Apple Turnovers (From Scratch!)
These apple turnovers are made completely from scratch with a homemade puff pastry and a simple apple filling.
Let’s talk apple turnovers!
Truth be told, I’m not sure that I’ve ever eaten a fresh-baked apple turnover! Which is a crying shame, because now that I’ve made them, I can’t believe that I’ve only ever had store-bought turnovers. While you could totally make these with frozen puff pastry, I went all-out and did a homemade puff pastry, which isn’t nearly as intimidating or complicated as it might sound. Filled with sweetened shredded apples and topped with cinnamon sugar, these homemade apple turnovers are little pockets of fall heaven.
While there are a number of steps involved with prepping the dough, it does not take much active time, as the bulk of the time the dough is chilling in the refrigerator. The resulting pastry dough is well worth the effort – it’s light and flaky like puff pastry, but just a little bit more sturdy and tender, like pie crust.
Instead of filling the turnovers with sliced or chopped apples, the apples are shredded to create a more cohesive filling that does not fall apart when you bite into the turnovers, which is a total win in my book. There’s nothing worse than biting into a turnover or hand pie and having most of the filling come spilling out.
You can easily split this kitchen project into two days, making the dough and filling the turnovers one day, then refrigerating them and baking them the next day. Like most pastries, these are best when eaten the same day they are baked, but will keep for a couple of days.
If you have a fall baking list started, be sure to add these homemade apple turnovers – I guarantee you’ll love them!
If you’d like to try your hand at another delicious pastry recipe, head on over to my Danish pastries recipe and continue stretching those baking muscles!
Watch How to Make Apple Turnovers:
More Fabulous Apple Desserts:
- Apple Hand Pies
- Old-Fashioned Apple Dumplings
- Apple Fritter Doughnuts
- Salted Caramel Apple Pie
- Dutch Apple Pie
Apple Turnovers From Scratch
Ingredients
For the Homemade Puff Pastry
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, cold, cut into ¼-inch cubes
- 6 tablespoons ice water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
For the Apple Filling
- 4 Granny Smith apples, about 1 pound, peeled
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt
For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Special Equipment:
Instructions
- Make the Homemade Puff Pastry: Add the flour, sugar and salt to a food processor and pulse to combine. Add one-quarter of the butter cubes and process in four 1-second pulses. Add the remaining butter to coat the cubes with flour, two 1-second pulses. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl.
- Combine the ice water and lemon juice in small bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of the liquid to the flour and butter mixture and toss with a rubber spatula until just combined. Toss in the remaining water, then turn the dough out (it will be a shaggy mixture) onto a work surface and press it together with both hands.
- Use the heel of one hand against the work surface to drag a small portion of the dough forward in a short, brisk stroke. Repeat with the remaining dough portions. Gather the dough together (using a bench scraper if it’s sticking) and repeat the pressing of the dough a second time. Pat the dough into an 8 by 4-inch rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
- Unwrap the dough and place on a lightly floured large piece of parchment paper and roll into a 15 by 10-inch rectangle. Fold the dough lengthwise into thirds. Starting from a narrow end, loosely roll up the dough. Press it into a 6 by 5-inch rectangle.
- Repeat step #4, first chilling the dough for 30 minutes if it is soft and sticky. Once you have repeated step #4, wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- On a large sheet of parchment paper lightly dusted with flour, roll the dough to an 18-inch square Using a pizza cutter or ravioli cutter, trim the dough to a 15-inch square. Cut the dough into nine 5-inch squares. Slide the parchment and dough onto a cookie sheet or large cutting board and refrigerate while preparing the filling.
- Grate the apples on the large holes of a box grater. Combine the grated apples, sugar, lemon juice and salt in a medium bowl. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- Working one at a time, remove dough squares from the refrigerator and set on a clean work surface. Place 2 tablespoons of the grated apple filling (squeezed of excess liquid) in the center of the dough square. Moisten two adjoining edges of the dough square with a finger dipped in the apple liquid, then fold the top portion of dough over the bottom, making sure to overlap the bottom portion by ⅛ inch. With a fork dipped in flour, press to seal and crimp the edges. Using a wide metal spatula, transfer the turnover to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat the process with the remaining dough squares. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 375 degrees F and adjust oven rack to upper-middle position. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
- Brush the turnovers lightly with water and sprinkle evenly with the cinnamon sugar. Bake until golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, transfer the turnovers to a wire rack to cool completely before serving.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Hello, Can you freeze them before baking to have for later?
They were great!!!
tasty :)
i just have a handheld food processor but it worked fine
20 min was perfect in my oven
Needing to bake longer about double the time listed. Layers nice and flaky. Top browned only with additional time in oven. Nice flavor.
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I’ve made these a few times now. They’re delicious. The pastry is a bit finicky on the first roll when the butter is in bigger chunks, but it comes together. Just keep pressing it back together if it starts to crumble or break. I love the filling, too. I go a bit shy on the sugar for a perfect morning pastry.
Absolutely love these recipes, it’s so easy to follow.
I bet these turnovers are delicious. I tried making them. But when it comes to me, I can’t have even baking in life come normal. I always end up in a very difficult position after finally overcoming the first obstacle. I wish I could taste them as apple turnovers. But instead they’re coming out as severaly screwed up apple dumplings look-a-likes. Knowing me, I probably screwed something up in the recipe so it’ll probably taste bad too.
I am not asking you to recommend a particular food processor, however, pleas tell me what food processor you use to make pie dough. Due to wattage difference in various processors, I think it would make a difference in how long to pulse, etc. I like your recipes and would like to make the apple turnovers which call for use of a food processor. Thank you!
Linda DeCarli
Hi Linda, I have (and love) the Breville Sous Chef 16-cup food processor: https://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/breville-sous-chef-food-processor-16-cup/?pkey=cfood-processors
darmattson
I made this recipe and have been getting lots of compliments on them. 🥰 Is it possible to make the dough cut it into squares and freeze it?
Yes, you definitely could!
Delicious. My husband is in love with these turnovers. The puff pastry is time consuming, but well worth the time. I made the dough the night before, and used the puff pastry and the apple mixture recipe for an Apple Pie. Yummy and less work, no coring or peeling the apples. I cut by hand cut, cutting the core out and used my food processor shredding attachment. Easy. Thanks Patty
Easy to follow and delicious!
Very yummy. I’m not a baker, and this dough worked out perfectly, I filled it with peaches, though, because that’s what I had at home and wanted to make..
These were so lovely. Despite knowing so little about pastry, it turned out so well. I made 2 changes to the recipe. I added cinnamon to the apple filling. We thought this was a great addition. Also, instead of rolling for 15 inches by 15 inches, I did 16 inches by 16 inches. Then I cut it for 4 in. X 4 in. So, they were a bit smaller but got 16 turnovers. Thanks for the great recipe.
I tried to make these but the recipe was hard for me to follow. Some directions were unclear, and some just didn’t make sense.