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.
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.
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. 😉
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.
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.
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.
Here are the turnovers made with store-bought puff pastry. If you’re short on time, they’re extremely quick and easy this way!
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.
