Easy Cooking with Sandy

To watch this Video-Recipe click HERE!!

Hi everyone! Today's recipe is another fantastic yet very easy dessert, it does take some time for the dough to rise, but once you beat everything together, you just let the yeast do its job and wait for the dough to be ready! Every minute of this recipe is well worth it, these Buns are Delicious! I hope you like these Buns as much as my family and I.

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour
1¼ cups chopped pecans
2/3 cups Maple Syrup
¼ cup of granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 package Quick Rising Active dry yeast (11g)
1 teaspoon of salt
8 tablespoons soften butter
1 egg at room temperature
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1 cup of warm water (130ºF)

With 2 tablespoons of softened butter, grease a 13 x 9 in baking pan. Spread the pecans and Maple Syrup all over the bottom of the pan on an even layer. Set aside until ready to use it.

In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Mix well and set aside until ready to use it.

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour with the granulated sugar, 1 tsp. of salt and 1 package of quick rising yeast, mix well until well combined. Add in the water, 2 tablespoons of softened butter and 1 egg, stir well, until everything is incorporated into a sticky dough, then add in the remaining 1 cup of flour. Mix everything with your hands, until you have a soft and elastic dough. (not sticky anymore) Once the dough is ready. cover it with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise until doubled. (30-40 minutes)

On a floured surface roll out the dough to a 16 x 13 in rectangle, about ½ inch thick. Cover the surface of this rectangle with the remaining butter, and sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon mixture all of the surface of the butter rectangle.

Starting with the 16 inch side of the rectangle, roll it up tightly. Cut into 16 slices and place the slices in the prepare pan with the nuts and maple syrup. Cover them with a clean kitchen towel and let them rise for another 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375ºF.
Uncover buns and bake them until golden brown and completely cooked, for about 30 minutes. Let them rest for 1 minute before transferring them to a cold surface.

Enjoy.

Sticky Nutty Buns

To watch this Video-Recipe please click HERE

Hi everyone! Today´s recipe is another very popular Mexican dish, it's really easy to make, and if you are expecting to save a lot of money and use any leftovers you might have in the refrigerator, this recipe is the perfect one for you. I hope you like this one as much as I do.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Maseca (corn flour, it's very popular in the States, you will for sure find it at any Waltmart)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1 1/2 quarts Water
Vegetable oil for frying
Plastic wrap for easy cleaning (optional)

For the Filling: (Use any left overs you have, Refried beans make a great filling, and you can also fill them with Mozarella Cheese.)
Meat and Potato stew for the filling:
Ingredients:

1 lb sirloin cut into small pieces
2 cups diced potatoes
2 cups your favorite salsa..

In a skillet on medium heat, add a splash of oil, cook the meat for about 8 minutes or until it browns a little bit, then add in the potatoes and continue to cook for another 8 minutes or until potatoes soften a little bit. Add a in the salsa, taste the flavor, add salt and pepper if needed. Bring to a boil, and cook until potatoes are completely cooked. Let it cool completely before using it as the filling.

To make the Empandas:

In a large bowl, combine the Corn Flour with a teaspoon of salt, and a tablespoon of baking powder, mix well and add in some of the water, you will need about 1 1/2 quarts of water but start by adding a little bit at a time, mix well and continue to add more water as needed. Mix well until the flour and water are well incorporated into a soft dough, you want to get a nice and soft texture, not too wet or too dry and not sticky at all.

Once you get the right texture. You can start making your empandas. You can make them any size you want.

Grab some of the dough, roll it into a ball with your hands, and place it in between 2 layers of plastic wrap, then press the ball down with a tortilla presser, if you don't have a tortilla presser, you can use a plate or a skillet to press down the dough into a circle. You want the circle to be a 1/4 inch thick. If it is too thick it will absorb to much oil and it wont cooked completely and if it is too thin it will tear apart once you add the filling.

Once you have the empanada circle, now add some of the filling right in the middle of the circle, fold the circle in have like a taco, fold the the edges upward a little bit to prevent the filling from coming out of the empanada, then press down the edges with a fork once again to seal it completely. Keep on making the empandas until you are done.

Preheat plenty of vegetable oil to a temperature of 300°F.
Fry the empandas for about 3-5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and completely cooked. To prevent the empandas from browning too much, you can flip them around for a total of 3-4 times.

Drain them on paper towels, then serve

I served mine with a very simple salad of shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes, onion and avocado. Enjoy!!