Caramel Apple Empanadas
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Caramel apple empanadas are a cinnamony treat with just enough sweetness to satisfy your sugar cravings. This tasty Mexican dessert takes less than an hour to make and is tons of fun to prepare and enjoy with family and friends.
It doesn’t get much more “fall” than a cinnamon apple pastry. But since it’s pretty easy to get a good baking apple year-round, there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy this caramel apple empanada recipe in any season. Especially since they keep, reheat, and even freeze super well.
This recipe is also a great excuse for whipping up a batch of caramel sauce. I let it cool and thicken before adding it to the filling. You can also thicken any thin caramel sauce by reducing it in a saucepan over medium heat and stirring in a cornstarch slurry until it’s decently thick.
While you could use pre-made, frozen dough, I always prefer to make it at home. It’s basically just my regular empanada dough with sugar instead of achiote oil.
Table of Contents
Empanadas are delicious when made with sweet, full of apples or strawberries and rhubarb, or as savory appetizers stuffed with beef, taco filling, and more!
Caramel chips
In the Fall one can easily find Kraft caramel bits in the baking aisle. These are great in this recipe if you choose not to make a caramel sauce.
(Be sure to check the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and quantities)
- Sweet Empanada Dough – A combination of all-purpose flour, plain white sugar, salt, eggs, cold butter, and cold water — very similar to a biscuit or pie crust recipe.
- Filling
- Granny Smith Apples – This is pretty much the undisputed champion of apple desserts! This tangy, slightly sour apple highlights the sweet caramel and warm cinnamon in the filling. You can use any other firm baking apple: Gala, Honey Crisp, Pink Lady, Cortland, and McIntosh all come to mind.
- Caramel – I really like using Kraft caramel bits for convenience. If using larger caramels, chop into smaller pieces before mixing into the apple empanada filling. You could also use a tablespoon of caramel sauce, which is also great for drizzling on top!
- Cinnamon – The best spice for apple desserts!
- Lemon Juice – A little acid keeps the fruit from oxidizing — basically, it keeps them from turning brown. Lime juice can be used as a substitute.
- All Purpose Flour – To thicken the filling.
- Combine Dry & Wet Ingredients. Use a food processor to combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Once mixed, add the cold butter, cold water, and eggs. Pulse everything until a dough forms.
- Shape & Chill the Dough. Transfer the dough to a clean, floured surface and knead a few times to smooth it out. Divide into two even balls and flatten into discs. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Make the Filling. Place the peeled and diced apple pieces in a large bowl. Top with the lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of flour, the cinnamon, and caramel bits. Toss to combine.
- Shape. Roll the chilled dough into a ⅛-inch thick sheet. Cut out 12 discs and transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or a silicone baking mat).
- Fill. Scoop ¼ cup of filling onto the center of each disc.
- Close & Chill. Wet your hands and moisten the outer rims of the discs with your index finger. Fold the discs in half, over the filling, and gently press the edges of the dough to seal them shut. Use a fork to crimp the edges together. Once all are filled, transfer to the refrigerator to chill for another 30 minutes.
- Bake. Brush the egg wash onto each apple empanada and garnish as desired with sanding sugar and/or cinnamon. Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees F until golden brown. Let cool briefly before serving — they’re hot!
Recommended Tools
- Food Processor – To quickly and painlessly combine the ingredients for the sweet empanada dough.
- 6-inch Round Biscuit or Cookie Cutter – If you don’t have either, an appropriately sized bowl will work too. Use a knife to cut around it to carve out the discs.
- Rimmed Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper – To reduce waste, invest in a silicone baking mat that you can use over and over again!
Storing and Reheating
Caramel apple empanadas will last for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. You can also make the dough, fill, and chill for up to 3 days in advance!
To reheat them, return to the oven to bake at 350 degrees F until warmed through.
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Only the butter and water in the dough need to be cold — like, straight from the freezer cold! I’ll use a box grater to grate frozen butter for this recipe.
This is so that the butter won’t melt and make the dough too soft to shape without tearing. We also chill twice during this caramel apple empanada recipe for the same reason, and to help achieve those flaky layers.
Absolutely! You can freeze them either baked or unbaked.
To freeze baked caramel apple empanadas, store in an airtight container for a few months. To freeze unbaked, flash freeze on a baking sheet before transferring to an airtight container or baggie.
Bake a frozen batch for 15 minutes at 350 degrees F. If you let them thaw in the fridge or at room temperature beforehand, bake for just 10 minutes!
It could be because your filling was too wet. If you’re using caramel sauce, make sure it’s thick enough (I go into this in the intro and in the recipe card). And make sure you cook the apples in the filling until just tender but not mushy!
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Caramel Apple Empanadas
Equipment
- 6-inch round biscuit or cookie cutter
- silicone baking mat or parchment paper
- rimmed baking sheet
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 8 oz cold butter cut into 16 pieces
- 2 eggs
- 3 tbsp cold water
Filling
- 2 Granny Smith apples peeled and diced
- 1 lemon
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup Kraft caramel bits (See Note 1)
- 1 egg beaten (for egg wash)
Garnish
- 1 dash ground cinnamon
- sanding sugar crystals
Instructions
Make Sweet Empanada Dough
- Add flour, sugar and salt to bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the cold butter, eggs and water and pulse several times, until a dough forms.
- Remove dough from bowl and transfer to a floured surface. Use your hands to knead the dough a few times. Divide dough into 2 equal sized balls, flatten them into thick discs, wrap with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Make Apple Filling
- Peel, core and dice the apples. Transfer diced apples to a large bowl, and squeeze lemon juice over top. Add 2 tbsp flour, cinnamon and caramel bits, (or 1 tablespoon caramel sauce per empanada) then toss to combine. Set aside.
- Set oven to 375° F.
Make Empanadas
- Roll out the dough on a floured surface into a thin sheet (1/8-inch thickness) and use 6-inch round biscuit/cookie cutter to cut 12 empanada discs. Dough scraps may be gathered and rerolled as necessary. Place discs on a rimmed baking sheet lined with silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Place 1/4 cup apple filling in center of each empanada disc. Note: Be careful not to add too much filling, as it will tear the dough.
- Dip your index finger into water and moisten outer rim of each disc, then fold each disc in half to enclose the filling. Gently press edges of dough with your fingers to seal the empanada closed, then use tines of a fork to crimp edges together. Refrigerate the empanadas for at least 30 minutes before baking.
- Brush tops of each apple empanada with egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar crystals. Bake the empanadas for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Video
Notes
- 25 unwrapped Kraft caramels may be substituted for 1 cup Kraft caramel bits. Cut these into smaller pieces if using. If you’ll be using a different brand of caramel candies, keep in mind that you’ll want 5 ounces of caramels for this recipe. Alternatively, you could make and use homemade caramel or use Nestle Pumpkin Morsels.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
On Thanksgiving weekend I used your recipe for APPLE EMPANADAS, they were delicious!
Fantastic, so glad you enjoyed them!
This might be obvious but I don’t bake sweets often. Is the butter supposed to be salted or unsalted? Or does it not matter?
I typically use salted butter, but it’s up to you. I truly don’t taste much of a difference, but that’s me.
I think I ended up using salted butter. They turned out AMAZING! My hubby brought them to work and at the end of the night there wasn’t a single empanada left to bring back home.
Excellent, so happy everyone enjoyed these Briana!
Hello! I will be trying out this recipe tonight. I have a question. Can I prep them tonight, sit in the fridge overnight and bake them tomorrow? Or is it better to go ahead and bake them tonight and reheat tomorrow?
I’m sorry I missed your comment in time for you to make them ahead, Marie. Empanadas are always best when baked fresh. In the future, you could full bake them, then either freeze for up to 3 months or keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.
In the video it looks like ur adding cinnamon to the apple filling mix after the caramel bits?
Yes there is a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon that goes in as well Josie. Hope you enjoy these. 🙂
Hi Kevin,
Today I am going to try and make the apple empanadas of course using your recipe. I just hope my dough comes out looking just like yours and tasting like my mama’s.
I do too! Enjoy this one Carmen! 🙂
These look absolutely delicious! Can’t wait to make them this weekend. YUM!
Thanks so much, Wendy. I hope you love the empanadas!
I love all of your recipes from both sites. Can’t wait to try these with the apples from my trees. 🙂
Hi Keven, I have never heard of Kraft caramel ‘bits’ and see that you suggest the caramel pieces which I had on hand, however no instructions as to how I would incorporate the large caramel pieces into the 12 empanadas. So I tried melting them too add to the chopped apple pieces but that was an epic failure because as soon as the melted caramel hit the cold apples they formed large clumps so I quickly stopped that. I them decided to add the 1/4 c apples to each circle and then added about a TBSP of melted caramel to the top. It wasn’t pretty and felt awkward. What else could you suggest doing? Ty.
Nora, I’m so sorry that the recipe didn’t turn out well for you. Rather than melting the caramels, I think it may work better if you used a sharp knife to cut each caramel in half. Use just two or three caramel halves per empanada (depending on the size you make). Hopefully that will work better for you. Please let me know!
What beautiful little treats, I cannot wait to try this recipe. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Thanks so much Yvonne, appreciate it. AND for reminding me of this one. I need to make a batch myself! 🙂
Oh Wow, a “Mexican” Dessert, Yurrrmy.
Could I ask what Nestlé Toll House Pumpkin Spice morsels are? Never heard of or seen anything like that here in the Bush LOL. or if you can give me an idea of what it is basically, so I can try find a sub 🙂
Thanks Mills Kevin
Flee
South Africa
Hi Flee! The Pumpkin Spice morsels are like chocolate chips basically, but pumpkin and spice in flavor. Here is a link to Amazon if you want to order and check them out. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=NESTL%C3%89%C2%AE+TOLL+HOUSE%C2%AE+PUMPKIN+SPICE+MORSELS. Let me know how yours turn out!
Thanks Kevin. Will see what transpires LOL.
Keep well
Flee
I wonder if the Pumpkin Spice morsels are seasonal? We’re using caramel chips for now and will look for the pumpkin spice chips in the fall.
All those tablespoons of butter…. AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW YESSSS! I want to dig my face in them, like a straight guy wants to dig his face in…. BAH HA HA HA AH 😉
Now those are some seriously legit empanadas Kev, perfectly crispy and golden. Awesome!
Thanks Mike!