Enjoy apple pie the easy way with these Vegan Apple Turnovers! Made with a flaky, puff pastry crust and soft cinnamon and sugar apple center, these turnovers will be gobbled up by your friends and family in no time!
While I’ll almost always choose chocolate over a fruity dessert, there is something so amazing about apple desserts!
I think apple desserts just bring me back to our family Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners when my mom would almost always server her family apple pie for dessert.
If you too love apple desserts, be sure to make these apple turnovers and also check out my Vegan Apple Crisp and Vegan Apple Cake with Maple Glaze!
What are apple turnovers?
Apple turnovers are basically apple pies, but in portable form. Turnovers in general are made with a puff pastry “crust, which provides as light, airy and flaky exterior. While I’m sharing an apple turnover recipe today, the filling for turnovers can really be whatever you want, including both sweet or savory. Common sweet fillings are fruits such as apple, cherries or blueberries and savory fillings can range from hearty meats to flavorful vegetables.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I wanted to share an easier way to have apple pie at all your holiday festivities. Apple pie was always my favorite holiday dessert as a kid, and it still is! My mom would make quite a few pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas and her sour cream apple pie was always one of the options at the dessert table. Now as an adult I’ve realized how much time and effort my mom put into making a pie like that. These easy vegan apple turnovers are the perfect solution for those of you who, like me, love apple pie but don’t have as much time to put into a double-crust-made-from-scratch-homemade-apple-pie. (One day we won’t be traveling around the holidays and I’ll feel up for veganizing her classic apple pie…one day!) Combining store-bought and homemade techniques, these apple turnovers come together in minutes, while still satisfying all your apple pie cravings.
How to make apple turnovers
These apple turnovers really are so easy to make. Thanks to store-bought puff pastry, you don’t have to deal with making your own crust. For the filling, you simply sauté sliced granny smith apples in a little vegan butter until soft, using brown sugar and cinnamon to sweeten and flavor them. Once soft, you’ll add in some cornstarch to thicken the apples. To assemble you just place some of the sautéed apples into the middle of a square piece of puff pastry, fold the square over the apples to form a triangle, and seal the edges with a fork (see photos). All that’s left to do is to bake the turnovers until puffed, golden and flaky and drizzle them with a simple glaze. Done and done!
I’d love to know if you give these easy vegan apple turnovers a try and what you think! As you can see from the photo above, Harper (and Brett and I!) are quite fond of these flaky, portable apple pies. I’ll definitely be making these again for our friends this Christmas!
If you make these vegan apple turnovers, please let me know your thoughts in the comments below. If you enjoy them as much as we do, please leave a 5 star rating (found in the recipe card) and share the recipe with your friends and family! I also love to see photos of your creations on Instagram so be sure to take a picture and tag @theconscientiouseater!
Easy Vegan Apple Turnovers
Made with a flaky, puff pastry crust and a sweet apple center, these easy vegan apple turnovers will be gobbled up in no time this holiday season!
Ingredients
- 1 package vegan puff pastry*
- 4 cups water
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 4 Granny Smith apples, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons vegan butter
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
Sugar Glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1-2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400F/200C and line 1-2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Remove your puff pastry from the freezer and allow it to thaw until pliable.
- Fill a large bowl with 4 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and place the apples in the lemon water as you slice them so that they don't brown.
- Once all your apples have been sliced, heat two tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Drain the water from the apples and add the sliced apples to the skillet. Sauté the apples for about 2 minutes until starting to soften. Stir in the brown sugar and cinnamon and continue to cook down the apples until soft.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the tablespoon of cornstarch and the tablespoon of water until smooth. Pour the mixture over the apples and stir until thickened. Remove the apples from the heat and allow them to cool for a few minutes.
- Unfold the puff pastry and, if not already cut into squares, trim the pastry into squares. You may need to press together any puff pastry that has cracks. Spoon some of the cinnamon apples onto the center of each square, fold the square in half to form a triangle, and press the edges together with a fork (see photos).
- Place the turnovers onto your prepared baking sheet, leaving about 1 inch between each turnover, and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until starting to turn golden brown. Allow the turnovers to cool completely before drizzling with the glaze.
- To make the sugar glaze, simply whisk 1 tablespoon of non-dairy milk into the powdered sugar. Add more milk as needed 1 teaspoon at a time until it reaches the consistency you desire. Drizzle the glaze over the turnovers.
Notes
*I found puff pastry that was already cut into squares, but your puff pastry may come in a larger rectangle.
These turnovers taste best straight out of the oven. However, leftovers can be stored for about 1-2 days in an airtight container.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 104Total Fat 3gSaturated Fat 1gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 1gCholesterol 5mgSodium 29mgCarbohydrates 19gNet Carbohydrates 0gFiber 1gSugar 16gSugar Alcohols 0gProtein 0g
Daniel Trisker says
How can this recipe have cholesterol – it is vegan?