Using a round cookie cutter, cut out as many circles as you can fit on the sheet of pastry.Note: if you don't have a large circle cutter, you can use a small bowl as a guide. Lay the bowl upside down on the pastry and run a small knife around the edge to cut the dough. Set the circles aside and collect all of the cuttoff pieces. Repeat for second sheet of pastry.
Using the cutoff dough, gather it together into a ball and squeeze it slightly to combine. Do not overwork the dough or it will become tough! Continue to cut circles out of the remaining dough.
Lay out the circles on your cutting board and place a spoonful of cooled filling onto each circle, leaving room to fold them over and crimp them. For small circles, you can do this in your hand.
Using a pastry brush, brush some beaten egg on the inside edges of the dough, just wetting the pastry. Fold the dough over and press together with your fingers, making sure that the filling doesn't squeeze out the edges. It is important to have about 1/4"-3/8" of dough sealed around the edge. Use a fork to crimp the edges to seal them.If holes appear while you are working with them, you can use leftover dough to patch them. Place each empanada onto a silicone baking mat in your cookie sheet pan. Because they won't grow in the oven, you can place them close to each other on the baking tray. Brush the tops with beaten egg.
Sprinkle the pastries with sugar.
With a sharp small knife, poke a couple of small holes in each one. This will let the steam escape whick keeps them from bursting.
Put into the preheated oven, middle rack, for 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown.
Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. You can test them right out of the oven, but the filling will be extremely hot! Don't worry if some of them have split open, they will still be delicious!
Big or small, these will become a new favorite treat! Enjoy