This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CelebrateLosMuertos #CollectiveBias
The concept for pumpkin spice crunch empanada cookies is our own.

It’s that time of year again folks. Time to deck up the munchkins in their favorite costumes and head into the night or, if you’re from our neck of the woods, it may be time to visit the family gravesite before heading out for the Dia de los Muertos celebration downtown. Or, it may be time for both. But whether you’ve got Halloween on your mind or are celebrating the Day of the Dead, there’s always room for some great snacks, like Pumpkin Spice Crunch Empanada Cookies.

Let’s face it. Starting in November, things are going to get crazy. The Holidays are looming, there are meals to be planned, family to gather, and gifts to buy. To put it another way: It’s about to get real, and who can’t use a little downtime and a helping hand from the grocer before it’s time to recreate Great-Grandma’s month and a half long recipe for Christmas Cake? (Yes, it does take that long, and yes, I’ll be making that this year.)

Even if Dia de los Muertos isn’t your thing, it’s always awesome to try something a little different and luckily, your neighborhood H-E-B has you covered in both cases. So along with new foods, why not add a little Day of the Dead to your Halloween celebrations, too? Seriously, You can grab all this great stuff just walking in the door!

I tend to do my shopping early. As in right after I drop my son off at school at 7:15. So for me, the shopping experience can be a bit exciting, Especially if the stocking crew is still hard at work after a big shipment. I knew I wanted to grab some sweets and candy, so after grabbing my coffee (Necessities!) I headed off to grab everything else. It really can get crazy in the morning.

First, since I’ve got a dual holiday thing happening, I needed to grab some candy. Lots of candy. So I hit the seasonal aisle for some fun sized stuff.

The choices are pretty endless at this time of year, so this part actually took a while.

I ended up going with  NESTLÉ® BUTTERFINGER®, CRUNCH®, and NERDS® Fun Size. The first two because I love ’em, and the NERDS® because the colors are appropriate for the Day of the Dead. It’s a bright and colorful kind of holiday, so I wanted some of those colors, too.

Luckily, my kids don’t always have to have pepperoni, so I opted for a TOMBSTONE® 4 meat pizza. Which happened to have neat Halloween packaging. Then it was time for a little cocoa action, and like any kid, mine prefers the powdered kind, and rabbits, so it had to be NESTLÉ® NESQUIK®.

And yes, the stuff on the floor was left there on purpose by the stocking crew. (Old products go back to the manufacturer for refunds, because H-E-B Cares about your health and safety.)

(There are no demos or tastings at this hour, but definitely look for a demo at your nearest HEB store, check out the list for locations and dates HERE. They will be sampling Pumpkin Cookie Butter dip with LIBBY’S 100% Pure Pumpkin and HEB Specaloos Creamy Cookie Butter!)

Lastly I rolled by the refrigerator section for some cookie dough, and then back to the house!

OK. so let’s get to making some Pumpkin Spice Crunch Empanada Cookies

First, pick up a package of  pumpkin spice flavor NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Refrigerated Cookie Dough and some  NESTLÉ® CRUNCH® bars (The small ones work well here, but normal sized bars should do fine.)

Get your oven heating to 325 F.  While that’s going on, Grab 6 of the CRUNCH® Bars and break them in half. Then start separating cookie squares.

Each cookie takes 2 squares, so you end up with 12 cookie empanadas when we’re done.  Now. Roll one Pumpkin Spice Cookie Square into a ball and flatten it out until it’s about 2-inches in diameter, then plop a CRUNCH® Bar half down on it.

Then repeat the process and cover with another round of cookie dough.  Keep it up until you’ve got ’em all done, then seal the edges with a fork to make the cookies look more empanada-like. (Also to keep the chocolate from oozing out, because that would be a terrible, horrible, awful thing.)

From here, it’s as simple as tossing them in the oven for just about 12 minutes. Get ’em out quick, we don’t want them to overcook or burn on you!

Let them cool on the sheet for a minute and then move them over to a cooling rack until they’ve cooled all the way… or just eat them as soon as they’re cool enough to stuff in your face, because you’ll want to. Yeah. You will.

And now for the prerequisite Pretty Printable recipe. Because we all love good looking printable, don’t we?

Yield: 12 cookies

Pumpkin Spice Crunch Empanada Cookies

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes

Total Time: 22 minutes

Print

Ingredients

• 1 package Pumpkin Spice Flavored NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Refrigerated Cookie Dough
• 6 NESTLÉ® CRUNCH® Fun Size
• Sugar for dusting cookies (Optional)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit.
2. Separate cookie squares, roll into balls and set aside. Break 6 Fun Size candy bars in half and set aside.
3. Flatten 12 of the balls into disks and place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Top each disk with 1/2 of a Fun Size Candy bar, then flatten remaining balls into disks and place on top of the candy bars.
4. Seal the edges of each cookie "empanada" with the tines of a fork. (Optional: If desired, dip the fork in sugar first for extra sweetness.)
5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until just browned at the edges. Cool 5 minutes in pan then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
6. Consume Mass Quantities.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

12

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 137Total Fat: 7gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 4mgSodium: 54mgCarbohydrates: 18gFiber: 1gSugar: 12gProtein: 2g

What I would have done differently

My friends, if you like pumpkin spice, there is nothing on our lovely green earth that you need to change about this recipe. Grab a cup of Mexican hot chocolate and enjoy to your heart’s content!

What do you think about our pumpkin spice crunch empanada cookies?

Are you a fan of quick, simple recipes with a little help from your local grocer? I know we are. If so, be sure to check These Halloween and Day of the Dead Recipes, They’re sure to take just a little of the load off this October.  We’ll be waiting for you next month when things get real.

Have a great one.