Easy Apple Turnovers

Apples could quite possibly be the perfect fruit of the Fall! No wonder Eve was tempted. I should have posted these recipes in October, but in Dallas it just started feeling like Fall. I suppose I am a product of my environment. Smelling the buttery pastry baking is like heaven. A fire in the fireplace, your favorite sweater and warm apples in your belly! YUM YUM
Puff Pastry 1 recipe below, or for the terminally lazy, 2 boxes of
Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets. You can brush finished turnovers with an egg wash and top with large crystal sugar or I like to top them with an almond glaze.
2 Granny Smith apples diced
2 McIntosh apples diced
2 T butter
1 T apple cider vinegar
3 T sugar
1 t cinnamon (Chinese Cassia)
1 tube almond paste


Quick Puff Pastry
1 pound flour
1 pound cold unsalted butter
1/4 ounce salt (dissolve in the water)
8 ounces ice-cold water
Place flour in mixing bowl. Cut the butter, which should be firm, but not hard, into 1 inch pieces. Mix butter & flour on low/med. speed until you have walnut/pea sized lumps. Add water mixture to four mixture and mix only until dough can be handled. There should be lumps of butter. Shape into a square and rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Roll the dough to 1/2 inch thick into a rectangle. Give the dough three 4 fold turns, turning the dough 90 degrees after each fold before rolling back to 1/2 thickness. ( A 4 fold turn means you will fold the outer edges in to meet in the middle, also known as a book fold.)

To assemble the turnovers . . . Saute apples in butter in a skillet over medium heat, 2-3 minutes until they begin to soften. Add vinegar to pan, cook until evaporated, then add the sugar and cook until it dissolves. Remove pan from heat and stir in cinnamon. Set the apples aside to cool, roll out pastry to desired size. I like to cut mine in approximately 3X3 inch squares for a 3 bite turnovers. Pinch off about 1/2 tsp. amount of almond paste to place in the center of each turnover. Prepare a small bowl with water to seal your turnovers. You are ready for assembly. Add cooled apple filling to the center on top of almond paste, dipping your finger in the water bowl, line each edge of turnover with water then fold top left corner to meet the bottom right corner to form a triangle. Press to seal the edges and twist dough to seal or use the end of a fork, pressing edges to seal tightly. You can re-chill finished turnovers and bake, but I like to flash freeze them on the baking sheet and once frozen place them in a freezer zip-top bag to bake on a whim. (I love being able to take a few out of the freezer and bake when ever we want a sweet treat.) Prior to freezing you can brush with water or egg wash and top with sugar if desired.
Bake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, place turnovers straight from the freezer on to a parchment lined baking sheet and bake until golden brown. Approximately 12-15 minutes. If you are baking more than one pan, rotate half way through cooking.

Almond Glaze
1 C powdered sugar
1 T. melted butter
1/2 tsp. almond extract
Warm Water 1 Tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency. I always just "eyeball" this part. Add melted butter and extract to sugar, then stir in warm water. Drizzle over warm turnovers.