make, and one little empanada won’t be enough.

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