Pumpkin Empanadas

Pumpkin empanadas are a popular Mexican pastry throughout the fall and winter, and are included in many families' holiday celebrations, from Christmas to Day of the Dead (and Thanksgiving, too). The video walks you through making the filling from a whole pumpkin and dough from scratch, but you could definitely use canned pumpkin and/or pre-made empanada disks to speed the process along; see the notes at the bottom of the recipe for ingredient suggestions.

Filling ingredients:
2 pounds/ 900 g peeled and seeded pumpkin* or 2 cans pumpkin puree
5 ounces/ 140 g panela or piloncillo** or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup water
2-3 cinnamon sticks or 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 whole star anise or 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon ground anise
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Place pumpkin, panela or brown sugar, water, and spices in a pot over medium heat. Cover and let the mixture simmer for 20 minutes, if using canned pumpkin, or closer to 40 minutes if using fresh pumpkin, adding water if needed. The pumpkin pieces will break down and the mixture will have the consistency of very thick jam. Remove cinnamon sticks and whole anise, if using. If you want a very smooth filling, use a blender or food processor to puree it further. Set aside to cool.

Dough ingredients:
3 cups/ 375 g all purpose flour
1/4 cup/ 50 g granulated sugar
pinch of salt
12 tablespoons/ 6 ounces cold unsalted butter*, in cut into 12 pieces
2 eggs (1 for dough, 1 for egg wash)
1/3 cup milk*** or water
Coarse sugar to sprinkle on top, optional

Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl or food processor. Stir briefly (bowl) or pulse once or twice (food processor). Add butter to flour mixture and cut in with pastry blender (bowl) or pulse (food processor) until mixture is the texture of coarse sand with some pea-sized pieces of butter. Add milk/ water and one egg to the mixture and stir (bowl) or pulse (food processor) until dough just holds together. Put dough onto a floured counter and knead a few times by hand. Cover dough and let it rest for at least 30 minutes or up to 2 days, refrigerated.

When ready to form empanadas, whisk the second egg with a little water. Flour the counter, line a baking sheet, and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Break off small pieces of dough, roll into balls, and then roll out into roughly oval-shaped disks. Brush half of the edge of the dough with egg wash and place a large spoonful of filling slightly off center. Carefully fold the dough over the filling and press edges together to seal. If the dough tears a bit, use egg wash and a bit more dough to make a patch. You can use the tines of a fork or your fingers to make a decorative edge if you'd like. Place empanadas on baking sheet, brush tops with egg wash, and sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon sugar, if using. Bake for 18-25 minutes, depending on size, until empanadas are golden brown.

Yield: 24-36 empanadas, depending on size
Make ahead: Empanada dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for 6 months. Pumpkin filling can be refrigerated for at least a week. Fully formed, unbaked empanadas, well wrapped, can be frozen for up to 6 months. No need to thaw before baking, just add 3-4 minutes to the total baking time. Baked empanadas freeze well, too!

*To get the 2 pounds of pumpkin flesh, look for a 2 1/2 - 3 pound pumpkin (probably labeled a "sugar pumpkin" or "pie pumpkin"). But the filling recipe makes more than enough, so don't worry if you wind up with more or less - just adjust the other ingredients.
**Panela/ piloncillo is an unrefined brown sugar common across Latin America and found in some large U.S. markets and any Latin market.
***Empanada dough can be made dairy/ lactose free by using shortening or non-dairy margarine and water, respectively, in place of the butter and milk.

Savory empanadas:    • Empanadas  
More pumpkin/ winter squash:
   • Pumpkin Bread  
   • Pumpkin Pie + Piecrust Tutorial  
   • Butternut Squash Soup  

#empanadas #pumpkinrecipe #diadelosmuertos #dayofthedead #thanksgivingrecipes #makeahead