These easy apple turnovers are delicious apple-filled pastries that are perfect for breakfast or dessert. They are the perfect fall treat as they taste just like apple pie but with a fraction of the work. The best part is these turnovers come together quickly with store-bought puff pastry, and the sweet, warm apples spiced with cinnamon will make your kitchen smell heavenly as you bake them.
I love how these make for an easy hand-held treat so you can eat them on the go. These turnovers are also a great way to use up leftover apples, especially if you’ve gone apple picking. For more apple recipes, try my applesauce recipe, apple bread recipe, and apple strudel recipe.
What You Need To Make This Recipe
Apples — I recommend using firm apples, so they hold up as you cook and bake them. I use Granny Smith apples for this homemade apple turnovers recipe, but you can also use Fuji, Gala, Pink Lady, or Honeycrisp apples.
Brown sugar — you can use light or dark brown sugar. Dark brown sugar has richer and deeper caramel notes, leading to a sweeter turnover. If you prefer a less sweet turnover, use light brown sugar.
Lemon juice — I recommend freshly squeezed lemon juice over bottled juice for the best flavor.
Cinnamon — make sure the cinnamon you have on hand is fresh for the best flavor.
Puff pastry — I have a delicious homemade puff pastry recipe if you want to use a homemade version that creates an extra flaky pastry. However, for convenience, you can use frozen puff pastry from the store, thawed according to the package instructions.
Powdered sugar — forgot to buy powdered sugar? Not to worry! You can make your own by following my homemade powdered sugar recipe.
How to Make Apple Turnovers
1. Peel the apples, then core and dice them.
2. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the apples and cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently. Add the brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, and salt to the diced apples.
3. Stir to coat apple pieces. Cook until the apples are softened and become syrupy. Reduce the heat to low. Sprinkle in the cornstarch and stir until the juice boils and thickens before transferring the mixture to a bowl. Chill in the fridge once it’s reached room temperature.
4. Roll each of the thawed puff pastry sheets out on a lightly floured work surface into a 12-inch square. Cut each sheet into 4 equal squares and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
5. Place a few tablespoons of filling in each square. Brush the edges with egg wash.
6. Fold one point of the puff pastry over the filling to the opposite point, creating a triangle. Crimp and seal in the filling by pressing the lines of a fork along both straight edges. Brush the top with more egg wash and cut a few small slits in the top. Sprinkle with sugar, if desired. Bake until the pastry is golden brown and puffed.
7. In a small mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar and water and whisk until smooth.
8. Drizzle the glaze over the top of each turnover, and enjoy!
Tips for Assembling Apple Turnovers
- Chill the puff pastry if it becomes too soft to work with after you roll and cut it, you can put it back in the fridge to firm it up a bit.
- Dice the fresh apples as uniformly as possible to ensure they cook evenly. Avoid chopping the apples larger than ½ inch as they’ll be too large to keep the pastry from popping open in the oven. It might seem like a lot of apples at first in your skillet, but they will shrink as you continue to cook them!
- Crimp the edges of the turnovers tightly so the apple filling does not leak out. Press the edges down firmly with the fork tines to ensure a good seal.
- Don’t skip cutting a small slit on the puff pastry with a sharp knife for ventilation so the steam can come out, and you can avoid the turnovers bursting in the oven.
How to Serve
- Serve apple turnovers with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Skip the glaze and drizzle with caramel sauce or butterscotch sauce.
- Serve with a dollop of homemade whipped cream.
Storing and Reheating Apple Turnovers
Baked and cooled apple turnovers can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw them in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for a few hours.
To reheat turnovers, you pop them in the oven or toaster oven at 350°F for 5 to 10 minutes. Or, reheat them in the air fryer at 325°F for 5 minutes. If you plan on saving some for later, I recommend leaving the glaze off and glazing them after reheating.
Pro Tips For Making This Recipe
- Glaze after cooling slightly. Make sure you give the apple turnovers enough time to cool before adding the glaze. You can glaze warm turnovers, but the glaze will melt off if the turnovers are piping hot.
- Easy way to decorate with glaze. You can add the glaze to a piping bag or ziptop bag with the corner cut to easily drizzle the glaze over the turnovers.
- Add some spice: After brushing the turnovers with egg wash, sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar for added fall flavor.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! If you do not plan on baking the turnovers immediately, freeze them unbaked. Once assembled, place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and freeze until frozen. Then, freeze them in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Bake frozen apple turnovers as directed in the recipe, increasing the baking time by 5 to 10 minutes.
You can if you’d like. I prefer the fresh apple flavor of a homemade filling, but a store-bought apple pie filling or canned apples can work in a pinch.
Yes! You can cook the filling, cool it, and store it in an airtight container for up to 4 days before using it. You can use the filling straight from the fridge when you’re ready to assemble the turnovers.
Other fruits similar to apples, like pears, swap in very nicely! If you’d like to use a juicier fruit like blueberries, cherries, or peaches, you can do so but you may need to add more cornstarch to thicken the filling. Use the same amount (2 cups) of fruit and add an additional teaspoon of cornstarch dissolved in 2 teaspoons of water as needed to thicken the filling.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this Apple Turnovers recipe, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Apple Turnovers Recipe
Equipment
- Large baking sheets
- Large skillet
Ingredients
For the Turnovers:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 cups peeled, cored, and diced apples (about 4 medium Granny Smith apples)
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar (55g)
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 sheets frozen puff pastry thawed (one 17.3oz/490g package)
- Egg wash (1 large egg + 1 teaspoon water, beaten)
For the Glaze: (optional)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar (180g)
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
For the Turnovers:
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the apples, and cook for a few minutes while stirring frequently. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt, and stir to coat apple pieces. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the apples are softened and become syrupy. Reduce the heat to low.
- Sprinkle in the cornstarch and stir until the juices boil and thicken, about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl. Let cool for 15 minutes then refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
- When the apples are chilled, roll each thawed puff pastry sheet out on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch square. Cut each sheet into 4 equal squares.
- Place a square of puff pastry on the baking sheet and brush the edges of each square with the egg wash. Place a few tablespoons of filling in each square. Fold one point of the puff pastry over the filling to the opposite point, creating a triangle. Crimp and seal in the filling by pressing the lines of a fork along both straight edges. Brush the top with more egg wash and cut a few small slits in the top. Sprinkle with sugar, if desired.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden and puffed. Let cool for at least 15 minutes.
For the Glaze:
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the powdered sugar and water and whisk until smooth. You can add a bit more water if the consistency needs to be thinned out. Drizzle over the warm turnovers and enjoy!
Notes
- Glaze after cooling slightly. Make sure you give the apple turnovers enough time to cool before adding the glaze. You can glaze warm turnovers, but the glaze will melt off if the turnovers are piping hot.
- Easy way to decorate with glaze. You can add the glaze to a piping bag or ziptop bag with the corner cut to easily drizzle the glaze over the turnovers.
- Add some spice: After brushing the turnovers with egg wash, sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar for added fall flavor.
