Pumpkin Empanadas for the Holidays.

A few weeks ago I mentioned in a post that my husband had made some delicious pumpkin empanadas. I promised I would share the recipe and here it is, finally! You can go ahead and read that post here. Before we begin, it is only fair for me to say that I cannot cook to save my life. While I like baking, my baking is also very limited. This was all my husband’s product, he even grew the pumpkins used in our very own backyard. I just watched and well, ate the final (yummy) product.

Pumpkin Filing Ingredients

1 medium sized pumpkin (You can substitute this for canned pumpkin)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Egg Wash (whisk 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of water)

Directions

1. If you are using a pumpkin, make sure to first bake it. Cut the pumpkin into several small pieces and discard the stem and the seeds. Bake the pumpkin in a preheated 375 degrees over for about 1 ½ hours. Keep on checking your pumpkin after the hour as some may take less to become tender.
2. Once done, combine the ingredients. Stir until it is all combined.
3. Once thick, let the filling cool down and put it in the fridge to let it set for about half an hour.

Empanada Dough Ingredients

2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cup vegetable shortening

1 egg

7 tablespoons of butter

1 tablespoon ice cold water

Directions

1. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Once mixed, add the eggs, milk, and butter little by little. The dough should start to come together smoothly. If you need, add a little more milk until you the dough is smooth.
3. Refrigerate the dough for about an hour, make sure it is smooth when you take it out.
4. Once ready, take small ping pong size balls of dough and place them onto a floured surface. Use a roller to roll circles for the empanadas.
5. Add the filling, make sure you don’t overfill them as it will expand when you bake it.
6. Once filled, fold over the dough to seal the edges. You can use an empanada press, but my husband just used a fork.
7. Brush the empanadas with egg whites and place on a cookie sheet.
8. Bake on a preheated ove of 425F for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden.
9. Enjoy!

I had never tried pumpkin empanadas until my husband made these delicious empanadas. I am in love, haha. I hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you try out this recipe and share your recipes, if they’re simple enough I may be able to try them out myself.

xoxo – L.