Sopapillas Chilenas-Fried/Baked Bread Chilean Style

Chilean Sopapillas are traditionally prepared and eaten on rainy winter days, and since we are likely to have a lot of those kind of days and nights, here is a recipe that will warm up a person's spirit, no matter how is the weather outside. Although Sopapillas are traditionally fried in hot oil or shortening, they are just as delicious, and healthier baked. Sopapillas can be served as bread, as a side dish, or as a pastry. If you can find "chancaca", (hard and dark cane sugar) in your local ethnic stores, your sopapilla will be even more authentic, but they also taste great dusted with brown sugar, or confectioner's sugar. I also tried confectioner's sugar mixed with ground cinnamon, and had  no complaints!
Sopapillas are distant cousins of Lángos (Hungarian Fried Bread).

Ingredients:

1 small  pumpkin  or squash

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 cups of flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

4 tablespoons butter, melted

3 cup dark brown sugar, or grated chancaca

2 cinnamon sticks

3/4 cups water

1 teaspoon allspice

Preparation:

1. Slice the pumpkin or squash and roast on a cooking sheet in the oven until golden brown. Scoop out the pumpkin and mash.
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, the  baking powder, baking soda, 2 tablespoons of sugar (or chancaca). Add the mashed pumpkin, the butter (melted) and one or two tablespoons of warm water (one tablespoon at a time)  until a smooth dough forms.
3. Roll out dough on a floured surface to 1/2 centimeter thickness, and let it "sit" for about ten minutes.  Cut out with a large round cookie cutter, or a floured, tea cup, and prick each rounds with a  with a fork several times
4. For fried sopapillas, heat oil in a deep skillet (enough to fully cover the sopapillas) and fry them in batches, until golden brown on both side. Drain on paper towels.
5. To bake, preheat oven to 475 degrees, place sopapillas on a greased cookie sheet, brush each sopapilla with melted butter, and bake for about fifteen minutes, or until golden brown.

Syrup (For pastry style sopapillas)

Combine one cup of water with  2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar or grated chancaca, the cinnamon sticks and allspice. Stir, and simmer on medium high for about ten minutes. Strain the syrup and stir in one tablespoon of butter. Keep warm.

To serve as pastry, dip each fried or baked sopapilla in the syrup, and serve syrup on the side. Alternatively, dust with brown sugar, confectioner's sugar, or powdered brown sugar mixed with powdered cinnamon. They also taste great with maple syrup or pancake syrup.