Easy Pumpkin Empanadas

These Easy Pumpkin Empanadas are the perfect handheld fall and winter treat stuffed with a delicious pumpkin filling and wrapped in a sweet and fluffy dough! Just like from your favorite Mexican panaderia, but at home!

Pumpkin season is still going strong and I’m keeping it going with these pumpkin empanadas! I grew up eating empanadas around the holidays and they’re one of my favorite things to make every year. Typically my family makes their famous sweet and savory empanadas and I recently posted a recipe for air fryer beef empanadas, so I decided to go a different route and make dessert empanadas instead!

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cup water
• 2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
• ¾ cups sugar, divided
• 4 ¼-½ cups all purpose flour
• 2 ½ teaspoon pumpkin spice
• ½ teaspoon fine salt
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs, divided, at room temperature
• For the filling
• 1 (15-oz) can pure pumpkin puree
• ¾ cup dark brown sugar (or piloncillo)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract