Apple Turnovers From Scratch

I’m re-sharing my homemade apple turnovers recipe just in time for the fall baking season. My version is made completely from scratch with my flaky (super easy) pie crust recipe and a homemade apple pie filling inside. These are very similar to my hand pies and a great way to use up leftover apples from apple picking. With their buttery, flaky crust and sweet caramelized apple filling in every bite, what’s not to love?! While I typically top my turnovers with an easy vanilla glaze, I also like to sprinkle them with coarse sugar for some added crunch and sparkle. If you’re less of a sugar fiend, you can just use the sugar or the glaze–but I highly recommend both!

Why you’ll love my recipe:

Can be made with pie dough or my easy puff pastry.Takes less than an hour to make.Two topping options: coarse sugar or vanilla glaze (or both!).100% from-scratch!

Ingredients

Just a few ingredients come together to make this easy apple turnover recipe. Most importantly, you’ll need:

Apples. I recommend using a firm, fairly tart apple like Fuji, Gala (my favorites for apple butter or applesauce), or Granny Smith (a more tart option!). Be sure to peel & core the apples before cutting them into small pieces (less than ½″). Pie crust. You could use pre-made (store-bought) pie dough, but I really recommend making my homemade pie dough (linked in the recipe below). It’s very easy to make and produces perfectly flaky, flavorful results that I think makes my apple turnover recipe really special.Brown sugar. I like using light brown sugar for the apple filling. Dark brown sugar can be substituted, but it will make your turnovers richer and sweeter. Cornstarch. This helps to thicken our apple filling. Coarse sugar. This is optional, but I love sprinkling it on the turnovers before they go in the oven. It gives them a crisp, sparkly exterior!

SAM’S TIP: It will seem like a lot of (maybe even too many) apples when you first add them to your pan, but they’ll cook down to be just enough to fill your crust. Make sure to let the filling cool before adding it to your dough, otherwise you run the risk of melting your pastry dough. Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

How to Make Apple Turnovers

SAM’S TIP: If you do find that your dough becomes too soft to manage, just return it to the refrigerator for a few minutes and it should quickly become firm enough to manage. You can also do this with the assembled turnovers if they seem too soft or melty before you pop them in the oven (this can easily happen on a warm day!). If you like this apple turnovers recipe, give my cherry turnovers and chocolate turnovers a try! Enjoy! Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook This recipe was originally published October of 2017. I’ve made small edits to the flow of the recipe to make it easier to follow and have added new photos, a new video, and new text that I hope is helpful!

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