This easy Apple Turnover recipe is filled with apples, cinnamon, and golden raisins and made with a phyllo dough crust. It’s the perfect light fall dessert or breakfast!
Apple Turnovers
You will love this low-calorie dessert if you’re going apple picking and need some apple recipes. Using phyllo dough sheets makes the best light crust for apple turnovers with minimal effort, and you can easily double or triple the recipe to serve a crowd. For more apple recipes, try my apple bread, homemade applesauce, and this delicious apple butter.
Apple Turnovers Ingredients
- Apples: Peel, core, and chop one pound of Gala apples.
- Raisins: I used golden raisins, which are a little sweeter and moister than regular raisins.
- Cinnamon for a warm fall flavor
- Salt: I like Diamond Crystal kosher salt. If you use table salt, use 1/8 of a teaspoon.
- Sweetener: Use two tablespoons of brown sugar, or if you want to reduce the added sugar, try brown monk fruit.
- Cornstarch thickens the apple mixture to prevent the turnovers from getting soggy.
- Phyllo Dough: Thaw eight sheets of phyllo dough.
- Olive Oil Spray moistens the phyllo dough and helps the turnovers turn golden when baked.
- Powdered Sugar to sprinkle on the pastries before serving
How to Make Apple Turnovers
- Apple Turnover Filling: Put the apples, raisins, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes until the apples are just beginning to soften.
- Cornstarch: Stir the cornstarch into the apples.
- Cut Phyllo Dough: Take the phyllo out of the package and cover it with a damp kitchen towel. Put one sheet of dough on your cutting board and spray lightly with oil. Top with another sheet and spray again. Cut the phyllo in half, long ways, so you have two stacks of long, narrow strips.
- Fill and Fold the Turnovers: Put three tablespoons of apple filling at one end of each stack. Fold one corner up and over the filling to enclose it in a triangle, and continue folding the triangle over itself until you reach the other end. Spray the top lightly with oil, and transfer the turnover seam- side down to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat with the other phyllo stack, and then repeat with the remaining dough and filling.
- Bake at 375°F for 30 to 32 minutes until the phyllo is golden and crispy.
- Serve: Let the turnovers cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes. Then, dust with powdered sugar before eating.
Variations
- Apples: Swap Galas with Honeycrisp apples.
- Raisins: Substitute regular brown raisins with golden ones.
- Reduced Sugar: If you are watching added sugar, omit the powdered sugar.
- Double or triple the apple turnover recipe if you’re serving these at a party.
FAQs
Apple pies and turnovers have similar apple fillings, but the crust and baking dish differ. Turnovers are made with phyllo or puff pastry and are a small, handheld dessert baked on a sheet pan. Apple pies use pie dough and are baked in a large pie dish.
I used phyllo dough for these light apple turnovers. Typically, apple turnover recipes call for puff pastry.
Puff pastry gets its puffy layers from lots of butter, while phyllo dough is lighter, thinner, and flakier and uses a little oil and no butter.
If you’re serving these apple turnovers for a party, here’s what you can do in advance:
Make the filling a day ahead. You could also bake them up to a day early and warm them in the oven for five minutes before serving.
Storage
Store apple turnovers at room temperature for one day or in the refrigerator for 5 days. Let them cool completely before placing them in an airtight container to avoid getting soggy.
Freezer
You can also freeze apple turnovers for up to three months. To reheat, thaw them in the fridge and warm them in the microwave or toaster oven. If you don’t have time to thaw the pastries, heat them up from frozen until heated through.
More Apple Recipes You’ll Love
- Whole-Grain Apple Nut Muffins
- Cinnamon Apple Crisp
- Apple Cobbler
- Apple Cranberry Crumble
- Baked Apples
Apple Turnover Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound gala apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (from 3 large)
- 3 tablespoons golden raisins
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 8 13 X 9 inch sheets phyllo dough, thawed
- olive oil spray
- powdered sugar, for serving
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a nonstick skillet over medium heat, cook the apples, raisins, sugar, cinnamon, and salt, covered until the apples are just beginning to soften, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Mix the cornstarch into the apples and stir to evenly coat.
- Take the phyllo dough out of the packaging and keep covered with a damp kitchen towel.
- Put one sheet of phyllo dough on your cutting board and spray lightly with oil. Top with another sheet and spray again. Halve the long way so you have two stacks of long, narrow strips.
- Put 3 tablespoons of the apple filling at one end of a stack. Fold one corner up and over the filling to enclose it in a triangle. Continue folding the triangle over itself (like how you fold a flag) until you reach the other end. Spray the top lightly with oil, then transfer the turnover to the baking sheet, with the seam side down. Repeat with the other stack, then repeat with the remaining phyllo and filling.
- Bake until the phyllo is golden and crisp, about 30 to 32 minutes.
- Let cool for at least 10 minutes on the baking sheet, then dust with powdered sugar before serving.
