Easy apple turnover recipe loaded with all the right sweet and spiced flavors! Golden, flaky puff pastries filled with a warm cinnamon apple filling then topped with a light but sweet sugar glaze.
Enjoy apple season the right way by making these turnovers, apple cobbler, apple cider or even an apple galette!
APPLE TURNOVER RECIPE
If you’re looking for a quick, easy, and delicious fall dessert, these puff pastry apple turnovers are perfect! Flakey puff pastries filled with a spiced apple filling baked and then topped with sweet sugar icing. This puff pastry dessert is a classic dessert no matter the season, but especially during the fall time during apple season! Enjoy these turnovers for a sweet treat or breakfast!
| TURNOVERS VS HAND PIES– Even though turnovers and hand pies are very similar, there is a difference in the pastry dough. Turnovers are typically made with puff pastry while hand pies are made with pie dough. |
WHAT YOU NEED-
- Puff Pastry– Turnovers are typically made with puff pastry! Be sure to use a good quality puff pastry dough, my go-to is Pepperidge Farm puff pastry.
- Egg– To ensure that you get golden, shiny, and crispy puff pastry turnovers, you want to brush the top of them with a whisked egg before baking.
- Coarse Sugar– Although adding coarse sugar onto the pastries is optional, it adds extra flavor and texture to these apple turnovers.
- Apples– I love doing a mix of sweet and tart apples for the apple filling! Apples that are great for dessert: Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, Gala, Fuji, Pink Lady, Jonathan, Braeburn or any other apples.
- Butter– You can use either salted or unsalted butter for the apple filling. The butter helps create a gooey caramelized apple filling.
- Sugar– To sweeten the apple filling, you can use either granulate sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup, agave sweetener or even honey.
- Vanilla– Adding vanilla extract adds so much more flavor to the apple turnover filling.
- Cinnamon– You cannot forget the ground cinnamon to get that warm spiced flavor! You can also swap or add pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice!
- Cornstarch– To avoid watery apple filling that will result in soggy pastries, you want to add cornstarch to the apples to thicken up the juices into a delicious sauce.
- Sugar Glaze- Although topping these apple turnovers with sugar glaze is totally optional, it is totally worth it! All you need is powdered sugar and a splash of milk or creamer.
HOW TO MAKE PUFF PASTRY APPLE TURNOVERS
You won’t believe how easy and quick this easy puff pastry apple turnover dessert is to make!
- Remove the puff pastry sheets from the freezer to thaw.
- In the meantime, prepare the apple filling. Add all the ingredients for the filling to a saucepan and cook on medium heat, until the apples are tender and sauce has thickened. (If the seems like there is no sauce, add 1-2 tablespoons of water.)
- Once the apples are tender, remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool, for about 10-15 minutes. (You can make the apple pie filling ahead of time, up to 1-2 days and store in the fridge.)
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Dust your workspace with flour and unfold the thawed puff pastry sheet and roll into a 12×12 square. Evenly cut the sheet into 4 squares. Repeat with the second sheet of pastry.
- Divide the cooled apple pie filling between the 8 pastry squares, adding the filling to the center of each square.
- Take one corner of the pastry and gently fold over the filling to the other corner, creating a triangle.
- With a fork, crimp down along the edges to seal the turnovers. Repeat with all the pastries. (For extra security, fold over the edge to create a double seal before crimping.)
- Carefully transfer the assembled turnovers into the lined baking sheet and chill for 20 minutes.
- As they are chilling in the fridge, preheat the oven.
- Using a pastry brush, brush the turnovers with egg wash and top with coarse sugar.
- Bake until the puff pastry is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and chill for 10 minutes. Drizzle with sugar glaze and powdered sugar and enjoy.
TURNOVER VARIATIONS
There are so many different variations of turnovers that you can make! Enjoy these delicious apple turnovers plain or do a combination of flavors for the filling:
- Crunchy Apple– Add some chopped pecans and walnuts to the apple filling for a delicious crunchy apple filling.
- Berry Apple– Take out half the apples and swap them for berries for a delicious berry apple turnover! This is my favorite way to enjoy turnovers!
- Apple Pear– There is something about the combination of apples and pears during the fall time! Swap half the apples for pears for a delicious combo.
- Cranberry Apple– Make cranberry apple turnovers for a delicious winter dessert! Swap half of the apples in the recipe for cranberries.
- Cherry– Cherry turnovers are another classic! Substitute the apples for pitted cherries in the filling mixture.
- Berry– You can also swap out all the apples for a multi-berry turnover instead! This is great during the summertime!
TOPPING IDEAS
There are several different ways you can elevate these easy turnovers! Drizzle or dust the top for a bakery level dessert!
- Plain– Enjoy these turnovers plain, with the coarse sugar as your topping for a lightly sweet dessert!
- Powder Sugar– Once these apple turnovers are cooled, dust them with powdered sugar.
- Sugar Glaze– My favorite way to enjoy these apple turnovers is to drizzle them with a sugar glaze after they have cooled. This gives a little extra sweetness to this dessert!
- Caramel– For all the fall flavors, top the apple pastries with caramel drizzle, so delicious.
QUESTIONS YOU MIGHT HAVE:
Yes, you can slice the apples if you prefer!
For this recipe I recommend that you peel the apples, but it’s totally based on your preference.
Yes! You want to cook the apple pie filling before adding it to the turnovers. You can make the apple filling 1-2 days ahead of time and store it in the fridge.
I do recommend that you chill the turnovers for at least 30 minutes. This hardens up the turnover pastries, ensuring they hold their shape during baking. But it is NOT a mandatory step.
Because there is liquid in the sauce, you might have some leaking but be sure to seal them properly. Also, be sure that the filling is cooled, this will thicken the sauce more.
Add the assembled turnovers to a platter or plate and freeze until hard, about 30 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3-4 months. To bake: Transfer FROZEN pastries to a baking sheet, brush with egg wash and bake at 400°F for about 25 minutes or until golden and crispy.
Store the turnovers at room temperature for 1-2 days. (Keep them covered to avoid them from drying out.) Store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
OTHER BAKED FRUIT DESSERTS-
If you love warm baked fruit desserts, check out all these delicious recipes:
Puff Pastry Apple Turnover Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb puff pastry 2 sheets
- 1 egg for egg wash
- coarse sugar optional
Filling-
- 4 apples about 2 lbs
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 3 tsp cornstarch
- pinch salt
Icing- optional
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tsp whole milk**
Instructions
Prepare the Apple Filling-
- Remove the puff pastry from the freezer and allow it to thaw as you prepare the apple filling.
- Wash, pit and peel the apples. Finely dice the apples into ⅓” small cubes, all even in size.
- Add cubed apples, butter, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, cornstarch and salt to a saucepan.
- Bring the apples to a simmer cooking on medium high heat. Once simmering, cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the apples are soft and the sauce has thickened.
- Remove from the heat and allow the apple mixture to cool.
Assemble Turnovers-
- Line a large 13×18 baking sheet or two 9×13 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Dust your work area lightly with flour and unwrap the first puff pastry sheet. Using a rolling pin, roll the sheet out to about a 11×11 inch square.
- With a knife or pizza cutter, cut the sheet into 4 equal squares. Repeat with the other puff pastry sheet, giving you a total of 8 squares.
- Divide the apple mixture evenly between all 8 squares, placing it in the center. (Do not overfill or bring too close to the edges or it will spill, causing a huge mess as you assemble the turnovers.)
- Gently fold the turnovers by taking one edge and bringing it over the filling to the other edge. Pinch down to seal, then use a fork, crimp tightly to seal the edges. Gently flip and crimp again on the other side.
- Repeat until all the turnovers are assembled and sealed. Transfer to the baking sheet and chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and whisk an egg in a small bowl.
- After the turnovers have chilled in the fridge, use a pastry brush to brush the egg wash over all the turnovers and then sprinkle with coarse sugar.
- Bake at 400°F for about 30-35 minutes, or until the pastries are golden and crispy.
- In a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar with milk until a thick sugar glaze forms. Keep adding sugar until the glaze is thick, like caramel sauce.
- Remove from the oven and allow the turnovers to cool. Dust with powdered sugar or sugar glaze and enjoy warm or cold.
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