Empanadas de Calabaza y de Piña~Preparing Pumpkin and Pineapple Empanadas

Empanadas are in high demand right now.  In today’s post you will find the original pumpkin and pineapple empanada recipes I grew up with. The dough is rustic, but delicious. If your Mom and grandmother cooked like my Mom did, there was rarely a real recipe written down. And that being said, my Mom prepared these empanadas year after year with no written recipe to speak of. It was mostly done by memory and somehow it always worked. And because you think your Mom will be around forever, I neglected to write down details of the recipe as she prepared it.  

There’s a chill in the air!

As soon as there is a hint of the seasons changing, I am right there thinking about these empanadas! I kid you not when I say I have frozen pumpkin filling in my freezer year round! By the time I wanted to to prepare them on my own, my Mom had passed away.  Lucky for me and thanks to my tia Minerva in Mexico, she helped me get a better idea on how the original family recipe was prepared. She prepared the dough recipe and I just wrote down some notes. I had some experience with other empanada dough recipes already, so I knew I could prepare this one when I arrived back in New York. 

You can find that original dough recipe at the end of the blog post.

The empanadas pictured above had extra canela, so the dough appears darker.

Find The Recipe That Works Best For you

 The pineapple empanadas pictured above were prepared with the Easy Empanada Dough Recipe with coca cola. Instead of dredging them through cinnamon and sugar, I brushed them with egg wash before baking them. Egg wash is simply 1 large egg whisked together with 1-2 tablespoons of cold water.

Click onto picture above to see full recipe on how to prepare pumpkin filling from fresh pumpkin.

Preparing Pumpkin Filling Using Canned Pumpkin
1 large can pumpkin(not pie filling),about 4 cups
1 cup piloncillo or dark brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground anise
3 tablespoon butter

~

Melt the butter, add the pumpkin, brown sugar(or piloncillo) and spices. Cook on low, stirring often, until it becomes really thick and darker in color. You want it to look almost like a paste. Taste for sugar and spices as it cooks down. I like to add spice to my taste, just add a tiny pinch at a time.

~

Empanadas de Piña ~ The Original Recipe I learned from my family to prepare all sweet empanadas, including pumpkin, pineapple and cajeta(ducle de leche). The dough is a bit more rustic and delicate to work with, but it works! It really does come together in the end.

Empanada Dough Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Baking, Empanadas

Cuisine: Mexican

Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon anise seeds
• 1-2 inch piece of canela cinnamon stick
• 8 oz in weight of vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 lb all purpose flour (about 3 1/2 cups) sifted
• * ½ cup sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

• For Dough: Combine the water, anise seeds and cinnamon stick in a small sauce pan. Heat on medium/low heat. This cinnamon and anise tea needs to steep while you mix other ingredients.
• In the stand mixer, cream the shortening for a few minutes. Mix in the sugar, salt and baking powder. Gradually mix in 3 1/2 cups( 1 pound) of the flour. Reserve the rest of the flour.
• Strain the tea, removing the solids. Gradually mix 4 ounces of the room temperature tea to the stand mixer. You want to add just enough tea until the dough comes together. If it feels dry and crumbly, add a little more liquid. Don’t over mix or the crust will be tough. It should feel moist but not stick to your fingers. Transfer to lightly floured surface and knead dough into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.
• To Assemble: When filling is cool and dough has rested, form 24 to 28 (1½-inch) dough balls and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Take one dough ball at a time and press in tortilla press lined with plastic storage bag or wax paper. Or you could roll out the dough on a flat surface. Fill with 1½ to 2 tablespoons of filling, fold over, and using a fork, or your fingers, pinch and fold over edges together , creating a braid look that seals empanada.
• Bake: Transfer empanadas to a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20 to 24 minutes or until light golden brown on the edges. While the empanadas are still slightly warm, roll in a cinnamon/sugar mixture. Once cooled, transfer to storage container with a tight lid. Empanadas will soften after a few hours. Yields 24 to 28 small empanadas.

Tried this recipe?Mention @pinaenlacocina or tag #pinaenlacocina!

Like this:

Like Loading...