These Apple Turnovers with Phyllo Dough, also known as filo pastry, are flaky, buttery and stuffed with apple pie filling. They are the perfect Fall dessert, and great for Holidays. Ready in less than an hour!
These apple filled turnovers are the most delicious treat. I served them after dinner and they were gone! They have a flaky crunch, and a mix of savory & sweet from the buttery pastry dough and sweet apple filling. For the full experience, serve them warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
If you love Apple desserts, don't forget to try my Apple Pie with Graham Cracker Crust, Apple Pie Cinnamon Rolls and Mini Apple Pies in a Muffin Tin.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe:
- They're sweet, savory with a slight crunch
- These are nice and light because of the thin phyllo dough layers
- Ready in less than an hour
- Great for apple season and the holidays
Love Phyllo Dough recipes? Try my Baked Brie with fig jam too!
Ingredients for Apple Turnovers with Phyllo Pastry Dough:
Apples- This recipe calls for 3 medium sized apples and I like using a combination of sweet apples, like pink ladies or Honeycrisp, and one tart Granny Smith. The apples are turned into an apple pie filling with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Try my Apple Strudel with Puff Pastry too.
Lemon Juice- used to keep the peeled and chopped apples from turning brown.
Phyllo Dough- Paper thin sheets of dough stacked together with melted butter brushed between each layer. The final product is buttery and flaky perfection.
Cornstarch-Combined with water to create a cornstarch slurry that thickens the apple filling. This keeps juices from leaking out of the phyllo dough.
Powdered Sugar and Caramel-Optional toppings for the turnovers. I also highly recommend a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
See recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions and Variations:
- For the apple varieties, feel free to use any of your favorites.
- If you want more spices, add in ⅛ teaspoon of cloves or ground ginger.
How to Make Apple Turnovers with Phyllo Dough:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium low heat on the stovetop. Turn off heat once melted and transfer 3 tablespoons into a bowl and leave 1 tablespoon in the skillet.
Step 2: Peel the apples and dice into small pieces. Transfer to a bowl and pour in lemon juice. Toss the apples to distribute the lemon juice evenly.
Step 3: Turn the large skillet to medium low heat again and add in the apples, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir with a spoon to combine. Cook for 5-6 minutes until the apples are softened a bit.
Step 4: Whisk the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water until no chunks remain and pour into the apple filling. Stir to combine and continue to cook for 2 minutes.
Step 5: After two minutes the juices should be thick like a sauce. Turn off the heat and allow the apples to sit and cool.
Step 6: Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat. Unwrap the phyllo dough sheets and place one sheet over parchment paper on the countertop. Brush the sheet with butter, then cover with another layer of dough. Repeat two more times, to have 4 layers of dough. (You will do this step 3 times to create 6 turnovers)
Step 7: With a pizza cutter or sharp knife, when you are looking at the rectangle, slice it in half into 2 smaller rectangles.
Step 8: Add about 2 tablespoons of filling into the top left area of the dough.
Step 8: Fold the leftover side of dough over the filling. Then, take the top filling half and fold it towards you. Fold the excess on the right side over the top of the turnover. Finally, fold the extra dough under the filling on top of it. Place this side down on the cookie sheet.
Step 9: Brush with melted butter. Bake for 15 minutes.
Step 10: Allow the turnovers to cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
Step 11: Serve warm. Optional: Top with powdered sugar and caramel. Vanilla ice cream is tasty with these turnovers too.
Expert Tips:
- The cornstarch needs to be mixed with water before adding it to the filling to avoid white chunks of powder throughout the apples.
- Follow the directions for folding the filo pastry closely to avoid the filling from leaking out and do not overfill each turnover.
For more Fall sweets, try my Pumpkin Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting, Apple Blackberry Crumble, and Biscoff Cheesecake.
Recipe FAQs:
No. Puff pastry is much thicker dough and bakes into a puffy layer. Phyllo dough or filo pastry, is paper thin, stacked into layers with melted butter in between layers, and doesn't rise much in the oven. Filo dough is much more delicate to work with too.
Phyllo dough is brushed with melted butter in between layers. Make sure it is fully melted before brushing on, so it doesn't tear the sheets of phyllo.
It's really important to follow the step by step instructions listed to avoid all the apple filling from baking out of the turnover. The folding method is necessary and pretty easy once you do a few.
Allow the turnovers to come to room temperature. Then, store in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 2 days. Reheat in the oven at 350 degrees until warm, 5 to 8 minutes. Enjoy!
Pair this dessert with a cold brew coffee with Pumpkin Cold Foam for the ultimate Fall vibes!
More Holiday Desserts You Will Love:
If you tried this Apple Turnover Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
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Apple Turnovers with Phyllo Dough
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 turnovers 1x
Description
These Apple Turnovers with Phyllo Dough, also known as filo pastry, are flaky, buttery and stuffed with apple pie filling. They are the perfect Fall dessert, and great for Holidays. Ready in less than an hour!
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 3 medium apples, (prefer to have 2 sweet, honey crisp or pink ladies and 1 tart granny smith)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup packed brown sugar
- ⅛ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch + 1 tablespoon water
- 1 package of Phyllo dough (12 sheets needed), completely thawed and no longer frozen
- Optional: ⅓ cup of powdered sugar and Caramel for topping and/or vanilla ice cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium low heat on the stovetop. Turn off heat once melted and transfer 3 tablespoons into a bowl and leave 1 tablespoon in the skillet.
- Peel the apples and dice into small ½ inch thin pieces. Transfer to a bowl and pour in lemon juice. Toss the apples to distribute the lemon juice evenly.
- Turn the large skillet to medium low heat again and add in the apples, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir with a spoon to combine. Cook for 5-6 minutes until the apples are softened a bit.
- Whisk the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water until no chunks remain and pour into the apple filling. Stir to combine and continue to cook for 2 minutes.
- After two minutes the juices should be thick like a sauce. Turn off the heat and allow the apples to sit and cool.
- Prepare a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat. Unwrap the phyllo dough sheets and place one sheet over parchment paper on the countertop. Brush the sheet with butter, then cover with another layer of dough. Repeat two more times, to have 4 layers of dough. (You will do this step 3 times to create 6 turnovers)
- With a pizza cutter or sharp knife, when you are looking at the rectangle, slice it in half into 2 smaller rectangles.
- Add a few tablespoons of filling into the top left area of the dough.
- Fold the leftover side of dough over the filling. Then, take the top filling half and fold it towards you. Fold the excess on the right side over the top of the turnover. Finally, fold the extra dough under the filling on top of it. Place this side down on the cookie sheet. (See photo in instructions for visual or watch video)
- Brush with melted butter. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Allow the turnovers to cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Serve warm. Optional: Top with powdered sugar and caramel. Vanilla ice cream is tasty with these turnovers too.
Notes
- The cornstarch needs to be mixed with water before adding it to the filling to avoid white chunks of powder throughout the apples.
- Follow the directions for folding the filo pastry closely to avoid the filling from leaking out and do not overfill each turnover.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: dessert
- Method: bake
- Cuisine: French
Sherry Lynn
Hi Tara, I walked through this recipe with you from start to finish. I didn't know how cornstarch worked and never used Phyllo dough. OMG, I had fun. Learned a lot too. I like that I can follow along with you on your videos. That makes everything super easy. We did just what you did, we ate all of them within 2 days. The caramel and powered sugar put them over the top. Thank you, love your videos and recipes.
Tara Smithson
Yay! Thanks Sherry. I'm so glad you are learning so much. I absolutely love this recipe too..you're so right about the caramel and powdered sugar! Thanks so much for watching the videos and making so many recipes!
George
These are incredible! I love the flaky dough and super light too! Yum!
Tara Smithson
I'm obsessed with these too. Thank you so much for the review! Maybe I'll make another batch this weekend:)