Pumpkin Empanadas
User Reviews
5
Pumpkin Empanadas
Description
This recipe starts by cutting pizza dough sheets into circles the size of about 4½ to 5 inches. The filling combines pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling) with warm spices like cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg, enriched by cream cheese and Greek yogurt for creaminess and balanced sweetness from maple syrup and a small amount of sugar. The filling is blended until smooth.
Each dough circle is filled with the pumpkin mixture, folded over, and sealed before baking at 400°F until the crust is golden and cooked through. The empanadas yield a tender, flaky exterior encasing a creamy, warmly spiced pumpkin filling.
Because the dough shape affects the yield, circular dough sheets produce fewer empanadas per sheet than rectangular. These empanadas make for a seasonal snack or dessert featuring pumpkin flavors in a portable pastry form.
Ingredients
- 2 pizza dough This recipe is based on rectangular-shaped dough-- if your dough is pre-formed as a circle, you may get fewer empanadas per sheet of dough, sheets
- ¾ cup pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling, puree
- 2 egg divided
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg freshly ground
- 1 ounce cream cheese
- ¼ cup Greek yogurt plain, whole milk
- 2 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2 teaspoons sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
Prepare Empanada Dough:
- Prepare surface for cutting dough:Lightly flour a large cutting board or other hard work surface. Unroll the pizza dough, and lay it directly on the floured surface.Alternatively, line a hard work surface with parchment paper.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a 4 ½" or 5" circle cookie or biscuit cutter to cut 6 circles out of the dough. Place each circle onto the parchment paper as you go.Tip: If you're having trouble cutting through the dough, make sure you're cutting on a very hard surface (like a wood cutting board). The cutters may struggle to cut on a plastic surface.Repeat with the second roll of pizza dough and a second baking sheet. You should have twelve dough circles.Place the dough circles in the fridge.
Fill Empanadas:
- Add pumpkin, 1 egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, cream cheese, yogurt, and maple syrup to a blender basin, and blend until smooth.Tip: Use a small blender if possible. Some large blenders may struggle to blend the small amount of pumpkin filling. Alternatively, soften cream cheese for 15-20 seconds in the microwave, and whisk by hand or with an electric mixer until smooth.
- Remove empanada dough from the fridge.
- Add about 1 tablespoon of the pumpkin filling to the center of each dough circle. Fold the dough in half, and press down with your fingers to close the empanadas. Next, use the back of a spoon, or the tines of a fork, and press down on the edges of the empanadas to seal them.Tip: Pizza dough will poof up more while baking than empanada dough (more like a calzone), so sealing the empanadas is more about closing them very carefully than creating a decorative pattern.
- Beat the remaining egg in a small bowl. Next, brush the tops and edges of each empanada with the beaten egg, paying special attention to the sealed opening. (The egg will help seal them shut.) Sprinkle the tops of the empanadas with sugar.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden. Serve warm or at room temperature.
- Make Ahead / Refrigerate:Loosely wrap the empanadas in aluminum foil, and store them in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.Make Ahead / Freeze:Tightly wrap the empanadas in plastic wrap, and then put them in an airtight container. Use within 1 month. Reheat by microwaving in 1-minute bursts for 2-3 minutes, or baking at 300°F until hot.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 12people
Amount Per Serving
Calories 199 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 199kcal | 10% |
| Carbohydrates | 36g | 12% |
| Protein | 7g | 14% |
| Fat | 4g | 6% |
| Saturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Cholesterol | 30mg | 10% |
| Sodium | 492mg | 21% |
| Potassium | 58mg | 1% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 7g | 14% |
| Vitamin A | 2454IU | 49% |
| Vitamin C | 1mg | 1% |
| Calcium | 20mg | 2% |
| Iron | 2mg | 11% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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