Make your own flaky, tender, and delicious Apple Turnovers at home, just like you find at your favorite bakery. Use pre-made puff pastry to make this quick fall dessert even easier.
Apple turnovers are a lighter version of a classic favorite, apple pie. You can easily make these flaky treats quickly with just a few ingredients and a few minutes in your kitchen.
I like this method because it omits the need for a pie crust, and the filling comes together in just a few minutes. You can sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar or drizzle a sweet and simple glaze over the top to finish off your turnovers.
This recipe for apple turnovers is about as simple as it gets, you will prep your apples, make the filling, and then get your puff pastry sheets ready to go. From there it’s just fill, fold, bake, and top! That is all it takes to have bakery-style apple turnovers at home.
Ingredients in Apple Turnovers
You can make apple turnovers as a dessert, a breakfast side, a brunch recipe, or a yummy fall treat. I like to make them up ahead and have them as a nice breakfast treat for a couple of busy mornings on weekends. If I am feeling extra fancy I find some of the large grain, coarse sugar to put on top to make them really sparkle.
Here’s what you need:
- puff pastry
- apples
- lemon juice
- brown sugar
- ground cinnamon
- apple pie spice
- egg
How to make Apple Turnovers
Prep: You need to preheat the oven, make sure the puff pastry is thawed, and get your pan ready for your turnovers. Peel and chop the apples.
Roll: Now you need to lightly roll your puff pastry sheets to even them out before cutting them into squares.
Mix: Get your filling mixture ready to go, and try not to eat it all, you’re going to love my apple pie spice in this recipe.
Scoop: Evenly place scoops of filling on your prepared puff pastry squares.
Fold: Now for the fun part, fold and crimp your turnovers so all that goodness stays inside and finish them off with a little egg wash.
Bake: Your home is going to smell so good while the turnovers bake; don’t forget to make your topping while you wait patiently for them to come out of the oven.
Top: My favorite way to top apple turnovers is with plenty of glaze, but you can’t go wrong with either glaze or a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar; you can even do both if you want!
Variations:
- Mix the cinnamon sugar and glaze together for a lightly spiced sweet glaze.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and top with fresh whipped cream dollops.
- If you really want to have the apple pie experience, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream and have apple turnovers a la mode.
- If you don’t have time to make your own filling, you can use canned apple pie filling, but I always prefer fresh and homemade, it tastes better. (Kind of like homemade applesauce, it’s hard to go back!)
- You can make all kinds of flavors, just find pie filling at the store and use whichever flavor you want.
- If you like caramel you can drizzle that over the top in place of the glaze, or add some caramel syrup to your filling, but a little bit goes a long way and it will make your filling thinner and messier.
How to Store
Place the leftovers in an airtight container and keep them refrigerated for up to three days. The longer you keep them the soggier they will get though.
How to Re-Heat
The best way to re-heat them is in the oven for a few minutes so they stay crispy, about four minutes at 350 degrees should be good. You can also microwave them for about 30 seconds, but they will be a bit more soggy that way. Another option is to warm up a skillet on the stove and place a couple of turnovers in there for a few minutes until they heat through.
More Delicious Apple Recipes
Ingredients
- 1 pkg box frozen puff pastry sheets thawed according to instructions on package
- 3 cups apples peeled, cored and diced
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon apple pie spice
- 1 egg (for egg wash)
- 1 tablespoon water (for egg wash)
Glaze
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons milk
Cinnamon Sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Unfold puff pastry and lightly roll out on a floured work surface with a rolling pin, just enough to seal the seams.
- Cut into 4 equal squares, about 5 inches each.
- Peel, core and dice apples and add to large bowl.
- Drizzle with lemon juice and toss to coat to prevent browning.
- Add brown sugar, cinnamon, and apple pie spice to the apples; mix well.
- Carefully spoon apple mixture into the center of each puff pastry square.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water.
- Brush edges with egg wash and fold edges over to create a triangle.
- Use a fork to crimp the edges then place on baking sheet.
- Cut a small slit or two in the top of the pastry for venting.
- Bake for 16-18 min minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack for 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, in a small bowl whisk together glaze ingredients, if using or cinnamon and sugar mixture, if using.
- Drizzle glaze or sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over turnovers. Serve warm or room temperature.