turnovers

Apple turnovers are a fantastic fall and winter dessert. Honestly, they’re good any time, but I tend to make them more during the fall and winter months. Of course the weather is still a bit whack in St. Louis at the moment, but a girl can dream, eh? I have made these turnovers a number of times, and I’ve been neglecting to share them with you [such a shame, honestly]. Butttt I figure it’s always better late than never when it comes to sharing foodstuffs on the blog. These turnovers are pretty similar to the pumpkin turnovers I made a while back. They use a small-batch puff pastry dough, and a simple apple filling. The glaze is also really easy; I usually add vanilla bean paste to it because I love the little brown specks that the vanilla bean seeds lend the glaze.

The best part about these turnovers is that they can easily be a make-ahead project. In fact, that’s exactly what I often do for these: I make the puff pastry and cook the apples one evening. The following morning, I assemble and bake them for my family. It’s pretty much perfection, and it’s really much easier than you might think.

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// Small Batch Apple Turnovers.
Yield: Four large triangular pies.

Ingredients:

For the quick puff pastry:

1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. fine salt
10 TBSP. high-quality butter (5 ounces), cold {I use unsalted Kerrygold.}
⅓ cup ice cold water

For the apple filling:

2 cups diced apples (from about 3 small apples, or 2 medium)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
dash of ground nutmeg {Just something I like to add here.}
1 TBSP. freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 TBSP. unsalted butter
pinch of salt
1 large egg yolk, beaten
coarse sugar (turbinado sugar) for sprinkling

Instructions:

Make the puff pastry: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
Next, cube the butter and then add it to the flour bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the dough. It will be very crumbly, and you’re done when the butter is in uniform pieces all about the size of peas.
Next, make a hole in the center of the dough and pour in all of the water. Using a fork, stir to combine the dough. It’ll be a shaggy dough, similar to pie crust. This is okay.
Flour a cutting board and rolling pin, and place the dough on the board. Pat it into a rough square. You will still see chunks of butter and it will seem too dry, but do not add extra water. The dough will come together with each roll.
Roll the dough out in front of you into a rectangle about 10″ long; you don’t need to be especially precise at this point.
Fold the bottom third of the dough over the middle of the dough. Fold the upper third of the dough on top of the middle too, like an envelope. Rotate the dough one-quarter turn, and repeat. Use additional flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking.
Roll out, fold, and turn the dough at least 6 or 7 times. If the dough is starting to seem elastic-y and difficult to roll out, that means it’s time to leave it alone for awhile [see step 3 in my collage above].
When done, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or overnight.

When you’re ready to make the turnovers: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
To make the apple filling: First, peel, core, and dice the apples. You should have about two cups of diced apples; a bit less is fine.
Add the apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, sugar, butter and salt to a sauté pan, and cook over medium heat until the apples soften and caramelize, about 7 minutes. Stir frequently.
Remove the apples from the heat and let cool.
Meanwhile, roll out the pre-made pastry dough into a 12-inch square. Use flour as you go to prevent sticking.
Divide the apple mixture into four piles in the corners of the dough, but leave about ¾” of border. Cut the dough into four equal squares. Fold the edges of the dough over each of the apple piles. You will have four triangular pies.
Crimp the edges closed with your fingers and the tines of a fork.
Carefully move the pies to the baking sheet.
Brush each pie generously with the beaten egg yolk. Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if using.
Bake the pies for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and puffy. Serve immediately. {Note: You can add a quick vanilla glaze by mixing some powdered sugar with milk and a little vanilla extract/paste. Stir to get the desired consistency, then spoon over the cooled turnovers. Or you can add it to a little Ziplock bag and pipe stripes over them.}

+ Recipe from Dessert for Two.

Note: I’ve had this post “baking” [ha, I’m punny!] for quite awhile now, but as aforementioned, I have not been feeling well at all. Therefore, it is a bit delayed, but pumpkin and 30-minute puff pastry never get old in my book, so I hope you enjoy it all the same. 🙂

You’ve heard of apple turnovers, and chances are you’ve even heard of cherry turnovers. What about pumpkin turnovers? Probably not as common, but they do exist. The idea popped into my head a few weeks ago, after I first learned how to make small-batch, 30-minute puff pastry. I was always under the [very mistaken] assumption that making puff pastry was difficult and definitely not something I’d ever be able to conquer.

That all changed a few weeks ago, when I took a class at Kitchen Conservatory with the Dessert for Two blog author, Christina. In the class, we made homemade apple turnovers, complete with homemade 30-minute puff pastry. I volunteered to help make the puff pastry, as I had never done it and I was obviously intrigued. Immediately I was blown away by how easy it was, and perhaps more importantly, how delicious the turnovers tasted.

Needless to say, I have been absolutely obsessed with quick puff pastry ever since that class. I have officially seen the light: puff pastry is the shiznit [as Snoop Dogg would say], and it’s really not that difficult to make!

I digress. After the class and my new-found puff pastry enlightenment, I made apple turnovers for a friend a few days later. Then the idea for pumpkin turnovers hit me, so I had to do a quick Google search to see if anyone thought of the idea before I did. Of course, someone already thought of it. But that’s okay because the recipe where I found the pumpkin filling (All Recipes) lists store-bought puff pastry as an ingredient, rather than homemade. I’m not snobby enough to tell you to not use store bought puff pastry, but I will just say this: homemade puff pastry is not out of your reach. There’s just something so satisfying about making your own puff pastry. I was seriously blown away, and I still am. I just want to eat puff pastry all the time for every meal, but then I’d probably gain 20 pounds and turn into a stick of butter. 😉

So, with all that to say, you know what to do. Make yourself some turnovers from scratch, and impress everyone with your amazing skillz.

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Small Batch Pumpkin Turnovers.
Yield: Four turnovers.

Ingredients:

For the 30-minute puff pastry:

1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. fine salt
10 TBSP. high-quality butter, such as Plugara or Kerrygold (5 ounces), cold
⅓ cup ice cold water

For the pumpkin filling:

1 cup canned pumpkin puree (Just the plain stuff; not the pumpkin pie filling!)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (I make my own, but you may also buy it.)

For the turnover topping:

One large egg, lightly beaten
Turbinado sugar

Instructions:

Prepare the puff pastry dough first (you’ll need to prepare it in advance, as it takes some time to chill): In a medium bowl, add the flour and salt. Stir to mix.
Cube the butter and then add it to the flour bowl. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter into the dough. It will be very crumbly, and you’re done when the butter is in uniform pieces all about the size of peas.
Next, make a hole in the center of the dough and pour in all of the water. Using a fork, stir to combine the dough.
Flour a cutting board, and add the dough. Pat it into a rough square. You will still see chunks of butter and it will seem too dry, but do not add extra water. The dough will come together with each roll.
Flour the rolling pin, and roll the dough out in front of you into a rectangle about 10″ long. No need to be too precise here.
Fold the bottom third of the dough over the middle of the dough. Fold the upper third of the dough on top of the middle too. Rotate the dough one-quarter turn, and repeat. Use additional flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking.
Roll out, fold, and turn the dough at least 6 or 7 times.
When done, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour, or overnight. Dough may be frozen, too.
When you’re about ready to roll out the dough and bake, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
For the pumpkin filling: Simply mix together all four ingredients in a medium bowl until combined, and set aside until ready to fill the turnover dough. {Note: You’ll probably have extra pumpkin filling. Stir the leftovers into some oatmeal or just eat it with a spoon. :)}
To make roll out and shape the turnovers: Roll out the chilled dough into a 12-inch square. Use flour as you go to prevent sticking.
Divide the pumpkin mixture into four piles in the corners of the dough, but leave about ¾” of border. Cut the dough into four equal squares. Fold the edges of the dough over each of the pumpkin filling piles. You will have four triangular turnovers.
Press the edges closed with your fingers (feel free to use a bit of the beaten egg as a “glue” to seal the turnovers closed), and crimp with the tines of a fork. Carefully transfer the turnovers to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a Silpat.
Brush each turnover generously with the beaten egg yolk. Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if using.
Bake the turnovers for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crunchy on the outside. Allow to cool for a bit on a cooling rack, then dig in!

+ 30-minute puff pastry recipe and original apple turnover recipe from Dessert for Two.
+ Pumpkin filling recipe from All Recipes.

{Small Batch} Apple Turnovers.

[Small Batch] Pumpkin Turnovers.