Make apple turnovers of course! I’d some apples leftover from an attempt at making apple pancakes one weekend. On my next trip to the supermarket, I picked up a roll of ready made puff pastry with the intention of using it with the apples for a quick and tasty treat.

While browsing through food sites and blogs looking for a simple apple based recipe using puff pastry, I came across Molly Wizenberg’s ‘Chausson aux pommes’ or French apple turnovers recipe on the ‘Bon Appetit’ magazine website. I found the recipe very simple and easy to follow. In fact, I don’t think I even need to look at the printout the next time round.

I feel that weekends deserve something special for breakfast after the mad rush during the week. It’s a time to slow down and savour every moment of leisure. There’s nothing better to help you do this than warm pastries fresh from the oven and a steaming cup of coffee.

These apple turnovers don’t take up too much time especially if you prepare the apple filling a day or two in advance. All that’s left to do then in the morning is to prepare the pastry squares, fill them with the stuffing and bake them. What you get are turnovers that are way superior than store bought ones in freshness and taste.  It’s also a good way to use any left over apples though I must admit that I had to buy additional green apples to follow the recipe 😉

Apple Turnovers (original recipe by Molly Wizenberg on www.bonappetit.com)

Ingredients

1 red apple (golden delicious)

1 green apple (preferably granny smith)

100ml water

3 tbsp sugar + extra for dusting

a squeeze of fresh lemon juice

1 egg beaten for the glaze

1 pack ready rolled puff pastry – I used ‘Tesco’ brand 375g puff pastry

This made six good sized turnovers.

Method

For the filling – Peel, core and slice apples into small pieces. Put them into a saucepan. Add the water, sugar and lemon juice. Place over medium heat, stir to dissolve sugar and bring it to a boil. Lower heat to medium low, cover the pan and let it simmer for about 15 minutes or so to let the apples soften. I had to drain excess liquid from the pan after this process to avoid the filling from getting too mushy. Break up the apple pieces using a wooden spoon or fork leaving it a bit chunky. Let it cool.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade. Line 2 baking sheets.

Lay out the puff pastry sheet onto a lightly floured surface. Roll it out until it’s a nice and big square. The original recipe asks for a 15-inch square to be cut into nine 5-inch squares. I just rolled out the puff pastry until it had a square shape and cut out as many squares as I could. I ended up with six equal sized ones at the end.

After cutting a square, place about 2 tablespoons of the filling in the centre. Brush the edges of the square with the beaten egg. Fold the pastry over to form a triangle enclosing the filling and pinch the edges together to seal it. Brush the surface with the egg. Sprinkle some sugar on top. Make 3 slits in the middle of the pastry. Repeat the process with all the other squares.

I tried to speed up the process by first cutting out the square, filling it and sealing it. I then lay all the squares on the baking sheets and brushed all of them with the egg, sprinkled the sugar and made the slits.

Place one baking sheet in the upper half of the oven and the second one in the lower half and bake for 15 minutes. Lower the heat to 180 degrees Centigrade, switch the positions of the sheets and bake for another 15 minutes. Take out from the oven and let it cool a bit before serving.

Enjoy these golden parcels of pastry enclosing warm sweet and tart apples with your morning cuppa on a lazy morning. You couldn’t ask for a better start to your weekend 😉