Cinnamon and Sugar Empanadas

Start heating your oil in a medium size pot. Then place a sauté pan on your stove top on medium to low heat. Add the butter and apples and let this cook a few minutes. Once the apples are nicely coated in butter add the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt and lemon juice. Let all this come to a slight boil as you stir occasionally.

Once the fruit is nicely caramelized take it off the heat and add the pears. Stir to combine. You have to add the pears at the very end or they will fall apart in the heat and sugar. Allow all this to cool.

Now roll out your store bought pie dough and cut it using a round 3 inch cookie cutter.

Once all your dough is cut, crack your egg in a small bowl and whisk it up. Now using a pastry brush, brush the pie dough with the egg and then place about a tablespoon of the filling right in the middle of each dough circle. Fold pie dough over and pinch the edges closed with a fork.

Now it’s time to fry these babies. First mix the coating ingredients in a shallow bowl and set aside. Next test your oil with a scrap of dough. If it bubbles and floats to the top then the oil is ready.

Place the empanadas into the pot one or two at a time (use a spoon to lower the empanadas into the oil). Once they turn a nice golden brown spoon them out and drop them in the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Toss them around in the sugar till nicely coated. Repeat frying the rest.

I’ve had the baking itch lately and with the autumn fruits coming into season all I can think about is pie! Apple pie to be exact. This is my absolute favorite kind of pie. My mom makes a killer apple and cranberry deep dish pie with a handmade crust. I’m going to try to make this sometime over Christmas. But for now I want to get a quick fix on my pie craving so I decided to take my beef and pork empanada recipe and put a sweet twist on it.