Puerto Rican Masa Para Empanadillas

5 from 15 votes

Puerto Rican Masa Para Empanadillas (Masa Para Empanadillas Puertoriqueñas). Easy to make, perfectly flaky and delicious.

Prep Time45

Cook Time0

Total Time45

Course: Appetizer, Dinner, Lunch, Snack

Cuisine: Puerto Rican

Servings: discs

Calories: 120kcal

3½ cups all purpose flour
¼ cup shortening
1 tablespoon achiote powder or 2 tablespoon of achiote oil found in Latin section of grocery store
1 Sazón envelope found in Latin section of grocery store
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 cup ice cold water
½ teaspoon salt

In a large mixing bowl place the flour, achiote powder, sazón, and salt. Mix until combined.
Add shortening to flour mixture and using a fork or pastry cutter cut the shortening into the flour until combined. *If using achiote oil add with the shortening and work into the flour mixture until combined.
Create a well in the middle of the flour. Add water and vinegar to well and use a fork to mix until a crumbly dough starts to form. Use your hands to knead for about 1 minute or until dough is not sticky anymore. Form into a large ball. Your dough is now ready to be rolled out.
Take a piece of dough about the size of a baseball and roll into a ball with your hands. I prefer working with smaller portions of dough at a time when rolling them out, but you can easily roll out all of the dough at once.
Generously flour a clean work surface and rolling pin. Begin to roll out dough to about ⅛-inch thickness.
Forming the empanadilla discos. There are several methods you can use:
Use a cookie cutter to make mini empanadillas
Press down on the dough with a bowl to form circles
Use the lid of a blender to cut circles in the dough
Flip a bowl over the dough and use a knife to cut around the bowl
As you are making empanadillas, place discs in between parchment sheets or wax paper so they don't stick to each other. (I cut my parchment/wax paper into 7 x 7 in squares)
Once you have all of your discos formed, you are ready to fill and cook immediately.

Recipe Notes:

If you notice the dough shrinking back while rolling it out, cover it and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This allows the gluten to relax, making the dough easier to roll out thin without springing back.
Cover your dough while working so it doesn’t dry out.
For a gluten free recipe, substitute gluten free flour.