Gently stir together the warm water, yeast and maple syrup in a large bowl. Wait 5-10 minutes or until you can see it starting to foam.
Make the dough
Add the salt, flours, oil, and applesauce, and mix together. If mixing by hand, knead for 5-10 minutes, until dough is smooth and stretchy. If using a Kitchenaid or other stand mixer, run it on low for about 2 minutes and then increase the speed, mixing for about 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
Lightly spray the top of the dough with cooking oil and cover it with a damp towel, then set in a warm area for about 90 minutes, until doubled in size.
Fill the empanadas and prepare them for baking
Divide the dough into 16 approximately equal-sized balls and prepare two baking sheets lined with parchment paper or Silpat sheets. Keep the damp towel covering the ones you are not working with, whether filled or un-filled.
Take a ball of dough and flatten/roll it out into a disc shape, between 1/8 inch and 1/4 inch in thickness. You'll need to feel it out here and see what works best for your dough. If needed, lightly oil the surface that you use for this step - I wouldn't recommend flouring it.
Add a small scoop of your filling - approximately 1/4 cup - onto one half of the disc. Fold the other half of the disc over and use a fork to press the edges together and seal the filling inside.
When all of the empanadas are filled, preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bring the water to a rolling boil in a saucepan and add the baking soda. One by one, gently drop the empanadas into the water for only 10 seconds, until they float back to the top, remove them with a slotted spoon, and place them on the baking sheets.
Sprinkle coarse salt over the tops of the empanadas while they are still wet from the baking soda wash.
Bake:
Bake at 450 Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes, until they feel firm and the tops are a nice golden brown.
Caution: insides will be extremely hot.
Notes
Here are the fillings we used: Cauliflower and roasted garlic puree + roasted red bell pepper slices; soyrizo + caramelized onions (soyrizo recipe link is in the post)Some other fillings that I think would be really tasty are refried beans and salsa, spinach artichoke dip (recipe link is in the post), or pizza sauce and cashew mozzarella (see pizza bread recipe link is in the post). But you can fill them with whatever you desire!NUTRITION: Nutrition data excludes fillings.