This apple turnover recipe is so easy to make in your own kitchen! Only a few steps and you can enjoy hot apple turnovers whenever you like. They couldn’t be easier to make, too!
Originally published September 7, 2011.
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Edited October 21, 2020: This was the first recipe post that I published when I started Christina’s Cucina. The permalink had “omg”, instead of “apple-turnover-recipe”, so that tells you something: I really had absolutely no clue what I was doing! This next sentence is pretty much all I wrote in the entire post except for the recipe!
“So if you happen to actually be reading this post somehow, do forgive me for the poor photography* and let me know if you try the recipe. :) Thanks so much!”
*Too see my original photo (yes, there was only one on the whole post), scroll to the bottom.
✧
Here is a more recent recipe you may also enjoy (with better pictures): British Apple Scones
How an Apple Turnover Recipe Started Something Big.
I honestly am amazed that I was able to turn something I love so much into my career. Thanks to two of my friends, Debbie and Joyce, who encouraged me into this culinary internet experience. It was September of 2011, and my son had just left home to attend Georgetown University on the East Coast. The three of us were having breakfast at Homegirl Cafe in downtown Los Angeles, when I told them I need to go back to work, but didn’t want to return my prior field of children’s social work (long story).
Both of them said I just had to do something with my cooking, and either Joyce or Debbie mentioned a food blog. I explained that I knew nothing about blogging, but they said, “Google it.” So I went home that evening and googled, “how to start a food blog,” answered the question, “What do you want to call your blog?” and after entering, “Christina’s Cucina”, which was the first thing that came to mind, a message appeared:
“Congratulations, your site is live!”
Which gives you the background for the reason that my first recipe post was entitled “OMG”!
I am delighted that I am able to share recipes with you on a regular basis, and hopefully we’ll all get back to travelling soon so that I will be able to share my travels with you again, also. Thank you to all of you who are wonderfully loyal readers, send beautiful notes and messages telling me how much a recipe means to you, or how much your family loved the dish you made. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate these gestures!
Now onto the apple turnover recipe!
American Apple Turnovers vs. Scottish/British Apple Turnovers
You’ll notice that the apple filling contains no spices. Yep, that’s right: no cinnamon, no nutmeg, no cloves and no pumpkin spice! If you’ve seen my British apple pie recipe, you’ll understand why I don’t add spices. I love to taste the flavor of the apple in desserts. I feel that the taste of apple is ruined by covering it with spice.
The other difference is that in Scotland (not sure about the rest of the UK, but feel free to comment below if you know), apple turnovers are often sold in bakeries with a generous filling of fresh cream!
Now, that is something I love. However, this is unsweetened cream, the puff pastry has no sugar and the apples have very little. There’s a sprinkling of sugar on top, but if you’re picturing this as a cloyingly sweet dessert, you would be very wrong. This is another difference between this apple turnover across the pond: this version is not very sweet at all. Feel free to serve these with or without the cream.
Apple Turnover Recipe
Recipe by Christina Conte makes 8
FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE BELOW
Oven 400ºF (200ºC)
Place the apples, lemon juice and sugar in a pot over medium heat and cover with a lid.
Toss to turn a few times, but only steam them for a few minutes, just to soften them a little. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
On one piece of puff pastry, put about 2 tablespoonfuls of apple filling. (Tip: if you have two sheets of puff pastry, keep the one you’re not working with in the fridge as it’s more difficult to work with when it gets warm.) Imagine that there is a line diagonally across the pastry and keep the filling on one triangle of the square.
Wet two edges of the puff pastry with your finger dipped in water.
Then fold the empty corner of the pastry over the apples and seal the edges with a fork. With a knife, make a small slit or two in the top of the pastry.
Repeat with the rest of the apples and pastry, and place on lined baking sheet. Brush with a very slightly beaten egg white (do not let it get frothy, just to make it easier to brush), and sprinkle with a coarse sugar. Another option is to omit the sprinkled sugar and just dust the apple turnover with powdered sugar after baking. (Note: omit the egg white for vegan.)
Bake for approximately 20-25 mins. until golden brown.
Allow to cool if filling with fresh cream or the cream will melt. Slice the top part of the pastry open, without cutting the top off completely.
Fill with freshly whipped, unsweetened cream. (Add a dusting of powdered sugar if you like.)
Enjoy; I surely did!
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Apple Turnover Recipe
Yield: 8
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Simple apple and puff pastry delights!
Ingredients
- 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, chopped or sliced into small pieces
- 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 4 Tbsp of sugar
- 1 box of puff pastry (16 to 18 oz pkg) cut into 5" x 5" (12.5 cm x 12.5 cm) squares (I recommend Trader Joe's as it is made with butter)
- 1 egg white (omit for vegan)
- a little coarse sugar or powdered sugar for decoration
- (optional: fresh whipped cream)
Instructions
Oven 400ºF (200ºC)
- Place the apples, lemon juice and sugar in a pot over medium heat and cover with a lid.
- Toss to turn a few times, but only steam them for a few minutes, just to soften them a little. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
- On one piece of puff pastry, put about 2 tablespoonfuls of apple filling. (Tip: if you have two sheets of puff pastry, keep the one you're not working with in the fridge as it's more difficult to work with when it gets warm.) Imagine that there is a line diagonally across the pastry and keep the filling on one triangle of the square.
- Wet two edges of the puff pastry with your finger dipped in water. Then fold the empty corner of the pastry over the apples and seal the edges with a fork. With a knife, make a small slit or two in the top of the pastry.
- Repeat with the rest of the apples and pastry, and place on lined baking sheet. Brush with a very slightly beaten egg white (do not let it get frothy, just to make it easier to brush), and sprinkle with a coarse sugar. Another option is to omit the sprinkled sugar and just dust the apple turnover with powdered sugar after baking.
- Bake for approximately 20-25 mins. until golden brown.
- Allow to cool if filling with fresh cream or the cream will melt. Slice the top part of the pastry open, without cutting the top off completely.
- Fill with freshly whipped, unsweetened cream. (Add a dusting of powdered sugar if you like.)
Notes
- Note: omit the egg white for vegan turnovers.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 421Total Fat: 25gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 169mgCarbohydrates: 45gFiber: 3gSugar: 14gProtein: 5g
Nutrition information is only an estimate.
Apple Cake with Apple Cider Glaze from What a Girl Eats
Ready for that photo I promised? It’s the first one I added to my site, so I really need to keep it just to show myself how far I’ve come, don’t you agree? It’s pretty bad, although the turnovers still look good, haha!
Thank you!
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