Pumpkin Empanadas-Empanadas De Calabaza
One of my most cherished holiday memories is when mom prepared pumpkin empanadas and would ship them to me all the way to New York from Texas. I miss those days.
Servings 29 small empanadas
Ingredients
Pumpkin Filling
- 1 large can pumpkin(29 oz) not pie filling,about 4 cups
- 4 oz piloncillo or dark brown sugar
- 4 oz granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground anise
- 3 tablespoon butter
Empanada Dough
- 1 cup water
- 2 star anise
- 2 inch cinnamon stick
- 3 1/2 cups flour, sifted, (about 1 lb)
- 1/2 c sugar
- 1 1/2 tsps baking powder
- 1/3 tsp salt
- 8 oz shortening, plus 2 tbsps for baking sheets
Sugar Cinnamon Dredge
- 1/2 c sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
For Pumpkin Filling
- Melt the butter and piloncillo. Mix in the pumpkin puree and spices. Stir well to combine. Continue cooking at a light simmer until filling becomes thick and slightly darker in color. Stir as needed. This takes about 45 minutes.
Cinnamon Sugar
- Mix sugar with cinnamon, set aside
Dough
- In a sauce pan, combine the 1 cup of water with anise and cinnamon stick. Bring up to a boil at medium heat. Remove from heat and let steep.
- In a large bowl, add the 3 1/2 cups of flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in the shortening until you have small crumbles. Press some of the mixture in the palm of your hand. If it stays together, then it's ready. If its still crumbly, mix in a little more shortening.
- Strain the cinnamon/anise tea. Gradually mix the tea into the flour mixture. I only needed 4 oz, but may vary from time to time. Knead until dough comes together and feels mostly smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
- To Assemble: When filling is cool and dough has rested, form 29 dough balls. Each weighs about 26 grams, more or less. Cover with plastic 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.
- Transfer empanadas to a greased baking sheet and bake for 18-21 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.
Notes
Do not overstuff the empanadas or it will make it very difficult to seal. These tiny empanada discs are only 2 inches in diameter. This was the traditional size my tia's used to prepare. Mom always made them bigger, we didn't complain! Lol! The filling is good for two batches of dough. It's best to prepare extra cinnamon anise tea, just in case you decide to make hojarascas too! Or more empanada dough!
Dulce De Leche Filling-Cajeta
14 oz can dulce de leche-La Lechera
1 large egg yolk
1 c crushed pecans
Mix these three ingredients well. For each 2 inch empanada, you will fill with 1 tbsp cajeta with pecans. Bake as instructed above