Easy empanada-muffins

I've been wanting to try this ever since Saturday when I made a pizza like version at my parents' house.  This was so much better... and counts as my new dairy/egg free recipe for this week. And it was so easy, Katie could do it!

These little creations are like a cross between an empanada and a muffin, hence the creative name I gave them, Easy empanada muffins.  I was inspired to make them in muffin tins after bumping into the Cowgirl Chef on blogger and stumbling upon her recipe for eggplant, tomato and feta muffins.  She is a texas native that lives in Paris, and her website features lots of mexican foods and Texas classics with "french twists." 

All you need for this recipe is a filling of your choice and Pillsbury crescent rolls.  I used left over taco meat (made with ground buffalo and a package of taco seasoning, a can of Rotel chopped tomatoes (drained) and a chopped onion), tomatoes, bell peppers, "tamed" jalapenos, left over sauteed onions, yellow squash (I know it doesn't sound like it belongs here, but it was a use-it-or-lose-it situation), and some salt and pepper.  I chopped the veggies in my food processor and tossed them in a pan.  When they were soft, I added the taco meat to warm it up.  If there is alot of liquid in your mixture, you might want to cook it out.  

I took the mixture off the heat and proceeded to the next step, but I think if you let the filling cool, it would work better.  I've read a quick cooling tip in Cooking for Food Allergies Everyday and Gourmet: spread the mixture out flat on a plate and stick it in the freeze for 5 minutes before using.  

I mixed in some real shredded cheese to a small amount of the mixture for Pres, but used Tofutti soy cream cheese for the majority of the filling.  I used one large package (8 rolls) and one small package (4 rolls) of Pillsbury crescent rolls.  Rather than separating the dough at the perforated marks, I pushed the perforations together with my finger and cut the dough into little squares.

I put about a tablespoon of the filling in the center of each square and roughly folder the corners up so they met in the center.  I then put each empanada-muffin into the muffin pan, which I had spritzed lightly with olive oil.

I cooked them for ten minutes at 375 degrees.  They were a little soft on top, so if you would like them more crispy, I guess you would cook them at a lower temp. for longer time...?  However, I don't need to worry about that because I don't like things crispy!

Let them cool before removing from the pan, or they might fall apart.  And there you go... easy goodness that can quickly switch between cheesy and dairy/egg free.  If you leave out the meat or substitute tofu, it's vegan! 

And you also have my first real recipe post, although I know I didn't really put a recipe on here.  But that's just me.  I'm not great with directions, and when you get them out of me, they are going to be of the East Texas turn-right-at-the-big-oak-tree sort.  Naturally, it would be the same for a recipe.