Chocolate empanadas

Name: Chocolate empanadas
Prep time: 12 min
Cook time: 22 min
Total time: 34 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Uruguayan
Ingredients: 400g Condensed Milk; 250g All purpose flour; 25g Unsweetened Cocoa; Pinch Salt; 125g Butter; 1 Egg; 3 tablespoons Milk; 30g Butter; 30g Sugar; 1 tsp Cinnamon

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Dessert recipe with Uruguayan flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 51 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 34 min total

400g Condensed Milk
250g All Purpose Flour
25g Unsweetened Cocoa
Pinch Salt
125g Butter
1 Egg
3 tablespoons Milk
30g Butter
30g Sugar
1 tsp Cinnamon

Step-by-step instructions

For the filling place the can in a large pot and cover completely with water. Boil for two and a half hours, occassionally adding water. Let cool before opening. For further tips, please check here.
For the dough combine the flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter in small pieces and rub into crumbs with your fingers Add the egg and work into a dough. You may have to add milk, a tablespoon at a time if it still is to dry. Wrap and chill for at least half an hour or overnight.
Line a baking sheeet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, it should be thin. Cut out circles of 12cm either with a cookie cutter or with a smaller plate/dish. Put two to three teaspoons of the dulce de leche in the middle of each circle. Brush the edges with milk, I do this with my pinkie. Fold each circle in half so that you have a half moon and press down the edges with a fork. You can also turn the edges about half a centimeter inwards every centimeter or so to create a pattern.
Place the prepared empanadas on the baking sheet and brush with egg wash. Bake for about 20-25min.
Towards the end of the baking time, melt the remaining butter and mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Once you take the empanadas out, immediately brush with the butter and sprinkle with the sugar mix. Empanadas can be enjoyed either still warm or cold. If eating warm, be careful not to burn yourself with hot filling!

Why this works on a weeknight

Chocolate empanadas lands at about 34 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Sweet Finishes collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Chocolate empanadas actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🍮 Sweet Finishes Dessert Uruguayan