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These easy apple turnovers are packed full of fresh apples, orange zest, cinnamon, nutmeg, and wrapped in puff pastry, and baked till perfection.
If you love apple turnovers and you LOVE puff pastry I have a recipe for you!
These easy apple turnovers are packed full of warm spices with just a hint of orange zest. You’ll love the combination!
Plus, it’s sort of a semi-homemade recipe because it uses my favorite pastry ever – puff pastry!
I have tried making it in the past but it’s much easier to hit up the store and buying it from there.
It’s a lazier way to make these turnovers but I’m all about the lazy when it comes to my dessert.
Table of Contents
- What is a turnover?
- What is puff pastry?
- Can I use a different pastry for these apple turnovers?
- Can I use different fruit for these turnovers?
- How can I store these easy apple turnovers?
- Can I add any other flavors to these turnovers?
- Love these Easy Apple Turnovers?
- Easy Apple Turnovers Recipe
- Classic Apple Turnovers Recipe
What is a turnover?
It’s a sweet or savory treat usually baked inside puff pastry or pie pastry.
Obviously, this one is made with apples and puff pastry.
They are the perfect on the go treat!
What is puff pastry?
Puff pastry is a light and buttery pastry.
It must be kept cold in order for the butter to stay cold so it puffs beautifully.
That’s why I like to make sure to keep the cut puffed pastry in the fridge while I’m making my first batch.
Can I use a different pastry for these apple turnovers?
If you’re not a huge fan of puff pastry you could easily substitute pie dough.
The end result won’t be as fluffy and crispy but you’ll still get a really great tasting turnover.
You don’t need to make any adjustments to the cooking time if you use pie pastry.
Can I use different fruit for these turnovers?
I mean, sure. But it won’t be an apple turnover.
For similar textured turnover options you could use pear or Asian pear.
How can I store these easy apple turnovers?
Store these apple turnovers in a air tight container or plastic zip top bag.
While our turnovers are typically gone pretty fast (2 days, maybe) you can keep them fresh for around 4 days.
Can I add any other flavors to these turnovers?
I really love the addition of vanilla bean paste or just a splash of vanilla extract.
You could also use lemon instead of orange.
And if you don’t have plain cinnamon and nutmeg in your spice pantry you could easily use apple pie spice or pumpkin pie spice.
Love these Easy Apple Turnovers?
Why not try a few of my other delicious apple desserts!
- Brown Butter Vanilla Bean Apple Crisp
- Caramel Apple Crisp Milkshake
- Cinnamon Apple Streusel Bars
- Vanilla Bean Apple Pie Phyllo Bites
Easy Apple Turnovers
Ingredients
- 3 granny smith apples, peeled, cored, diced into 1/2 inch dice
- 3 tablespoon orange juice, freshly squeezed
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 1 package, 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, defrosted
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- Turbinado sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Add diced apple into a large mixing bowl.
- Stir in orange juice and orange zest and toss to combine.
- Add in brown sugar, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and kosher salt.
- Stir to combine.
- Flour a board and lightly roll each sheet of puff pastry to a 12 by 12-inch square.
- Cut each sheet into 4 smaller squares and keep chilled until ready to use.
- In a small bowl whisk together a large egg and water.
- Brush the edges of each square with the egg wash and neatly place about 1/3 cup of the apple mixture on half of the square.
- Fold the pastry diagonally over the apple mixture and seal by pressing the edges with a fork.
- Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
- Brush the top with egg wash and sprinkle the tops with Turbinado sugar.
- Make 2 small slits in the top of each turnover.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until browned and puffed.
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
Classic Apple Turnovers
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon orange zest3 tablespoon orange juice, freshly squeezed3-4 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 3/4 inch dice3 tablespoons dried cherries3 tablespoons sugar1 tablespoon flour1/4 teaspoon cinnamon1/8 teaspoon nutmeg - freshly gratedPinch of kosher salt1 packages (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoons water for egg washTurbinado sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Combine the orange zest and orange juice in a bowl. Peel, quarter, and core the apples and then cut them in 3/4-inch dice. Immediately toss the apples with the zest and juice to prevent them from turning brown. Add the cherries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
- Flour a board and lightly roll each sheet of puff pastry to a 12 by 12-inch square. Cut each sheet into 4 smaller squares and keep chilled until ready to use.
- Brush the edges of each square with the egg wash and neatly place about 1/3 cup of the apple mixture on half of the square. Fold the pastry diagonally over the apple mixture and seal by pressing the edges with a fork. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the top with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, make 2 small slits, and bake for 20 minutes, until browned and puffed. Serve warm or at room temperature.
I think these look gorgeous! I am a user of convenience foods, such as cake mixes, etc, with addins, and when Ihave more time, I do from scratch. I like both ways:) These turnovers are really perfect and I love the flavors.
I think the best part is that you can do both. I’m not opposed to using convenience food I just think it’s important to learn both ways.
These look wonderful! I agree with your rant, but I also think it’s OK to take advantage of convenience items once in a while! I don’t watch the Food Network to see cooks/chefs prepare dishes that I feel like I could have whipped up on my own without much planning/thought. I want to learn new techniques and explore new flavors, dishes. I guess that’s why I stopped watching the FN. Anyway – these look delicious, and you can take your foot out of your mouth!
Exactly! It’s about learning new things and seeing how things are done. I’m not going to lie and say I don’t take advantage of convenience food, because I do, but I just want to learn and explore new food techniques and ideas. I guess I’m just craving information:)
I loved the interview-and learning more about you!! And your so funny! I think it’s much cheaper in the long run to do your baking from scratch. A sack of flour and sugar will bake up quite a few loafs of breads, cakes, cookies, etc. And will taste so much better. I love your apple turnovers!! They look flaky and so delcious!!
Thanks:) Oh and I completely agree about the sack of flour and bag of sugar being cheaper in the long run. Those store bought baked good are not cheap and most of the time they can easily be made at home.
These look wonderful! I love the combination of apples and cherries! Yum!
About your question on taking pictures – we also too scared to take pictures for a while but now we put the camera under the table and take pictures quickly and try to do it discreetly 🙂
Thanks for answering my question:) I guess I should stop staring and just take pictures when I see something delicious on my plate. Next time I got to the CIA I’m totally taking pictures!
These look fantastic, the crust is flawless. Pasty crust like this is not easy to make, you’ve mastered the art! Yum and my favorite filling too!
I totally agreed with you about Sandra Lee! Don’t be worried. These turnovers still look fabulous! I’m going to whip some up.
Thanks:) They really were fantastic. I hope you like them:)
yummmm.. love the fillings ye have used in ye turn over.. a must try.. love the idea very much.. love ye blog.. keep it up..
cheers!!
I know this is an old post, but I’m glad I stumbled here. I so agree with you about a whole generation (or two really) lost in the kitchen. I bake everything from scratch, with the exception of puff pastry. I buy it and I think that’s a good exception because I would rather spend that time cooking the rest of the dinner from scratch. I don’t like the food network much anymore because they don’t teach anything. It’s full of gimmicks and “celebrity food stars” instead of experts. So I applaud you speaking your mind. It’s your blog. Happy cooking.
These are so good! Perfect.