Apple Turnovers (ATK)

• servings: 8

Ingredients

3-4 Granny Smith apples, peeled

¼ cup (1¾ ounces) plus 2 tablespoons sugar

⅛ teaspoon salt

2 (9½ by 9-inch) sheets puff pastry, thawed

½ cup apple butter

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Grate apples on large holes of box grater set inside bowl until you have 3 cups shredded apples. Add ¼ cup sugar and salt to apples and stir to thoroughly combine. Let sit for 5 minutes.

2. Unfold puff pastry sheets onto lightly floured counter and roll each into 10-inch square. Cut each sheet into four 5-inch squares.

3. Drain apples in fine-mesh strainer set over bowl and press gently with rubber spatula to extract about ⅓ cup juice (do not extract more than ⅓ cup juice or volume of apples will decrease too much). Set aside juice.

4. Transfer apples to now-empty bowl. Add apple butter to apples and stir to combine. Mound 3 level tablespoons of apple mixture in center of each dough square. Brush edges of each dough square with some of reserved juice. Fold each square from corner to corner, forming triangle. Cup your hands around apple mixture and gently press on dough triangle to seal. Using tines of fork, crimp outer ½-inch edge of each triangle. Using tip of paring knife, cut two 1-inch slits in center of each triangle. Place turnovers on 2 large plates and freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.

5. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine cinnamon and remain- ing 2 tablespoons sugar in bowl. With turnovers still on plates, brush tops of turnovers with remaining reserved juice and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Transfer turnovers to prepared sheet and bake until well browned, 22 to 24 minutes. Let turnovers cool on wire rack for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

We prefer Granny Smith apples here, but other apple varieties can be used. To thaw frozen puff pastry, let it sit either in the refrigerator for 24 hours or on the counter for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

TO MAKE AHEAD At end of step 4, transfer turnovers to zipper-lock bag and freeze for up to 1 month. Freeze juice separately. When ready to bake, thaw juice completely, then proceed with recipe from step 5 (do not thaw turnovers-baking time will not change).

Avoiding Explosions We want the tasty filling in our mouths, not on the baking sheet (above). To avoid exploding turnovers, gently cup the filling to center it within the pastry (below). This technique helps prevent leakage.