Easy Apple Turnovers

Homemade applesauce and frozen puff pastry come together for Easy Apple Turnovers that will wow your friends and family.

Years ago we lived in Paso Robles on California’s Central Coast. It’s where we had our first few babies, bought our first home, and experienced the first hard things of our life.

It’s also where we fell in love with apples.

Growing up, neither my husband nor I had ever enjoyed a fresh from the tree apple. Most of what we’d experienced were the mushy Golden Delicious so prevalent in grocery stores of the 70’s. Upon moving to San Luis Obispo County, we discovered the beauty and amazing taste of fresh apples. Wow!

We bought pounds and pounds of them down nearby See Canyon, and we enjoyed Apple Crowns and Apple Flips at the local Cider Creek bakery.

These Easy Apple Turnovers pay homage to that sweet season of our lives. Believe me, there was some hard stuff that went down in those five years, but that’s mellowed in our minds. Now, we mostly remember all the good food experiences.

And that is how it should be, don’t you think?

Frozen puff pastry is one of my friends. It doesn’t visit my kitchen very often, but when it does, we have a party. It’s so easy to work with and results in such fun and tasty baked goods, what’s not to love?

Other fun recipes with puff pastry:

• Cinnamon Puffs
• Big Puffy Heart Tarts
• Ham and Cheese Foldovers

You can very easily prepare these delicious Apple Turnovers in a matter of minutes. You’ll wow your kids, your hubby, your mom, the family down the street. The only downside is that you’ll wish you had made more.

This recipe makes 8 apple turnovers. Last time I checked, these were about $2 each at the local bakery. Homemade is a little bit cheaper and so much better!

In my neck of the woods, frozen puff pastry is not an “inexpensive” item, about $4-5 per package, though cheaper if you can catch it on sale. With about 1 cup of homemade organic applesauce (about $0.50 to make) and some cinnamon sugar (practically free for the amount I used), these turnovers come out to be a little less than $1 each. While I would not call that a bargain, it’s better than store bought — for flavor and price.

Basic method for preparing Easy Apple Turnovers

Frozen puff pastry is super easy to work with. Allow it to thaw in the refrigerator. Then unfold a sheet on a piece of parchment. You might see some fold marks. You can smooth those out with a wet fingertip. Or not. I didn’t.

Cut each sheet into four sections.

Spoon applesauce onto one triangular half of each square. That sounds tricky, but it’s not. You just want to have enough space to fold and seal. So, a thin layer is good. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar.

Fold the square into a triangle, over the filling. Use a wet fingertip to moisten the edges before pressing to seal. With a fork, crimp the edges of the pastry. Brush the tops with an egg wash to give them a nice sheen.

Bake in a 400° oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Needless to say, these turnovers disappeared in a matter of minutes. My kids just loved them.

Someday, I might go out on a limb and learn to make the pastry myself. This recipe for homemade puff pastry looks doable and would bring down the price point as well as increase the flavor — if I could do it right! I’ll keep you posted.

Updated September 24, 2016.

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