Easy Apple Empanadas

Easy apple empanadas are the perfect fall treat, blending the cozy flavors of apple pie with the convenience of a handheld pastry. These dessert empanadas are filled with a warm, spiced apple filling and wrapped in flaky puff pastry. 

Whether you’re enjoying them straight out of the oven or serving them with a drizzle of salted caramel sauce, they are perfect for any occasion. Plus, they’re surprisingly simple to make, with a filling you can prepare ahead of time.

Apple Empanadas with Puff Pastry

Apple empanadas with puff pastry bring a flaky, buttery twist to the table, making it hard to resist these little pockets of goodness.

We used puff pastry in this recipe which makes these dessert empanadas super easy to make. This recipe also works with homemade pie crust (or even the store-bought kind). And if you want to make them gluten-free, you can purchase gluten free puff pastry or make our gluten-free pie crust. 

Apple empanadas are best served warm, straight out of the oven. But they are also pretty darn good at room temperature.

The caramel sauce and sea salt are optional but highly recommended. It takes these little hand pies from good to great!

Here is Why This Apple Empanada Recipe Works

• Using puff pastry makes the crust light and flaky and saves time if you don’t want to make your own crust. 
  
• The recipe is easy to adapt to homemade crust.
  
• Cinnamon and cloves compliment the sweet apples, and the caramel glaze adds the perfect finishing touch.
  
• Large sea salt flakes balance out the sweetness and create a beautiful salty contrast.
  
• These dessert empanadas are easy to make and can be easily customized. Try adding chopped walnuts or bits of crystalized ginger for a unique twist. 

The Ingredients

You’ll need a few key ingredients that are likely already in your kitchen. Think of it like assembling your favorite taco—just with apples, spices, and flaky puff pastry! Here’s what you’ll need to get started:

• Produce: Apples, lemon
• Pantry: Granulated sugar, cornstarch, all-purpose flour
• Pantry Seasonings: Ground cinnamon, ground cloves, salt, Maldon sea salt (optional)
• Condiments: Caramel sauce (or dulce de leche)
• Fridge: Egg whites
• Freezer: Puff pastry

You could also make our crockpot apple pie filling in advance for easy assembly.

Best Apples for Baking

When it comes to baking, not all apples are created equal. Braeburn, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, and Honey Crisp are all excellent choices cooking because they hold up well under heat and offer the right balance of sweetness and tartness.

Mixing and matching these varieties can add depth and complexity to the filling.

How to Make Apple Dessert Empanadas

Here is a brief overview to get an idea of what to expect with the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card for all the details.

Combine the fruit, spices, sugar, and lemon juice in a skillet.

Cook the filling until tender.

Roll the pastry out and cut circles out of the dough.

Place some filling in a round pastry disk. Leave 1/2 inch border and brush the edges with egg wash.

Fold the pastry over the filling and crimp the edges closed.

Brush the tops with egg wash and make some small slits in the top. Sprinkle with sugar and bake.

Variations 

If you want to switch things up, these dessert empanada variations will get you started. Just like mixing up ingredients for tacos, these recipes let you add a little twist to the classic filling. Aside form the following recipe ideas, you could also add cheddar cheese or cream cheese to the filling.

Maple Pecan Apple Empanada Hand Pies: Mix in 1/2 cup of chopped pecans and a drizzle of maple syrup to the filling. Top each empanada with coarse sugar.

Cranberry Orange Empanadas: Add 1/2 cup of dried cranberries and 1 teaspoon of orange zest to the filling. Top the empanadas with coarse sugar before baking.

Cinnamon Rum Raisin Empanadas: Soak 1/2 cup of raisins in spiced rum and add them to the filling. Top each empanada with tubinado sugar.

Baking the empanadas makes these desserts so easy but you could fry them in oil if you like.

Tips for Success

• Make sure the filling is cold when you spoon it into the puff pastry. Warm filling will make the pastry dough too soft to work with. 
  
• You can make the filling several days in advance.
  
• Place the filling slightly off center on the lower portion of the pastry circle. Don’t let it get too close to the edge or it will bubble out of the pastry dough when it cooks. 
  
• Crimp the edges of the empanada dough to seal the filling inside. We used a fork. 
  
• Drizzle some caramel sauce over the filling before you seal the empanadas. 
  
• You can replace some of the granulated sugar with brown sugar to give the apple empanadas a hint of molasses flavor.
  
• We used 6-inch pastry dough cutters, but 4-inch or 5-inch pastry cutters make nice-sized empanadas as well.
  
• If you don’t have pastry cutters, turn a small bowl upside down and use a sharp knife to cut around the perimeter of the bowl.

Our apple empanadas are the perfect sweet treat for a fall party or potluck and they taste better than the little hand pies at Taco Bell.

Some Other Recipes We Are Sure You Will Love:

Our caramel apple pie is the perfect way to enjoy the fall flavors. It is the perfect dessert for any meal.

This apple skillet cake is tender and moist, with a lightly spiced flavor. Serve it with whipped cream or ice cream.

You will love our Dutch apple pie. A touch of cream makes the filling rich and decadent, and the streusel topping is sweet and crunchy.

Unsweetened applesauce is easy to make and you can use it in baked goods like muffins.

Apple Empanadas

Our apple empanadas are light, flakey pastries filled with a sweet apple filling and finished with a drizzle of caramel sauce and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. They are the perfect fall treat!

The apple filling will keep for three days in the fridge if you want to make it in advance. You can substitute the puff pastry for regular pie dough if you like.

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Prep Time: 40 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 126kcal

Author: Pat Nyswonger

Ingredients

• 6 apples peeled, cored, and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup 200 grams granulated sugar, divided
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 packages 17 oz. each frozen puff pastry, thawed
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour for rolling the pastry
• 1 egg white whisked with 2 tablespoons cold water
• Maldon sea salt optional
• ½ cup caramel sauce optional

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Instructions

Make the Apple Pie Filling

• Add the diced apples to a large saucepan set over medium heat. Drizzle with lemon juice and add ¾ cup of the sugar along with the cinnamon, cloves, and salt.

  Toss everything together and cook, occasionally stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the apples release their juices, about 5-7 minutes.
• In a small dish, combine the cornstarch and the remaining ¼ cup of sugar, then stir it into the apples.

  Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the fruit is tender but still slightly firm when pierced with the tip of a paring knife, about 10 minutes.
• Remove the saucepan from the heat and transfer the filling to a bowl. Place it in the refrigerator until cold. (It is important that the filling has time to get cold before you fill the empanadas).

Prepare the Pastry

• Place a thawed sheet of puff pastry on a floured work surface. Roll the pastry into a 10×10 inch square.
• Cut two 6-inch circles of pastry (if you don't have a circle pastry cutter, you can place a small bowl upside down on the pastry and use a knife to cut around the perimeter).
• Place the circles on a parchment-lined plate with parchment between each circle. Transfer the plate to the refrigerator to keep the puff pastry chilled.
• Repeat the process with the remaining sheets of puff pastry. You should have eight circles in total.

Assembling the empanadas:

• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the chilled filling from the refrigerator.
• Working with two pastry circles at a time, place them on the floured work surface and brush with the egg wash. Spoon 3 tablespoons of apple mixture on the pastry circles, slightly off-center.
• Pull the upper portion of pastry over the filling and pinch the edges together to seal them.
• Place the filled pastries on the baking sheet. Repeat the process until you fill all of the empanadas.
• Chill the pastries for 15-20 minutes.

Bake the Apple Empanadas

• Preheat the oven to 425°F
• Remove the chilled empanadas from the refrigerator and brush each one with the egg wash. Use a sharp knife to cut small slits in the tops of the empanadas.
• Transfer to the oven and bake until the empanadas are golden brown, about 20-23 minutes, turning the sheet pan halfway through the baking time.
• Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire cooling rack.
• Serve while still warm.
• Serving suggestions: A drizzle of caramel sauce and a sprinkle of Maldon salt, vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whip cream, or sweetened sour cream.
  

Notes

• The partially cooked apples must be cold when you spoon them onto the puff pastry rounds. A warm filling will make the pastry too soft to work with.
• You can make the apple pie filling several days in advance and store it in an airtight container.
• Place the filling slightly off center on the lower portion of the pastry circle and fold the upper portion up and over the filling.
• Crimp the edges to seal the filling inside, pinch, twist or use a fork to create your own edge design.
• There will be pastry scraps left over that you can wrap in parchment paper and seal in a plastic bag, then freeze for a later use.
• If you use a smaller, 4-inch circle cutter, you will be able to use almost all of the puff pastry.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 126kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 60mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 16g

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