Those Mexican pumpkin empanadas (empanadas de calabaza) are made from scratch. From the homemade spiced pumpkin puree to the buttery dough, they are the perfect sweet treat for fall.
Place pumpkin in a medium pan and add, piloncillo, cinnamon, and anise star (read note 1).
Pour in water, cover the pan, and let gently simmer for 20 minutes while mixing one or two times.
Remove the cinnamon stick and anise star. Add nutmeg and cinnamon powder.
Using a potato masher, mash roughly the pumpkin.
Keep cooking uncovered while stirring from time to time until you’ll have a thick and dense mixture.
Set aside and allow to mixture to reach room temperature.
Make the dough
In a food processor place flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse two times to combine.
Add butter and pulse a few times to form a crumbly mixture.
Add egg yolk and cream, and pulse again until a clumpy dough forms (read note 2).
Transfer the dough onto a floured and smooth surface and quickly knead it into a ball.
Wrap the dough with cling film and place it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Make the empanadas
Remove the dough from the fridge, divide it into 14 pieces, and then flour your hands and roll each piece into a ball.
Place a dough ball over a 6×6″ plastic square and cover it with another piece of plastic of the same size. Slightly press with your hand to make a small patty.
Cover with another plastic square of the same size and use a heavy dish to press the dough to form a flat disc (read note 3).
Peel the top plastic square gently, then add some pumpkin filling in the middle of the dough disc.
Fold over to make a half-moon and press the borders to seal well the empanada.
Gently place the empanada on one hand and peel the last plastic.
Take the edge and carefully twist it to make the braided edge (read note 4).
Place the empanada on a baking sheet and repeat the steps with all dough and filling.
Brush all empanadas with the egg wash and make some small holes on the top with a toothpick.
Bake
Preheat your oven to 360°F (180°C).
Bake the empanadas between 20 and 25 minutes or until they are slightly browned on all sides.
As soon as the empanadas are out of the oven, coat them in a sugar and cinnamon mixture carefully.
You can now eat them while they’re still warm or place them in a cooling rack and store them for later.
Notes
You can substitute fresh pumpkin with 1 can (15 oz/415g) of pumpkin puree.
If you use canned pumpkin, you'll need to chop the piloncillo or use packed brown sugar, then add it to a pan with powdered spices and cook until you'll have a thick jam-like mixture.
You can also make the dough by hand, you just need a fork to integrate the butter and shortening with the dry ingredients, then knead quickly the wet ingredients to form the dough.
You can also use a tortilla press to make the dough discs.
This step is optional and actually, you can skip it if you just pinch the edges of each empanada with a fork to seal it and make a simple decoration.