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Tender cinnamon apples wrapped in a buttery, flaky dough and baked until soft and golden. These homestyle apple turnovers are made completely from scratch, are not overly sweet, and are perfect for both breakfast and dessert alike!
My Grandma Hazel was known for her from-scratch, hardly-use-a-recipe, southern-style cooking. A treasure she left us was a big wooden recipe box full of her hand-written notes and recipes for us to decipher and enjoy. Not overly sweet, often packed with lunch in the kid’s brown paper sacks or eaten right off the cooling rack, these apple turnovers are a testament to down-to-earth homestyle cooking.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
Homestyle– I like to call these apple turnovers “homestyle” because they are meant to have that slightly rustic, imperfect feel. Made from scratch and formed by hand, these apple turnovers are the essence of fall baking at home.
Not overly sweet– this apple turnover recipe is meant to be buttery and lightly sweet. This way, you can enjoy it any time of day without getting a sugar rush. Looking for something more sweet and desserty? Brush the tops of the unbaked turnovers with an egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Or dust the tops of the baked turnovers with powdered sugar!
Made completely from scratch – so many apple turnover recipes out there involve using a can of apple pie filling and frozen puff pastry. While those can be great for a quick result, nothing beats the quality of homemade, from-scratch apple turnovers made from real ingredients that you can pronounce.
No-Cook Apple Filling – The apple filling in this recipe does not require any pre-cooking. Just peel and dice your apples, mix with sugar and cinnamon, and fill up your turnover dough!
Ingredients for Apple Turnovers
How to Make Dough for Apple Turnovers
- 3/4 c. All-purpose flour
- 4 tbsp. cold butter
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
- 4 tbsp. ice cold water
How to Make the Filling for Apple Turnovers
- 2.5 c. Diced, peeled apples
- 1/2 c. granulated cane sugar
- 2 tsp. Cinnamon
Tips
- Using very cold butter and ice cold water in the dough is key for a easy, flaky dough.
- Dice your apples into small cubes (approximately 1/4″). You want your apple to be small enough to fill in all the empty space of the apple turnovers, but big enough that you can still enjoy their texture.
- Fill the turnovers as much as you can! Nothing is more disappointing than an apple pastry that barely has any apples. Try to fill those turnovers with as much filling as you can without tearing the dough!
- Here are some baking tools that I highly recommend for making pastries!
How to Enjoy Apple Turnovers
Apple turnovers are a buttery apple pastry that can be enjoyed as breakfast, a snack, or a dessert. The great thing about this homestyle apple turnover recipe is that it is not overly sweet, allowing you to customize it to your liking.
Looking for a light breakfast pastry or snack? Make the recipe as it and enjoy with coffee or milk!
Looking for a more decadent dessert? Drizzle these baked apple turnovers with a glaze or sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar before baking!
Either way you make it, a pan of freshly baked from-scratch apple turnovers is a treat everyone is sure to enjoy–especially in the fall!
How to Make Apple Turnovers From Scratch
Apple Turnover Dough:
First, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Cut the cold butter into cubes and add it to the flour mixture.
Work the butter into the flour using a pinching motion with your finger tips or using a pastry blender tool until the butter/flour mixture resembles course crumbs.
Add the ice cold water, 1 tbsp at a time, mixing with your fingertips until a moist but firm dough comes together. Don’t knead the dough. Just press it together with your fingers.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for a couple of hours until very cold.
Apple Turnover Filling:
Peel and dice 2 1/2 cups of a flavorful apples such as honeycrisp, pink lady, braeburn, etc. (this is approximately 2-3 apples) Make your apple cubes approximately 1/4″. To the diced apples, add the granulated sugar and cinnamon.
Let sit for approximately 30-60 minutes while the dough finishes cooling in the refrigerator.
How to Shape Apple Turnovers:
Once the dough has chilled in the refrigerator for about 2 hours, it will be firm yet pliable. Cold dough is the best to work with because it stays together well!
Sprinkle a clean work-surface with a little bit of flour, and roll the cold dough out to approximately 1/8th” thickness (I like to use a silicone pastry dough mat for this process as it allows you to work on any flat surface, has a built in ruler, and makes the cleanup process much easier!) Divide the dough into 4×4” squares. (A bench scraper with a ruler engraved in it makes this SO easy!)
Take each square one at a time and roll it out just a little bit bigger, lightly flouring both sides to prevent sticking or tearing. Place the apple filling in the center of the square of dough (I find that spreading the apple filling in a slight T-shape helps fill the natural shape of the turnover).
Fold the dough over into a turnover shape. Crimp the edges with a fork.
Optional Toppings:
- place 3 slits in the top in a decorative manner
- If you want the tops of the apple turnovers to be sprinkled with sugar, brush the tops of the unbaked turnovers with an egg wash first and then sprinkle the sugar on top so that it sticks to the dough
- Egg Wash: 1 egg beaten together with 1-2 tbsp of water
- Sprinkle the tops of the turnovers with cinnamon
- Dust the tops of the baked turnovers with powdered sugar
Place the unbaked turnovers on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.
Let cool, sprinkle with cinnamon. and enjoy by themselves or with butter 🙂
Want More From-Scratch Dessert Recipes?
- Simply Delicious Apple Crisp
- Buttery Oatmeal Cookies
- Scandinavian Almond Skillet Cake
- Dairy-Free Banana Bread
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- 26x16silicone pastry dough mat
- bench scraper
- pastry blender
- Rolling pin
- silicone baking mat
- 21″x15″ large baking sheet
Hey! I’m so glad you’re here. Give this recipe 5 stars if you try it and love it!
Wherever you find yourself today…take time to nourish yourself — body, mind, and soul <3
Warmly, Caroline
Homestyle Apple Turnovers (From Scratch)
Equipment
- mixing bowl
- Rolling Pin
- large baking sheet
Ingredients
Apple Turnover Dough
- 3/4 c. All-purpose flour
- 4 tbsp. very cold butter
- 1/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 4 tbsp. ice-cold water
Apple Turnover Filling
- 2 1/2 c. peeled, diced apple approximately 1/4" cubes
- 1/2 c. granulated cane sugar
- 2 tsp. Cinnamon
Optional toppings (see notes below for details)
- cinnamon
- egg wash + cinnamon sugar
- powdered sugar
Instructions
For the Dough:
- First, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together in a mixing bowl. Cut the cold butter into cubes and add it to the flour mixture.
- Work the butter into the flour using a pinching motion with your finger tips or using a pastry blender tool until the butter/flour mixture resembles course crumbs.
- Add the ice cold water, 1 tbsp at a time, mixing with your fingertips until a moist but firm dough comes together. Don’t knead the dough. Just press it together with your fingers.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for a couple of hours until very cold.
For the Apple Filling:
- While the dough chills, peel and dice 2 1/2 cups of crisp, flavorful apples such as honeycrisp into 1'4 inch cubes (approximately 2-3 apples).
- To the diced apples, add the granulated sugar and cinnamon. Let sit for approximately 30-60 minutes while the dough finishes chilling in the refrigerator.
How to Shape Apple Turnovers
- Once the dough has chilled in the refrigerator for about 2 hours, it will be firm yet pliable. Cold dough is the best to work with because it stays together well!
- Sprinkle a clean work-surface with a little bit of flour, and roll the cold dough out to approximately 1/8th” thickness. Divide the dough into 4×4” squares.
- Take each square one at a time and roll it out just a little bit bigger, lightly flouring both sides to prevent sticking or tearing. Place the apple filling in the center of the square of dough (I find that spreading the apple filling in a slight T-shape helps fill the natural shape of the turnover).Fill the turnovers with as much filling as you can without tearing the dough.
- Fold the dough over into a turnover shape. Crimp the edges with a fork.
- Place the unbaked turnovers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes. (If you wish to add an egg wash and granulated sugar, do this before baking)
- Let cool, sprinkle with cinnamon, and enjoy by themselves or with butter 🙂
Notes
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