Description
Sweet hand pies with apple–caramel filling inside a flaky crust, baked or fried until golden and drizzled with caramel.
Ingredients
- Granny Smith apples – peeled, cored, and diced (about 4 apples)
- Lemon juice – 1 tablespoon
- Sugar – ~ ½ cup (for filling)
- Cinnamon – 1 teaspoon
- Caramel or dulce de leche – ~ ⅓ cup for filling + extra for drizzling
- All‑purpose flour – about 2¾ cups (for crust)
- Cold butter – ~¾ cup, cubed
- Salt – a pinch
- Cold water – ~½ cup (plus as needed for dough)
- Egg yolk + water – for egg wash
- Cinnamon sugar or turbinado sugar – for topping
Instructions
- Make the crust: Combine flour, salt, and sugar. Cut in cold cubed butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add cold water gradually just until the dough comes together. Form into a disc, wrap and refrigerate for ~30 minutes.
- Prepare filling: Toss diced apples with lemon juice. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook apples with sugar, cinnamon and caramel until softened (~15‑20 minutes). Stir in vanilla if desired. Let the filling cool to room temperature.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into about ⅛‑inch thickness. Use a round cutter (about 3½‑4 inches) to cut out circles.
- Place a spoonful of cooled apple–caramel filling into the center of each dough circle. Be careful not to overfill.
- Fold the dough over to form half‑moons. Press edges to seal, using a fork to crimp if desired.
- Chill the assembled empanadas in the refrigerator (~20 minutes) to help them hold their shape.
- Preheat oven to 375 °F (≈190 °C). Brush empanadas with egg wash. Sprinkle with cinnamon‑sugar or turbinado sugar on top.
- Bake for about 20‑25 minutes or until golden brown. Alternatively, empanadas may be fried until golden if preferred.
- Let cool briefly. Drizzle with extra caramel sauce before serving.
Notes
- Use tart apples (like Granny Smith) to balance the sweetness of caramel.
- Chilling the dough and assembled empanadas helps prevent leaking and keeps shape intact.
- You can substitute store‑bought pie crust or empanada discs to save time.
- Adjust sugar depending on how sweet your caramel is.
- Empanadas can be frozen (before or after baking) and reheated later.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 empanada
- Calories: ≈190‑230 kcal
- Sugar: ≈10‑20 g (varies with amount of caramel)
- Fat: ≈8‑10 g
- Saturated Fat: ≈4‑6 g
- Carbohydrates: ≈24‑35 g
- Fiber: ≈1‑2 g
- Protein: ≈2‑3 g
