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Baked Christmas Tamales (8 Servings)

Ingredients

Scale

For the dough

  • 1 ½ cup of milk
  • 1 tablespoon of vinegar
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • 1¼ cup of masa harina (tortilla flour), preferably tamale mix
  • ½ cup of flour
  • 1 tablespoon of baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • ¼ melted butter
  • ¼ cup of grated cheese, a dry cheese is best (optional)
  • ¼ cup of chopped butter (optional)

Instructions

  1. To make the tamale filling, begin by pouring oil into a large-sized skillet over medium heat. In the pan, sauté the garlic, onion, red bell pepper, and cumin together until almost caramelized. When everything is ready, toss in the tomatoes and stir thoroughly.
  2. Cook this sauteed mixture for five minutes after adding the chicken, afterwards pour in the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper (to taste). At this point, you v  can also put in the raisins, olives, and capers, and whisk in the cilantro before turning off the heat and transferring to a glass baking sheet (round or rectangular forms will suffice)
  3. To make the tamale dough, adjust your oven’s temperature to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and leave it to heat up.
  4. Combine the milk and vinegar in a mixing dish and let the mixture sit aside for a couple of minutes after which you can pour in the beaten eggs.
  5. Pour the milk mixture over the masa harina, flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate basin. Mix thoroughly, then stir in the melted butter. Taste the mixture and modify the flavoring with salt or pepper for extra taste if you deem it necessary.
  6. Bake the dough for 30 minutes after layering it over the filling.
  7. Sprinkle grated cheese and diced butter over the top of the dough just before removing it from the oven (this is an optional step).  Bake for another 10 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and bubbling.
  8. Take the tamales out of the oven and leave them aside to cool for 10 minutes, afterwards, feel free to serve and enjoy them.

If you’re interested in more recipe ideas for oven-baked tamales, you may want to try out the instructions in this video recipe.