Barefoot Bloggers Bonus Recipe: Apple Turnovers

Otherwise known as BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

Okay. So I'm late again. But this recipe is definitely worth the wait. Quick. Easy. And pretty tasty too. I think my orange must have been juicier than most as the juice ran all over the pan creating quite a sticky mess but all in all, the flavor was terrific. The orange flavor added an interesting note to the apple and cinnamon flavor. Using the puff pastry really made this dish go together quickly.

The only thing I would do differently is to fill the turnovers a bit more next time. I didn't use all the filling mixture. The turnovers seemed plump before baking but but flattened out a lot during the cooking process. Next time I'd probably slice the apples instead of dice them and really load the filling in there. I didn't this time because if I added more, my dough tore. Next time I will do a more vigilant job of keeping my dough chilled and see if that helps.

Thanks to Anne at Anne Strawberry for the great Barefoot Bloggers Bonus Recipe pick. Check out all the other Barefoot Blogger results here.

Apple Turnovers
Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten

1 teaspoon grated orange zest
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/4 pounds tart apples, such as Empire or Granny Smith (3 apples)
3 tablespoons dried cherries
3 tablespoons sugar, plus extra to sprinkle on top
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch kosher salt
1 package (17.3 ounces, 2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the orange zest and orange juice in a bowl. Peel, quarter, and core the apples and then cut them in 3/4-inch dice. Immediately toss the apples with the zest and juice to prevent them from turning brown. Add the cherries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

Flour a board and lightly roll each sheet of puff pastry to a 12 by 12-inch square. Cut each sheet into 4 smaller squares and keep chilled until ready to use.

Brush the edges of each square with the egg wash and neatly place about 1/3 cup of the apple mixture on half of the square. Fold the pastry diagonally over the apple mixture and seal by pressing the edges with a fork. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the top with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, make 2 small slits, and bake for 20 minutes, until browned and puffed. Serve warm or at room temperature.