These Homemade Pumpkin Empanadas are sweet and delicious, and they're perfect with a hot cup of coffee or a cold glass of milk. If you've never heard of an "empanada" before, they're basically the Spanish equivalent for the pastry known as a "turnover." Whatever you choose to call them, you'll want to make this easy recipe. The video shows you exactly How to Make Pumpkin Empanadas, but you can also read on for the ingredients and instructions.
Pumpkin Empanadas
For the dough:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 cup chilled unsalted butter or shortening
1 cup warm water
For the filling:
2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. pumpkin spice
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
For the egg wash:
whisk together 1 egg & 1 Tbsp. milk or water
First make the dough. Put all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix. Add the chilled butter and use a pastry blender or fork to incorporate it into the flour mixture. Begin adding the water a little at a time. (You may not need it all.) Knead with hands. When dough sticks together nicely, form into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in refrigerator a minimum of 30 minutes.
For the filling, mix together pumpkin puree, sugar, salt, pumpkin spice, and vanilla extract in large mixing bowl. Mix until well blended and set aside..
When ready to make the empanadas, lightly flour a flat surface. Take dough and form it into balls a little larger than a golf ball. Roll out. Place 2 Tbsp. of pumpkin mixture just slightly off center of your rolled out dough. Use a knife to create heat vents on the other side of the dough. Fold over, and trim edges with knife to form a half circle. Use fork tip to seal the ends, and carefully place on a greased baking sheet. Continue making empanadas one at a time. (Leftover dough can be re-rolled.) When you have a full tray, lightly brush tops of empanadas with egg wash and bake at 350º for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool before eating.
*This recipe makes 12-15 empanadas
Should you want to make your own pumpkin puree from a fresh pumpkin, just break open or cut your pumpkin in half, remove stem, seeds, and string/pulp. Lightly drizzle olive oil over pumpkin and place onto baking sheet, shell side up. Cover with foil and bake at 400º for 30-40 minutes (depending on size), or until flesh of pumpkin is soft. Take out of oven, let cool, and with a large spoon, remove pumpkin flesh, placing it into a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Consistency will be more runny than canned pumpkin puree, so you'll need to drain the excess liquid. A good way to do this is with cheese cloth. Line a large sieve with at least two layers of cheese cloth, pour in pumpkin puree, and let drain into a larger bowl or sink. And that's it! Pumpkin puree is so much better when it's fresh!
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