This recipe for homemade apple empanadas is quick, easy, and super delicious. It can easily be modified to make the Taco Bell inspired caramel apple empanadas as well! Let’s make our dessert empanadas.
I love hand pies and pasties. They can be sweet or savory and in this case, these apple empanadas are sweet with their apple pie filling and salted caramel sauce that goes on top. These delicious treats are ready in under an hour. Let’s make our mini apple pies aka apple empanadas. The perfect sweet treat!
What are sweet empanadas?
Sweet empanadas, also known as “empanadas dulces” in Spanish, are a delightful and popular variation of the traditional savory empanadas. Empanadas are a type of pastry or turnover that originated in Spain and have been embraced by many Latin American and Hispanic cultures. While savory empanadas are typically filled with ingredients like meat, vegetables, or cheese, sweet empanadas are filled with sweet fillings, making them a delicious dessert option.
Here are some common types of sweet empanadas and their fillings:
- Fruit Empanadas: These sweet pastries are often filled with a variety of fruits. Some popular choices include apple, peach, guava, and pineapple. The fruit is usually sweetened and spiced with ingredients like cinnamon and sugar.
- Cream or Custard Empanadas: These empanadas feature creamy and custardy fillings. Vanilla or chocolate custard, pastry cream, or sweetened ricotta cheese are common choices. They can be flavored with extracts like vanilla or almond.
- Dulce de Leche Empanadas: Dulce de leche, a sweet caramel-like sauce made from condensed milk, is a favorite filling for sweet empanadas. It’s rich, gooey, and incredibly sweet, making it a popular choice among those with a sweet tooth.
- Nut-Filled Empanadas: Some sweet empanadas are filled with nut-based fillings, such as chopped nuts mixed with honey, sugar, or syrup. Almonds, walnuts, and pecans are commonly used.
- Chocolate Empanadas: These empanadas are filled with chocolate in various forms, such as chocolate chips, chocolate ganache, or Nutella. They are a chocolate lover’s dream.
- Cheese and Fruit Empanadas: These empanadas combine the sweetness of fruit with the creaminess of cheese. Common pairings include cream cheese with berries or queso fresco with guava paste.
Sweet empanadas are typically made by preparing a sweet pastry dough, which may include ingredients like sugar and sometimes a hint of cinnamon or citrus zest for added flavor. The dough is rolled out, filled with the sweet filling of choice, folded over, and sealed. They are then baked until golden brown or fried until crispy, depending on regional preferences.
Equipment Needed for this recipe
Baking Tray (or baking sheet)
Rolling pin (or a tortilla press)
parchment paper (or wax paper)
Large bowl
Food processor
Heavy Bottom Pot
Pastry Brush
Why you’ll love this apple empanadas recipe?
It really is the perfect dessert. These delicious apple empanadas are super simple to make. They have this sweet caramel apple filling, and they would pair amazingly with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Tips, Tricks, and Alterations:
For best results, always follow the recipe card.
If you want to make this like the taco bell empanada, add a caramel sauce to the apple mixture (check out my miso caramel sauce- it would work great!).
You can always add more all spices to the apple mixture such as ground cloves, ginger, etc.
Frying vs baking:
You can deep fry these if you want but be sure to use a clear oil like vegetable oil or canola oil. Do this in a heavy bottom pot, and fry until golden brown.
Ingredients for apple empanadas:
Pie Dough: You can use a store bought pie dough or make your own. I use my gluten free pastry dough recipe
Apples: I use honeycrisp for this recipe but any baking apple is good
Brown Sugar: brown sugar helps add a caramel flavor to the apple filling
Cinnamon: Helps flavor our filling
Turbinado Sugar: I cover my baked apple empanadas with this to give them extra sweetness and crunch
Egg: Egg goes into my pie crust and is used for an egg wash
Icing Sugar: To help make the caramel drizzle
Vanilla Extract: Helps enhance the flavor of our filling and drizzle
Salted Caramel Syrup: For our drizzle
Corn Starch: To help thicken the filling
How do you make these apple empanadas?
Set oven to 350°F
First make your dough: if you are making homemade empanada dough and want to use my recipe, use my gluten free pastry dough recipe. Put the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it comes together. Set it aside.
Make the filling: Cut up the apples into small pieces and place in a heavy bottom pot. On medium heat, add the brown sugar and vanilla extract. Allow the apples to break down. They won’t get super mushy but they will be soft. The juices from the diced apples along with the sugar will be getting very sticky and bubbling. This should take around 15-20 minutes. At this point, mix the cornstarch and water together in a separate bowl and pour it into the pot. Stir for a few more minutes then remove from the heat and set the apples into a bowl.
Bring them together: in a tortilla press (or between two pieces of parchment paper) place a ball of the empanada dough. If using a tortilla press, place between the pieces of parchment, and then into the press. Push down and get it to the thickness you desire. If using a rolling pin, roll it out to the thickness you like. Scoop some of the filling onto the empanada discs. Fold it over and use a fork to press the edges together to seal it.
Cover in egg wash: In a bowl, crack an egg and whisk. Using a pastry brush, brush the empanadas with it and. then place turbinado sugar on top of each empanada. Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Check to see how golden they are. Baking time is up to 30 minutes.
Make the glaze: in a small bowl, add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salted caramel syrup. Whisk until it comes together. If it is too thick, add more water.
Remove from the oven: and cover in the glaze. Serve and enjoy.
When you finish with this recipe, check out my apple frangipane tart
How do you store these apple empanadas:
In an airtight container on the counter for 3-5 days. Icing you can also store on the counter or in the fridge.
LEAVE A RATING AND REVIEW!
Did you love this recipe? If you did, let me know! And let others know too by leaving a comment and star rating. Reviews are incredibly useful in helping other people find my site and make my recipes. Thank you so much!
Laura
FIND MORE OF MY FAVORITE TART RECIPES BELOW
Baked Apple Empanadas: Easy Empanada (Hand Pies) Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Food Processor
- 1 Tortilla Press
- 1 Heavy Bottom Pot
- 1 Pastry Brush
- 1 Rolling Pin
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
- 3 Honeycrisp Apples
- ½ Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
- 1 ½ Cup Gluten Free Flour I use Cup4Cup
- 8 tablespoon Butter cold- for crust
- 2 Eggs 1 for pie dough, 1 for egg wash
- ½ Cup Powdered Sugar for glaze
- 3 Tbsp Cornstarch
- 3 tablespoon Water for cornstarch mixture
- 2 tablespoon Salted Caramel Syrup for glaze
Instructions
- Set oven to 350°F
- First make your dough: if you are making homemade empanada dough and want to use my recipe, use my gluten free pastry dough recipe. Put the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it comes together. Set it aside.
- Make the filling: Cut up the apples into small pieces and place in a heavy bottom pot. On medium heat, add the brown sugar and vanilla extract. Allow the apples to break down. They won’t get super mushy but they will be soft. The juices from the diced apples along with the sugar will be getting very sticky and bubbling. This should take around 15-20 minutes. At this point, mix the cornstarch and water together in a separate bowl and pour it into the pot. Stir for a few more minutes then remove from the heat and set the apples into a bowl.
- Bring them together: in a tortilla press (or between two pieces of parchment paper) place a ball of the empanada dough. If using a tortilla press, place between the pieces of parchment, and then into the press. Push down and get it to the thickness you desire. If using a rolling pin, roll it out to the thickness you like. Scoop some of the filling onto the empanada discs. Fold it over and use a fork to press the edges together to seal it.
- Cover in egg wash: In a bowl, crack an egg and whisk. Using a pastry brush, brush the empanadas with it and. then place turbinado sugar on top of each empanada. Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Check to see how golden they are. Baking time is up to 30 minutes.
- Make the glaze: in a small bowl, add the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salted caramel syrup. Whisk until it comes together. If it is too thick, add more water.
- Remove from the oven: and cover in the glaze. Serve and enjoy.
Staci says
Yay!
Laura Sirkovsky-Kauffman says
Glad you love it!