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.
Servings: 8 servings
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
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 10x10 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
