Apple Turnover Recipe

This apple turnover recipe is made with homemade rough puff pastry dough and a sweet crisp apple filling with added notes of honey and vanilla. These buttery, melt-in-your-mouth flaky pastries will remind you of freshly made croissants.

Executive pastry chef, Christophe Rull, is back to show us how to make this apple turnover recipe. These delicious puff pastry apple turnovers are buttery, flaky, and the perfect balance of sweet and acidic from the apple filling. A turnover is very similar to a hand pie or fresh apple pie but is traditionally made with puff pastry instead of pie dough.

Apple Turnover Ingredients

Gala apples work best because they’re crisp and mellow in flavor, and their natural sweetness requires less sugar to be added to the recipe. You can use granny smith, honey crisp, golden delicious, or any apples that you prefer.

European butter (like Plugra) has a higher fat content which makes it creamier and more flavorful. Using a higher quality butter will make a super flaky puff pastry dough. Just make sure to use COLD butter.

Vanilla beans have the best flavor, but you can also use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, I recommend using Nielsen Massey vanilla.

High Gluten Flour (like bread flour) contains more proteins and develops more gluten which helps your dough rise more evenly. You can use all-purpose flour if that's all you have.

Honey adds some extra sweetness and moisture to our apple filling. It has a distinct flavor that goes really well with apples and will give them a sweet taste!

Cornstarch is going to help to thicken our apple filling in this recipe. Mixing cornstarch and a liquid will make a slurry that will thicken jams, compotes, and other fillings.

Making Apple Turnovers From Scratch

This recipe goes over how to make rough puff pastry dough, laminate the dough, make the apple filling, and assemble apple turnovers from scratch. You can simplify this recipe by buying canned apple pie filling and store-bought puff pastry sheets to skip the lamination process. It may not be "quite" as flaky and buttery, but will still be delicious!

Making Rough Puff Pastry

1. Add the flour, salt, cold water, and melted butter into the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment for 1-2 minutes until the ingredients are just combined.
2. Cut the cold butter into cubes and add it to the mixer.
3. Mix again on low speed until the butter is barely combined with the dough. Make sure to not over mix, we want to see pieces of butter in the dough (this will create the crunch and flakiness). 
4. Place the dough onto the table and shape it into a rectangle with your hands.
5. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for about 2 hours until it’s firm to the touch. 

Laminating the Dough

1. Once the dough is chilled, flour the work surface, take the dough out of the fridge, and roll it out in a long rectangle that is about 24″ long and 8″ wide.
2. Give it the first book fold by folding each end towards the middle making sure the ends meet. 
3. Fold the dough in half along the seam to close the ends like a book. (Hence the term book fold.) Turn it a quarter of a turn so that the dough is now facing lengthwise.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 once more by rolling out the dough to do a second book fold. If your dough is bouncing back at the edges and is not rolling out easily, your gluten needs to relax. Wrap the dough and put it back in the refrigerator for an hour and try again. Also if your dough is too soft and warm, put your dough back in the fridge for 30 minutes.
5. Once your second book fold is completed, wrap and rest your dough for 30 to 60 minutes in the fridge.

Making Apple Filling

1. Peel and cut your apples into small cubes.
2. Add the honey, sugar, and vanilla to a medium saucepan.
3. Cook the mixture over medium heat for about 3 minutes or until it reaches a light blonde color. If you want an extra rich flavor, you can substitute some of the honey and sugar for brown sugar.
4. Add in the butter and apples and stir the mixture together.
5. Cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes or until the apples are slightly soft and translucent. Don’t overcook the apples here, you want to avoid them getting too mushy when they bake later.
6. Combine the cold water and corn starch in a small bowl and add it to the apple mixture. Pro-Tip: Use equal parts of Clear Jel instead of corn starch for a more translucent and shiny apple filling.
7. Cook for about 1 more minute on medium heat, then remove it from the heat. It will continue to thicken as it cools. If you like a more tart apple filling, you can add a few tablespoons of lemon juice.
8. Pour the apple filling into a medium bowl and cover it with plastic wrap so it’s touching the surface of the filling. This is to prevent a film from forming on top.
9. Refrigerate the apple filling for about an hour or until it’s cooled down to room temperature. This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for up to a week or frozen for a month.

Assembling the Turnovers

1. Once your dough is chilled, cut it in half. Then roll one half out in a long rectangle that is about 24″ long and 8″ wide. One batch of this rough puff will make about 12 apple turnovers.
2. Place the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. Use a 4-inch ring to cut three or four equal circles out of the dough. You can also use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter if you don't have a circle. This dough cannot be rolled out again, but if you slice up the rest of the dough into strips, twist them, and bake them with some butter and a cinnamon sugar mix for delicious cinnamon sticks.
4. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
5. Dock the dough circles with a fork so that they don't overdevelop in the oven.
6. Mix an egg and water together in a small bowl and use a pastry brush to brush the egg wash halfway around the outside of the circle.
7. Scoop about 1 Tablespoon of apple filling into the center of the dough and fold it in half.
8. Gently press the turnover on the edges to make a good connection with the egg wash. Touch the dough as little as possible to avoid heating up the butter too much.
9. Dip a 3 ½-inch ring in flour and press down to glue the edges together. Cut through to make a clean line, then remove the excess. This is optional, but it will make the turnovers extra pretty.
10. Place the turnovers on a lined baking sheet and brush them with egg wash. Egg wash makes the dough golden and shiny when baked.
11. With an Exacto blade or a sharp knife, gently score a few small slits on the top of each turnover. This shouldn't cut through the dough but make a beautiful shell pattern and extra flaky layers.
12. Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes until they are flaky and golden brown.
13. Set the turnovers aside on a wire rack to cool completely and brush with simple syrup for extra shine (optional).

FAQ

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