Apple Turnovers

5. Using a pastry brush, brush water around the entire edge of the square piece of pastry. This will act as glue. Fold over the corner of the pastry creating triangles. (See photos below). Press the edges together. Then, take a fork and press the tines all away around the edges to seal the pastry.

6. Beat the egg in a small bowl with a teaspoon of water. Brush the egg mixture over the pastry. Cut a few slits in the top of the turnovers with a tip of a knife. This will allow stream to escape and keep the pastry from bursting open.

7. Place the pastry on a silpat lined baking sheet (or use parchment paper or tinfoil lightly sprayed with cooking spray). Bake for 18 – 25 minutes until golden brown and puffed.

NOTE: As with a lot of my favorite foods, this one has a special memory for me. When I was a kid, there were these apple turnover “kits” that you could buy in the frozen foods department. You could bake the premade turnover, then cut open these little packets of glaze and drizzle it over the hot turnovers. These were some of my first “baking experiences” as a kid. I could have a friend come over for a sleepover, and we’d make these. They were special because I made them unsupervised and were even more special because I only had them when I had a guest over.

Now as an adult, I still like to make these and while I still use a lot of premade ingredients,  it is definitely a little more grown up…and I have no problem serving these to guests either. They love ‘em!

While I use an easy, store bought apple filling, I definitely doctor it up with fresh apple, nuts and spices. The homemade glaze is easy and fun. Is there anything better than puff pastry? I don’t think so. Since it requires sooooo much work to make it from scratch, I wouldn’t even consider making this throw back dish with homemade puff pastry. This dessert is what it is: a simple, childhood favorite all grown up. I hope you like it as much as I do.

I use Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry in this and I really don’t have any preference when it comes to the store bought pie filling. I do toast my nuts since that makes a big difference in the taste and I do grate my own nutmeg. That little extra effort pays off. I was introduced to grating my own by this fabulous home cook from Italia. He loved to add nutmeg to his pasta fillings and desserts. It really did make a difference so I’ve been grating my own ever since. BTW, use a micro grater for this…it has to be a very fine grater. I actually bought a rasp at a hardware store years ago in Iowa because I couldn’t find a proper grater. I’ve been using it for this purpose ever since and it works great! Get the kids involved with making these – they’ll love it.

If you like this recipe, be sure to try my Apple Tartlets recipe too!