Homemade Apple Turnover Recipe with Puff Pastry

Homemade Apple Turnovers made with fresh pastry dough, crisp apples and a blend of sugar and spices are the perfect dessert snack. Pillowy soft with a fluffy, lightly browned crust and finished with a scratch made vanilla sugar glaze. These turnovers are one of our favorites and we know they will be yours too.

Our scratch made Puff Pastry is easy to prepare and makes all the difference in your pastries. You can of course opt to use a pre-made pastry dough, but if you have time, we recommend making your own.

Watch our video demonstration on this recipe to see the process of making these turnovers with our homemade pastry dough.

Read our complete tutorial on how to make your own simple puff pastry. You will need one recipe of our homemade puff pastry for this turnover recipe.

If you don’t have puff pastry on hand or prefer not to make it, you can you a pie crust pastry.

What is the best apple to use for Apple Turnovers?

Crisp, tart and slightly sweet apples like Granny Smith and Golden Delicious are best for baking as opposed to the softer, sweeter varieties such as Gala, Fuji or Braeburn. You want to select apples that won’t add too much sweetness to the baked goods, as well as holding the texture in the baking process.

Sweet apples have a tendency to break down and become mushy when cooked, making them better varieties for apple sauce.

Apple Turnovers using pie crust

Apple turnovers with pie crust rather than puff pastry are also delicious and a good option if you don’t want to mess with the more delicate puff pastry. We recommend you fold and roll out the pie pastry about five times and then chill it for a more flaky result.

Opting to use pie crust won’t give the turnovers a puffed result. We made the batch pictured above in my food processor with a butter pie crust, and while it absolutely delicious, it does yield a stronger, slightly denser pastry.

Apple Turnover recipe

Here is a quick visual guide to how to make the apple pie filling we use in our turnovers. It’s very easy and tasty.

You’ll find this is a somewhat drier version of apple filling than you would actually use in a pie. That is necessary so the filling stays in the turnover. It is buttery and flavorful but not as messy.

Making the apple filling

While the apples cook make your pastry if you are making your own. Chill the pastry and the filling both at least an hour before assembling the turnovers.

Assembling the Turnovers

How do I keep my Apple Turnovers crispy?

When you are baking your turnovers be sure to score the tops. This allows the steam to escape while they are baking, without this step the turnovers will not bake as light and crispy. Trapped steam will cause the turnovers to remain soggy and soft.

To ensure your turnovers do not get soggy and soft after baking, wrap them individually in plastic wrap. You can then store them together gently arranged in an airtight container and kept out of direct sunlight.

Making the vanilla glaze

• Place these three ingredients into a small bowl and mix.
• Add water or more cream to thin the glaze a desired. A thicker glaze will be harder to drizzle.
• If you are out of heavy cream you may substitute milk, half n half or even unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

How do I reheat my turnovers?

Turnovers can be warmed by placing them on a plate and warming them in the microwave on low power for about 10 seconds. Be careful not to leave them in for too long as this can create hot spots inside the turnovers, and destroy the delicate sugar glaze.

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Filling Recipe Adapted From Natasha’s Kitchen