Apple Cream Cheese Turnovers
Submitted by crb
Apple turnovers with a tender homemade cream cheese pastry, cinnamon-spiced apple filling, and a dusting of powdered sugar. The cream cheese in the dough makes it impossibly flaky.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
15 minREADY
1 hrsThese apple turnovers skip store-bought puff pastry in favor of a homemade cream cheese dough that’s somewhere between flaky and tender, with a slight tang that plays beautifully against the cinnamon apple filling. Cream cheese is the secret. It cuts the dough’s gluten development the same way butter does but adds richness and just enough moisture to keep things tender without going soggy.
Keep everything cold. The dough chills for an hour after mixing, and that hour matters. Cold fat creates steam pockets in the oven that puff the layers, while warm fat just melts and flattens. If your kitchen runs warm, chill the rolled-out dough for 10 minutes before assembling.
Don’t overstuff. A rounded teaspoon per square sounds stingy but it’s exactly right. More filling and the turnovers blow open in the oven and bleed apple juice all over the pan.
Seal the edges with a fork dipped in flour to prevent sticking, and cut two small steam slits on top so the filling doesn’t burst through the seams.
Pro Tips
- Use a tart baking apple like Granny Smith or Honeycrisp. Soft eating apples (Red Delicious, Gala) turn to mush in the oven.
- Brush the tops with milk or beaten egg before baking for a glossy, golden finish.
- Let the turnovers cool 10 minutes before dusting with powdered sugar or it melts on contact.
Variations
- Swap the apple filling for fresh peaches or pears in season.
- Add 2 tablespoons of chopped toasted walnuts or pecans to the apple mixture for crunch.
- Drizzle cooled turnovers with a simple lemon glaze (powdered sugar plus lemon juice) for extra tang.
Ingredients
Directions
Measure flour and salt into a bowl.
Cut in margarine and cream cheese with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Mix with hands until dough forms a ball.
Chill 1 hour.
On lightly floured board roll chilled dough to 12×16 inch rectangle.
Cut into twelve 4 inch squares.
Combine apples, sugar, cinnamon and nugmeg; mix well.
Place 1 rounded teaspoonful of apple mixture in center of each square.
Moisten 2 adjacent sides of each equare and fold to form triangles; seal edges with tines of fork.
Cut 2 small slits in top of each turnover.
Place on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake at 400 about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Remove from baking sheets and cool on wire racks.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
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