Today’s extra flaky handheld apple turnovers come together with homemade puff pastry dough, gooey rich apple filling, and a drizzle of homemade caramel sauce on top. You can skip the from-scratch dough and use store-bought puff pastry if desired.
I originally published this recipe in 2013 and have since added new photos, a few more success tips, and have given the option for homemade dough.
Have you ever tried making apple turnovers before? If not, let me encourage you. They’re much easier than a full apple pie, but with all the same apple and cinnamon goodness. These make a great dessert, or an indulgent breakfast—you can prep them ahead and bake fresh in the morning!
Consider these the fall version of fresh berry turnovers.
One reader, Jennifer, commented: “I have made these and they are by far THE BEST dessert I have ever eaten. Not just made, but out of any dessert I have eaten—EVER. I love them so much, it’s a little obsessive … but the filling is THAT good. I kind of want to put it in everything. ★★★★★”
Why You’ll Love These Caramel Apple Turnovers, Too:
- Like apple hand pies, but with a crispy, airy rough puff pastry dough instead of pie crust
- An extra special breakfast treat, perfect for crisp fall mornings
- Can use homemade or store-bought puff pastry dough
- Easy 5-ingredient filling
- Delicious for dessert with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and salted caramel sauce
Start With the Puff Pastry
You can absolutely use store-bought puff pastry dough. Be sure to thaw it before using. I encourage you, however, to try from-scratch puff pastry dough. I use a simpler “rough puff” method to make it. Hundreds of readers have tried it and have been pleasantly surprised with its ease. If you have a few hours (that can be broken up over a couple days!), try the homemade dough. It’s so flaky, and so worth it. 😉
I use it so often that I created a separate page for rough puff pastry with a video tutorial just in case you want it for other recipes that call for it—like butternut squash tart, cinnamon palmiers, cranberry brie puff pastry tarts, savory mushroom tarts, or even this honey pear tart.
Make the rough puff pastry dough ahead of time, because it needs to chill for a while before it’s ready to use in a recipe. I always make it the day before.
What Is “Rough Puff” Pastry?
This shortcut method for making puff pastry dough—known as “rough puff”—has become popular with professional and home bakers alike because it produces bakery-style puff pastry with oodles of buttery, flaky layers.
Unlike breakfast pastries dough, this dough does not require any yeast; and unlike croissants and traditional puff pastry, this dough does not require laminating with a separate layer of butter. Rather, the layers and crisp flakiness come from the particular mixing and folding methods. This recipe simply relies on large pieces of cold butter (lots of it), cold water, and folding.
You’re going to carefully work cold butter into your dry ingredients, hydrate with ice-cold water, and then fold and flatten the dough many times to create countless flaky layers. The dough comes together with just 5 ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, cold butter, and cold water.
5-Ingredient Apple Filling for Turnovers
Like the puff pastry dough, you only need 5 ingredients for the filling, too:
- Apples: I like to use one tart variety and one sweet variety. Here are the best apples for baking.
- Cornstarch: This is the thickener that keeps the juices from being too runny.
- Cinnamon: Apple’s favorite spice!
- Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract gives the best flavor. Feel free to use homemade vanilla here.
- Sugar: You can use either white or brown sugar here, or try a mix.
You’ll cook down the apples with the other ingredients on the stove. In just a few minutes, the apples will soften, and the juices will transform into a gooey, cinnamon-y sauce. YUM. Set the filling aside to slightly cool while you roll out your puff pastry dough.
How to Assemble Apple Turnovers
Once you have your store-bought dough thawed, or the homemade dough refrigerated (after the second refrigeration as detailed in the rough puff pastry post), it’s time to shape it. For the homemade dough, roll it into a square that’s about 12×12 inches in size. Cut 9 squares, about 4×4 inches each. I always use a pizza cutter to do this. For the store-bought dough, cut each sheet into 4 squares.
Spoon the filling into the center of each square. Fold one corner diagonally across over top of the filling, to make a triangle. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal in the filling.
At this point, I strongly recommend refrigerating the shaped pastries for 15 minutes to help them hold shape in the oven. Brush the chilled pastries with egg wash, so that they bake up beautiful and shiny. Be sure to cut a couple small vents into the top, so steam can escape and allow the pastry dough to puff up perfectly.
Don’t be surprised if some of the filling’s juices seep out on the baking sheet—that’s normal and expected.
Drizzle each with caramel sauce as the topping. You can reduce the salt to 1/2 teaspoon to make regular caramel sauce, or stick with 1 teaspoon for the salted variety. Instead of caramel, you could lightly dust them with confectioners’ sugar, drizzle with vanilla icing, or enjoy plain.
These turnovers are made with puff pastry, which is made by folding the dough over into itself again and again to create the flaky layers. Once the puff pastry is ready to use, you simply add the filling and then fold it over and seal. Apple strudel, on the other hand, is made with a dough that’s stretched until it’s extremely thin. The paper-thin pastry dough gets topped with the apple filling, and the pastry is then rolled, to create the layers.
Yes. Store-bought frozen puff pastry usually comes with 2 sheets, and you’ll use both. Thaw the puff pastry for about 2 hours at room temperature. Do not let it get too warm, or it will be hard to work with. An easy way to do this is to put the frozen puff pastry in the refrigerator the night before.
Chopped pecans or walnuts make a wonderful addition to this filling; I love the extra texture they give to the gooey filling. Raisins are a common inclusion in apple strudel, and work just as well in these turnovers. Feel free to add about 1/4 cup of add-ins.
Here are the turnovers made with store-bought puff pastry. If you’re short on time, they’re extremely quick and easy this way!
More Caramel Apple Treats
Homemade Apple Turnovers
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 22 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour (add 3 hours for homemade dough)
Yield: 8 or 9 turnovers
Category: Dessert
Method: Baking
Cuisine: American
Description
Easy, buttery, and incredibly flaky turnovers stuffed with gooey cinnamon apples and generously topped with caramel sauce. You can use store-bought puff pastry or homemade pastry dough. To ensure the turnovers hold shape, refrigerate them for 15 minutes before baking.
Dough
Filling
Egg Wash + Topping
Instructions
- Dough: Prepare homemade rough puff pastry dough through 2nd refrigeration. If using store-bought frozen puff pastry, make sure it’s thawed. Keep either dough in the refrigerator until step 4 below.
- Make the filling: In a medium saucepan over medium heat, cook the apples, cornstarch, vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar. Stir constantly for 5 minutes. Reduce to low heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 20 minutes.
- Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Shape the dough: If using homemade dough (makes 9): On a lightly floured work surface using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the puff pastry dough to a 12-inch square. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut nine 4-inch squares. Transfer squares to prepared baking sheets (4 on one, 5 on the other). If using store-bought dough (makes 8): Unroll the puff pastry sheets onto a lightly floured surface. Using a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, cut each into 4 squares. Transfer squares to prepared baking sheets (4 on each).
- Add the filling: Spoon about 2–3 Tablespoons of apple filling onto the center of each square. Fold one corner of the square over the filling to make a triangle. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal. See photo above for visual. Some apple juices may leak out; that’s OK. Chill the shaped turnovers in the refrigerator, covered or uncovered, for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour (or freeze, see freezing instructions below). You can preheat the oven and make the egg wash (next steps) as they finish up chilling.
- Preheat oven to 400°F (204°C). Whisk the egg and milk together. Using a pastry brush, brush on each chilled turnover. Cut 2 or 3 small steam vents in the tops of each to allow steam to escape.
- Bake for 23–25 minutes, or until the turnovers are golden brown. Some butter may leak from the homemade dough, that’s completely normal and expected. Rotate the pans halfway through bake time to avoid uneven browning.
- Cool the turnovers on the baking sheets for 5 minutes. If desired, drizzle each with caramel sauce before serving.
- Cover leftover turnovers and store at room temperature for 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Freezing Unbaked Turnovers: In step 5, you can cover and freeze the shaped turnovers for up to 1 month. Thaw in the refrigerator, then continue with step 6.
- Freezing Baked Turnovers: Baked turnovers can be frozen up to 2 months and thawed overnight in the refrigerator, then warmed up in the oven or microwave.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Saucepan | Rolling Pin | Pizza Cutter | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Pastry Brush
- Apples: Here are the best apples for baking.
- Adding Nuts or Raisins to the Filling: Chopped pecans or walnuts make a wonderful addition to this filling; I love the extra texture they give to the gooey filling. Raisins work, too! Feel free to add about 1/4 cup of add-ins when you add the apples to the stove.
- Egg Wash: An egg wash promises that golden sheen on your pastries. You can skip the egg and use a total of 3 Tablespoons (45ml) milk (any kind, dairy or nondairy) instead.
- Caramel or Salted Caramel: Use this homemade caramel sauce. You can keep it as salted caramel, or reduce the amount of salt to 1/2 teaspoon to make it regular caramel.
- Chilling shaped turnovers: Chilling the shaped turnovers in the refrigerator before baking them helps them maintain their shape in the oven. Remember, cold pastry dough is best. I usually refrigerate them for 15 minutes as the oven preheats. If you’re nervous about placing cold baking sheets into a hot oven (which can cause warping), you have two other options. You can simply assemble the turnovers on parchment paper or silicone baking mats, lift the parchment/baking mat as a whole and place on another baking sheet or directly onto a shelf in the refrigerator. After chilling, carefully lift up and place the entire parchment/baking mat onto the baking sheet for baking. Or you can use a thin spatula and very carefully transfer the assembled unbaked pastries to a large plate to chill.
