Gluten Free Baked Pumpkin Spice Empanadas

These little gluten free Pumpkin Spice Empanadas are filled with fresh fig jam and a light cream cheese.  My new Thanksgiving desert!  If I closed my eyes I would swear I was having a hostess cake.  Remember those little fruit pies? You remember them, the ones that were filled with apples, cherries, lemon and other flavors. This is similar but better! all homemade ingredients, nothing artificial and completely gluten free and light in calories!

It all starts with this dough! We roll this out into 16 balls (1.5 oz each) We use a tortilla press to flatten into a thin disc and fill it with whatever you want. The smell of pumpkin and cinnamon spice was just heavenly 🙏

I used light cream cheese and my Homemade Fig jam.  Make sure you don't spread the cheese too much or it will come out when you seal it with the fork.

This is what it looks like after my husband took a giant bite!  It was delicious warm but I liked it even better at room temperature, after it cooled.

 I loved making these sweet and savory, hand held pies! Empanadas are my favorite and I love when I make them perfect on the first try!!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Empanadas

Ingredients:

• 1 packet quick rise yeast
• 2 tbsp warm water
• 1 tsp fine sugar
• 1 cup (237g) cup4cup all purpose gf flour
• 1 cup (104g) coconut flour
• 1 envelope dry Saco buttermilk
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp pumpkin spice
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tsp crisco, shortening
• 1 cup low fat softened cream cheese (room temp)
• 6 tbsp Fig Jam
• .5 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tbsp fat free milk

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

prepare a tray with parchment paper

proof the yeast: in a small bowl add yeast, 2 tbsp warm water and 1 tsp fine sugar. let rise about 10 min

In a bowl,  sift all of your dry ingredient and mix well, In a separate bowl whisk all of the wet ingredients up until the crisco. Combine the wet ingredients into the dry as well as the yeast and begin incorporating with your hands, kneading into a ball and place in a plastic bowl covered with a damp cloth. let sit about an hour

In the meantime, whip cream cheese until it is spreadable

Divide your pumpkin dough into 16 small balls weighing 1.5oz each.  Place the balls into a tortilla press lined with plastic wrap and create a nice thin disc.

Add 1 tbsp of the cream cheese in the middle of the disc plus 1 tsp of fig jam and gently, using the saran wrap fold over. Using your fingers, press the edges down to seal, do this over the saran wrap.  Then use the fork and press around the edges, again, over the saran wrap.  Remove the Empanada and place on the prepared tray

Whisk the powdered sugar with the tbsp of fat free milk to create a glaze

Using a brush, brush each empanada with the glaze

Repeat 16X until you have 16 empanadas. Bake in the oven for 20 min.  Remove from oven and let cool. Enjoy!

Yields: Servings: 16 Empanadas,  Serving size: 1 Empanada,  Smart points: 7,  Calories: 172.9,  Total Fat: 5.1g,  Saturated fat: 3.5g,  Cholesterol: 21.9mg,  Sodium: 244.5mg,  Carbs: 29.1,  Fiber: 4.3g,  Sugar: 12.5,  Protein: 4.4g