Preparing the Dough:

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add in 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, and 2 tsp salt. With a paddle attachment, mix on low-medium speed to mix the dry ingredients together. Then add 1 1/2 cups of water and 4 tbsp of unsalted European-style butter that's been softened. Continue to mix on low-medium speed just until the mixture is combined. Stop the mixer. Scrape down the paddle attachment and the sides of the bowl. Avoid over-mixing.

Add in an additional 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, and continue mixing with the paddle attachment just till the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Stop the mixer, and scrape down the paddle attachment and the sides of the bowl. Switch to a dough hook attachment, and knead the dough just till it starts to look smooth. Avoid overworking the dough, as you want to minimize gluten formation and make the dough tough.

Roll it into a square that's 12" by 12".

TIP: If you have a half sheet pan, you can use it to approximate a 12" by 12" square. Line the sheet pan with parchment paper. Put the dough on the parchment paper, press it down a bit and form it into an approximate square. Then continue to roll out the dough with a rolling pin so that it's flush with two of the corners and approximately 12" by 12". Cover this square of dough with plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge for 3 hours for the gluten to relax a bit and for the dough to get cold before laminating.

Preparing the Butter Block:

While the dough is in the fridge, take 24 tbsp (3 sticks) of cold unsalted European-style butter and cut them in half lengthwise, so you end up with 6 pieces of butter.

Take a large piece of parchment paper, and lay it on a clean flat surface. Measure out 8" by 8" on the piece of parchment paper, and fold the sides of the parchment paper up so that you have sort of an 8" by 8" shaped envelope. Your piece of parchment paper should be big enough that the folded-up sides cover the 8" by 8" square completely.

Open up the 8" by 8" shape envelope and place the 6 pieces of butter next to each other in the middle of the parchment paper square. Fold up the sides over the butter to enclose the butter, and turn the square over. Let the butter warm up a bit so that it's malleable.

When the butter has softened a bit, gently roll the butter with a rolling pin till the 6 pieces of butter start to blend into each other. Continue rolling and massaging the butter with a rolling pin till it reaches the edges of the folded parchment paper envelope, so that the butter makes a square that is 8" by 8". Place this in the fridge till ready to use.

Laminating the Dough:

After 3 hours in the fridge, take the 12" by 12" dough and the 8" by 8" butter block out of the fridge. To laminate the dough, the dough and the butter should be cool but also soft and pliable during the lamination process. If either is too firm, let them sit at room temperature a bit to warm up.

NOTE: If you have a digital thermometer, the butter should ideally be between 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (13 to 16 degrees Celsius) when folding and rolling.

Place the 8"x8" square of butter in the middle of the dough at a 45-degree angle by inverting it onto the dough while still on the parchment paper so that it looks like a diamond of butter inside the square of dough. The butter will be somewhat stuck to the parchment paper, so you can use the parchment paper to get the right placement. Then peel off the parchment paper.

Fold the four flaps of dough into the center over the butter, stretching the dough a bit, and pinch the dough together to seal the butter inside.

Lightly flour the counter surface, and with a rolling pin, roll the dough into a rectangle that's 10" by 20". Use the rolling pin to roll and even it out. Do your best to make it a perfect 10" by 20" rectangle with straight edges and 90-degree corners. Before folding, use a pastry brush to brush off any excess flour on the top surface (excess flour will prevent the layers from sticking together).

Fold one third of the dough into the center. Pat it down so that the two layers stick together. Brush off any excess flour from the top surface of this fold, and then fold the opposite end over and onto this first fold. This is called a "letter fold", as it's like folding a letter. Again, try to make everything neat and make the edges line up as much as possible.

Pat down the folds a bit to compress the layers together. Return it to the parchment paper-lined sheet pan and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rest in the fridge for 1 to 2 hours, to let it return to the 55 to 60 F (13 to 16 C) range.

When it's within that ideal temperature range, do another letter fold. Rolling the longer edge to 20" long, roll it out into a 10" by 20" rectangle again using the same technique as before. Use a pastry brush to brush off any excess flour on the top surface and repeat the letter fold, i.e. fold one third of the dough into the center. Pat it down so that the two layers stick together. Brush off any excess flour from the top surface of this fold, and then fold the opposite end over and onto this first fold.

Gently pat and press the dough a bit to compress the layers together and make sure all the edges are neat and aligned. Place the dough on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and leave it in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours to overnight.

Chicken Potato Filling:

Take 1.5 lbs. of skinless boneless chicken pieces (we prefer chicken thighs), pat them dry with a paper towel. Season with 2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper.

Take a large skillet, over medium-high heat, add in 1 tablespoon of coconut or vegetable oil. When the oil is hot, add in the chicken pieces, and let them cook for 3 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces and continue cooking the other side for another 3 minutes. Transfer the chicken pieces onto a clean plate to rest.

In the same skillet, with the remaining fat, add in 2 large onions, minced, 4 cloves of garlic, minced, and 3 bay leaves. Sautee this until the onions and garlic are lightly browned and fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Add in 1/2 teaspoon of paprika, and continue sautéing for another 1 minute. Then add 1/2 a cup of dry white wine, and 1/2 a cup of chicken stock, deglazing the pan and scraping up any browned bits and bring to a boil.

Once the mixture is boiling, place the chicken pieces back into the skillet (along with any juices on the plate), reduce the heat to medium-low, cover with a lid, and simmer the chicken for 15 minutes. Turn the chicken pieces over, and continue simmering for another 15 minutes.

Transfer the chicken onto a clean plate. Then add in 2 medium-sized potatoes that have been peeled and cut into half-inch cubes. Turn the heat up to medium, and continue to gently simmer the potatoes in the skillet for 10 minutes, till slightly softened. Stir occasionally to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the bottom of the skillet. Then turn off heat, and let this rest. Remove the bay leaves from the thickened sauce in the skillet.

When the chicken pieces are slightly cooled, chop the meat into small bite-size pieces, about the same size as the potato pieces.

Add the chopped chicken back into the sauce with the potatoes. Mix it well, and add additional salt and pepper to taste. Let it rest, uncovered for at least 30 minutes to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate to cool even more. This mixture should be cool so that it doesn't warm up and melt the butter layers in the dough.

Forming and Baking the Empanadas:

Take 2 large sheet pans (we use 13" by 18" pans) and line them with parchment paper. Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it in half. Leave one half in the fridge while working on the other half.

NOTE: the butter and dough should ideally be between 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (13 to 16 degrees Celsius) during this rolling step.

Flour a clean flat surface, as well as the top of the dough. With the first half of dough, roll out a rectangle that is 8" by 16.5". Try to keep the edges as straight as possible, and the dough as evenly thick as possible throughout.

When you have your 8" by 16.5" rectangle, cut off about quarter of an inch of dough from the short 8" sides. This will expose the butter layers so they'll be visible when the dough is rolled into cylinders.

Measure and make marks that are 2" apart along the 16" side, and cut the rectangle into a total of 8 strips that are approximately 2" wide and 8" long.

NOTE: cut with a knife using straight downward and lifting up cutting motions rather than sawing or dragging motions, which may lock the layers of butter and prevent seeing the definition after baking.

Roll each strip up to form small cylindrical logs that are 2" tall. You should be able to see the layers of dough and butter on the top surface. Brush off any excess flour from the surfaces of these round cylinders of dough.

Place the short cylinders of dough on a small parchment paper-lined sheet pan, and keep them in the fridge to keep the butter cool and return to the 55 to 60 F (13 to 16 C) range. Lightly grease your counter and rolling pin to prevent the dough from sticking to them during this final rolling process.

Taking one of the circular pieces of dough at a time, use a thermometer to make sure the butter is between 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (13 to 15 degrees Celsius) before this final rolling step.

While those first 8 cylinders are cooling in the fridge, repeat the same steps with the second half of dough, to make 8 more cylinders. Leave these in the fridge to cool once they're formed.

From this point on, clean up any excess flour on your counter surface, as extra stray flour can also lock the butter layers and prevent the definition from showing after baking. Use oil, rather than flour, to help prevent sticking.

Lightly grease your counter and rolling pin. Take one of the circular pieces of dough at a time, use a thermometer to make sure the butter is between 55 - 60 F (13 -16 C) before this final rolling step. Place it so that the dough-butter layers are facing up, and flatten it with your rolling pin a bit. Then using the rolling pin, flatten the dough further into a slightly elongated circular shape, about 4 to 5 inches wide and 7 to 8 inches long.

Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the cold chicken-potato filling onto one side of the flattened dough, ensuring that there's at least half an inch from the meat till the edge of the dough. Fold the dough in half to enclose the filling, then lightly press the edges of the dough together to seal.

Transfer this empanada onto one of the prepared parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Use the tines of a fork to crimp the edges of the dough further. Place the formed empanadas in the fridge to keep the butter layers cool.

Do the same steps with the remaining 7 pieces of dough, to make 7 more empanadas, one cylinder of dough at a time to make sure the butter stays cool. Lightly grease your counter and rolling pin between each empanada, as needed. Then do the same thing with the other half of the dough in the fridge, forming 8 more empanadas. Place 8 empanadas on each sheet pan for a total of 16 empanadas. Place the formed empanadas in the fridge each time, to keep the butter layers cool.

Place racks on the upper and lower third positions of your oven and preheat your oven to 425 F (220 C).

Bake them in your preheated oven at 425 F, one pan on the upper third and one pan on the lower third rack, for 23 to 25 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Swap the baking trays halfway, around the 12-minute mark, for even baking. Let them cool on metal racks a bit before eating. Enjoy!