Mexican Pumpkin Empanadas

A correction is needed it the Directions. 1/4 tsp baking powder needs o the dry ingredients. I almost missed putting that in! These turned out great. I used one large can of pumpkin, instead of 4 cups. just like an other reveiwer had mentioned. Everything else I kept the same, but next time I am going to try the cinnamon in the pastry dough!

I've wanted to try making empanadas for a long time but my grandmother passed away before I was interested in learning how to make them. This recipe was easy & came out great! I added cinnamon to the dough because I remembered grandma doing that and used one large can of pumpkin instead of 4 cups. Great reviews from everybody who's eaten them!

There's a reason there's a dough recipe here people; it's not just a pie crust. The dough is much more spongy and sweet than pie crust, so no wonder those who use premade crusts are returning less-than-stellar reviews. This is a great recipe, and tastes almost exactly like my mom's empanadas. I used butter instead of shortening, and cut it down to about 3/4 cup because the dough felt right to me then. Also cut my empanadas a little smaller and ended up with some extra filling, but that's okay with me as it gives me an excuse to make more empanadas. :-)

I added some ground cinnamon to the flour mixture like a couple of other reviewers, 5 tsp. of it. I used butter instead of shortening and I used 4 cups of sweet potato that I wanted to use up, instead of pumpkin. Sweet potato and pumpkin taste the same to me anyway. Don't forget the 1/4 tsp of baking powder which is omitted in the directions. When the empanadas first came out of the oven the taste of ginger was over powering, but by the next day the flavors had melded and the flavors were just right.

This recipe is a good base to start from, but I reccomend several changes. First, it is much easier to use pre-made dough or a pie crust. Second, try mixing more cinnamon and some nutmeg into the filling mixture. I also added sweetened cream cheese into the filling, and after they were done baking I made a thin carmel icing that I dipped them into after they cooled. It hardened on the outside and took the "boredom" out of the crust.

Delicious! Since moving from CA to the midwest we miss our local mexican bakery and have been trying to find a recipe that is similiar to the pumpkin empanadas we would order by the dozen. This is the first recipe that comes close. Love them!

The dough recipe is perfect, I've had trouble with it before with different recipes in the past. I would also like to remind people to add the baking powder just as others have mentioned in their reviews. I also added a couple teaspoons of cinnamon to the dough. After putting the egg wash on the empanadas, I sprinkled them with cinnamon sugar.

Used pre-made refrigerated pie crust. Dusted with powdered sugar.

Basic but delicious recipe. I decided to add some ground cinnamon into the dough for a bit more color/flavor and they came out great, my friends and family ate them all within 2 days.

My husband is Mexican and he gave this a thumbs up. I also added cinnamon to the dough per his suggestion. I skipped the egg wash, just out of personal preference.

This was my first time making empanadas and with this recipe, they came out fantastic! It can get kinda messy doing the prepping, but it was worth it. Made these on two separate occasions for both sides of the family and they all loved them. Thanks for the recipe!

They came out awesome. My wife is Mexican and she said that they were excellent. I am an amature at baking and they came out perfect. Thanks for the Recipe.

I have made these a few times now. I wll say that mine never come out looking very pretty in color. I have brushed the egg on them and even topped them with a little bit of cinnamon/sugar mixture. This time I decided to put them under the broiler (on Lo) for a couple of minutes. It worked! They came out beautifully browned like I think they should look. (This could just be a problem with my oven though that I have to do this.) However, they alwys taste really good with or without the broiling part.. I don't see how you can make these without doubling the dough. There is always way too much filling leftover. The dough is too soft to put any more filling than I do already. I do add cinnamon to the dough as well. It just gives it that extra special cinnamony taste.

This recipe is delicious! Totally loooved the pastry, think you can use it with pineapple, apple or any other filling and will work perfect too. I added cream cheese to the pumpkin mixture cause I didn't have the 4 cups of pumpkin but only 3, so it was a pretty aaawesome risk I took there, creamy and delicious. At the end I had pumpkin filling enough for a whole pumpkin pie. I went all the way lol.

Easy and delicious recipe!!!

I'm Mexican and I absolutely give this recipe a straight 10!! I did make a few adjustments out of preference...canola oil instead of shortening, 1 extra cup of flour...nutmeg instead of cloves. I used homemade pumpkin purée. To be honest...these are the best empanadas I have EVER eaten!! Great recipe!! Thx for sharing!!

Absolutely delicious!

I used canned yams, or baked sweet potatoes for the filling. I love this dough! For those who weren't as pleased, just remember that a recipe is only a suggestion! Look at all the folks on here who added their own touches to make this dish their own!!

I followed it step by step exept their actual size and my empanadas came out perfectly! LoVVE IT!!

I used this recipe for just the dough, I didnt have pumpkin but I had alot of extra bananas, I just made up my own banana mixture and used it in the dough. The dough came out quite nice, I did add a little cinnamon to the mix and sprinkled a little sugar on top before baking. I used to make alot of banana bread but I will be making these instead, its the same amount of ingredients, just used differently. I live in Guatemala and shared some with my in-laws, They all loved them, so overall everything came out very nice. I guess you really could put anything in them to suit your taste.

I love this recipe! I'm about to make them again, but I'll take my moms tip this time and boil water with cinnamon sticks before adding it to the dough.

Very good recipe. The empanadas we get around here have a more doughy crust. This crust is flaky like a pie crust. It was very good. I only used 1 15oz can of pumpkin and I halved all of the spices. The ginger I 1/4'rd. That was plenty enough for filling for 12 empanadas. I had enough filling left for probably 1 more. I forgot to do the egg wash so mine came out pale but they were still tasty. My momma said that they are better than the ones we get from the panerias around here. :D

I didn't care for this at all, but hubby & the neighbors liked it. I may try using the crust with an apple pie filling & see if it is any better. I would've only given this a 1.

I do waht my grandmother used to do: take the water and boil it and add cinnamon sticks and then remove the sticks and proceed with making the pie crust recipe.

My friend and I tried this recipe and loved it. We made a few adjustments to the recipe, however. We did as other reviewers suggested and added a bit of cinnamon to the dough to make it a little spicy. To the filling, we added a bit of enchilada sauce and cheddar cheese to make it a bit heavier and not overly sweet. We only used about half the sugar that the recipe called for as well. After baking, we poured a little more enchilada sauce on top and devoured them. Overall, would definitely make again. :)

Tasty! Remember to add the baking powder to the dry ingredients (recipe mistake) but otherwise delicious! 4 cups of pumpkin is about a cup too much, but I'll just either make more or put it in a pie or something.

Loved these!! I found though that I had lots of leftover filling, so I will have to make another batch of pastry for it, but that is OK. :) I also had to bake them for about 40 minutes - but other than those small things they were amazing, even better than the ones I get at the market!

Perfect dough recipe for empanadas! Thanks for sharing.

I made these with corn flour,because I can not have gluten.Did not change anything else.DELICIOUS! Everyone loved them,and could not believe they were not made with wheat flour.

I only tried the dough, and it was delicious! Thanks for a great base recipe, you can use sweet or salty fillings according to need.

This was the first time I made empanadas and I'm glad for this recipe. I ONLY MADE THE DOUGH from this recipe so the review is for the dough only. I chose to fill my empanadas with pineapple. The only thing I would change is maybe cut back on the sugar a bit (but really it's to your preference) and cut back on the shortening a tad although not sure if that will affect the end result. I modified the ingredients to make 30 empanadas and it read to use 2 1/2 cups of shortening which I found gave them a greasier feel than I prefer. That said the end result were delicious, flaky empamadas! Will use this recipe again and will try with the pumpkin filling in the fall.

They came out so good my family loves them!

very good recipe, thank you.

Well, these are super tasty--not too sweet and they have a nice texture. However, it's sooo messy! It could be my technique or lack thereof, but all my empanadas look ugly. They're wonderful, but just don't look appetizing. I guess it's what's on the inside that counts? Anyway, thanks for the recipe. I will try to refine my methods!

Delicious!! Everyone I have made them for has LOVED them. Instead of adding all the spices I just added a Generous amount of Pumpkin Pie Spice!!!

I found this recipe last year and my family & friends love them! The dough recipe is so delicious. I have made pumpkin, peach, cherry and sweet potato empanadas. I have also used your dough recipe without the sugar and made pizza pockets. All were delicious. I have had them request for bake sales and they sell immediately. So happy I found this recipe. I am Hispanic and they taste just like my grandmothers. Thank you for sharing. This recipe is a keeper.

The ingredients and measurements for this recipe was perfect! I just used pumpkin made from scratch instead of the can. This was a big hit for our "Friendsgiving" dinner.

Pretty simple to make and tasty. My family loved them.

I really liked this recipe! I didn't alter it in any way except by mistake. I didn't realize what the beaten egg was used for, got scared and added it the mix. Also I forgot to add any baking soda per other reviews. All in all everything came out splendidly.

I added a little cinnamon to the 2nd batch of flour. A little cinnamon. Other than that recipe was easy for me.

This is a good recipe. I had to modify the dough recipe to get it to taste like a traditional Mexican Empanada dough. I also added more spices to the pumpkin mix.

This made way too much filling and the dough was a bit dry and cracked so that filling seeped out. The dough was tasty, although some anise would make it more authentic tasting. The filling was also quite good. With some modifications this could definitely be a 5-star recipe.

Hello Everyone, I am having my first mexican dinner for my family. I was wondering whether I can make these a week before and freeze. If so at what point in the process do I freeze them and what to do once I take them out. Thanks for helping this first timer

Here came out perfect! How do I store them. I put extras overnight in the microwave and they tasted even better. I don't want them to spoil should I store them in the fridge?

I did try the original recipe but didn't care for the pumpkin filling. It wasn't sweet enough for me and needed a little more spice. I added cinnamon to the dough and used 1/2 cup sugar instead of 1/3 cup.

This recipe was delicious! i didn't make it with pumpkin though (don't really like it. instead i just put strawberry jelly and they tasted GREAT! they are easy to make and tatse even better then store bought one's.

Love! I did add cinammon to the batter and used Anise in the water. Made half the filling but still too much

I made this as a trial run thru before christmas. My husband & kids loved them. I am so happy I came across this recipe. Thank you

Very yummy, but I didn't have enough dough to hold in all the pumpkin deliciousness. I'd double the dough next time

A family favorite! My mom made Enpanadas using fresh pumpkin and anise in the dough . I love the spices in this recipe, especially the cloves.

I have never had an Empanada nor have I ever made one and I found these to be fantastic! They tasted like inside out pumpkin pies! I did have trouble with the recipe, I halved all the spices and forgot to put on egg wash but they still turned out yummy. I could only manage to fit in 1 Tbs of filling into each so that it wouldn't spill out everywhere, so I had enough filling left over to make a whole pie (which I did).

I don't know why the filling came out so soupy. Maybe one egg is enough. i ended up adding a sweet potato to it and that helped.

Came out great, Note: both dough and filling are sweet. Made 25 empanadas

I wanted something with pumpkin, but not pumpkin pie and I was out of baking soda so I couldn't make pumpkin cookies or pumpkin bread, so finally decided to make empanadas. So glad I did, they turned out great, and my kids loved them. My first 2 empanadas were a mess, though. I didn't roll the dough out correctly and all my filling oozed out all over my counter. You'll get the hang of it after a few tries, though. The only change for me was I used 3/4 butter instead of shortening. It worked well. And next time I will probably brush the tops with melted butter instead of egg wash. And yes, I will be making these again, and again!

Excellent. Upped the baking powder to half a tsp. Added 5 min to baking. Divided the dough to make 30 portions. The canned pumpkin called for yields 3.5 cups and adequate with no leftovers as opposed to using the larger can to get the 4 cups resulting in leftover empanada mix and a whole lot raw pumpkin find a use for. This is the third time, and by far the best.

Absolutely delicious. I will definitely make this again. I can’t wait for Mexican night, at my house. These Pumpkin Empanadas will be on the menu.

Great recipe! Substituted the shortening for butter, used all purpose wheat flour and piloncillo instead of sugar.

I made these for a gathering, so actually split the dough balls in half, made them about 4" and filled them with one heaping tablespoon of filling to make 24 small servings. They came out great!

Thank you!

Love this recipe will definitely make it again. I think next time I will brush with egg white and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Plus I added a little cinnamon to the dough.

Definitely will make it again!

We do themed Holiday meals and this thanksgiving happened to be Mexican cuisine. these were a perfect addition to the menu. They were a hit! Thanks!

I guess I made a variation of this recipe :) I used refrigerated biscuit dough regular size, rolled out. Filling (I didn’t want too sweet) large canned pumpkin, 3 tsp pumpkin pie spice and a little extra cinnamon, 1tsp vanilla, juice from 1/4 orange, 2 tbs Splenda brown sugar blend. Egg wash tops with sprinkles cinnamon sugar. Bake per biscuit direction. Yum yum taste of fall

Very much enjoyed these, however I made a second batch using another pastry recipe (Never Never Fail pastry from this site) and I much preferred that. I made half with fresh cooked pumpkin filling and half with fresh picked apples, which I cooked enough to soften. I like both equally.

Tinned pumpkin not really a thing in Australia, so I cooked up some fresh. The amount of moisture remaining meant that the spiced mix to go in the pastry wasn't very thick. I would reduce the liquid next time, but everyone loved the final product!

Yes my mother used to make them and I had lost the recipe! So I'm glad I found your's and my mother used to use Anise in the water remove the anise seeds and use the water it makes the Empanadas taste so good! FranfromSpain

Yes my mother used to make them and I had lost the recipe! So I'm glad I found your's and my mother used to use Anise in the water remove the anise seeds and use the water it makes the Empanadas taste so good! FranfromSpain

Loved it!!

So I did make some adjustments to filling. I did actually roast two small orange pumpkins. Two small makes a lot of filling btw! Probably like 6 cups. Also I did make a double batch of dough and I still had quite a bit of filling left. So I think overall proportions are a bit off when it comes to dough to filling ratio. But again I did make my own pumpkin puree. Anyway I added stuck to the recipe when it came to spices and only added vanilla...because why not? Mexican vanilla probably would've been nicer. Also I took the suggestion of many others and added cinnamon to the dough and just dashed it in. Also did use some butter as I didn't have enough shortening. The empanadas did bake longer and I wish they would've browned more. Baked for 40min and still a bit pale. Anyway they are delicious. I'm sure my dad will be pleased. I'm not a huge fan in general of empanadas but I recognize good flavor ! Again wish they brown nicer but good recipe thank you!

I used coconut oil (virgin, organic expeller pressed), canned pumpkin pie mix (so I was able to exclude all spices used since pumpkin pie mix contains them). I added 2 eggs, a bit of sweetened condensed milk & vanilla to pumpkin pie mix. I also didn't separate the dough the way it instructed. I let it sit as it directed, but put the whole dough in fridge for an hour to chill. When I took out of fridge, I dusted counter top with flour, rolled out dough, and used my large emptied/opened can of pie mix to cut circles in dough. Then I filled circles @ one end without touching edges with pie filling, folded over & crimped with fork tines. They came out tasting fantastic! My family & I loved them.

Al little dense, but great flavor.

I am rating the filling only. I took a short cut by using the Goya empanada discs. The empanadas were pretty good.especially when they were still warm. They weren't too sweet, so I sifted some powdered sugar on top, before serving. There was more filling leftover.

Tasted great, looked pretty good, but I was not happy with the directions. Used fresh roasted pumpkin, pureed to 4 cups. I had enough leftover filling to make a separate 9-inch pie. (Whipped in the leftover egg wash, a small can of sweetened condensed milk and a pinch of baking soda.) Also I had to bake my empanadas 30 minutes for better color, not 20.

An excellent base recipe, but a little too sweet for us. For the filling, I will cut the sugar in half next time. Also I used 3/4 cup softened butter instead of shortening and 2-15 oz cans of pumpkin puree. The dough came out perfectly and was easy to roll. Next time I will put some smoky salsa or enchilada sauce over the top after baking to complement the sweet pumpkin filling. I will definitely try these again and bring them to a Halloween party coming up!