I made these apple turnovers the other day while putting together Sunday dinner. I noticed that we had way too many apples and thought I really should do something with them. Then I noticed a box of puffed pastry in my freezer and the answer became obvious.
I had not made apple turnovers in a while, so I started to look through my cookbooks for some guidance. I found that a lot of recipes require a 2 step process. The first step being you needed to sautè the apples first. Then after that, you filled the pastry dough with the cooked apples and then went on to bake them. The thing is, I needed something quicker than that. Dinner was almost ready!
Then I came across a recipe that you simply added the uncooked apples directly onto puffed pastry. How easy is that? Yes, it was written by one of my favorite cookbook authors, Ina Garten. Have I ever mentioned to you that she is my hero?
These apple turnovers are based on Ina’s recipe. I made a few little changes using what I had on hand. They came out absolutely delicious so we will go with what I did.
I omitted the orange zest (no oranges today but I imagine that would be a wonderful addition) and I used dried cranberries instead of dried cherries. A few more minor changes because I can’t seem to leave well enough alone, but it is essentially her recipe. If you want to check out her version, you will find it in her “Back to Basics” cookbook. I highly recommend all of her cookbooks!
Apple Turnovers with Cranberries
Print Recipe
Apple Turnovers with Cranberries
Ingredients
- 3 large apples - Cortland or Macintosh
- 2 tablespoons of orange juice
- 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar - plus extra for sprinkling
- 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon of flour
- 1/8 teaspoon of kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1/3 cup dried cranberries
- 1 egg
- 1 sheet of puffed pastry - thawed but still cold
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400° F. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Peel and cut up the apples into 1/2 inch size pieces. Place apples into a medium size bowl.
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Add the orange juice, both sugars, flour, salt, cinnamon, and the dried cranberries. Mix everything together with a spoon. Set aside.
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Prepare an egg wash and set aside. (Beat the egg with a fork with a little water.)
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Sprinkle a little flour on a work surface. Carefully unfold the thawed but still cold puffed pastry sheet. Roll out the pastry into a 12" x 12" square. I roll the pastry once in one direction, then turn the pastry clockwise and roll again in the next direction. Keep turning and rolling until you have the size you want.
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With a sharp knife, cut the pastry into 4 even squares. If the dough is starting to feel too warm, put the pastry squares on a plate and refrigerate for about 5 minutes.
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Brush the edges of the pastry squares with the egg wash.
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Take about 1/3 of a cup of the apple mixture and mound it onto the pastry. Place it a little off center and away from the edges. Take one corner of the square and bring it up and over the apples until it reaches the opposite corner. You should now have a triangle. With a fork, seal the edges together. Your turnovers do not have to be perfect looking.
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Brush the top of the turnover with a little bit of egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Cut a couple of small slits on the top and bake for about 15 minutes or until puffed and golden brown.
Recipe Notes
- It's best to thaw puffed pastry in the refrigerator.
- Have fun with this recipe. Use the addition of raisins, currents or dried cherries.
- You probably will end up with extra apple mixture. There are 2 puffed pastry sheets in the package, so you could make a couple more turnovers. Even better, add in an extra apple to the apple mixture and you might even get 4 additional turnovers out of it.
*Adapted from Ina Garten's recipe found in 'Back to Basics".
Maura says
Looks yummy , I will check out this Ina lady 😊