Makes about 14 empanadas

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
11⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
6 ounces butter, cold in cubes
4 tablespoons milk
2 cups pumpkin puree
1⁄2 cup brown sugar, packed
11⁄2 teaspoons cinnamon
1⁄4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water
for glaze
2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter to the flour mixture and cut it in, using a pastry blender or two knives, until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle the milk over the flour mixture and stir with a fork, just enough to distribute. Gather the dough into a flat disc and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill the dough for 30 minutes. Blend together the pumpkin, brown sugar, spices, egg and vanilla to make the filling. When the dough is chilled, roll it out on a floured board or pastry cloth to 1⁄8-inch thickness. Cut out 4-inch circles. Place about 2 tablespoons of pumpkin filling on one half of each circle.

Fold over the other half and press the edges together with the tines of a fork. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, brush tops with the egg wash and sprinkle each with sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 17 minutes, until golden.