These gluten free apple turnovers are the perfect little handheld pockets of flaky pastry filled with apples and drizzled with sweet icing.
I never thought I'd be eating an apple turnover again in my life. But stranger things have happened, like eating a gluten free croissant!! And ever since THAT dream came true, I kinda knew that all the other foodie dreams would follow.
What's the Best Pastry for Making Gluten Free Apple Turnovers?
Believe it or not, there are actually a few gluten free options to use when making these apple turnovers. The first, my favorite, is my own glorious gluten free puff pastry. It's the ultimate in buttery flakiness and it's beyond easy to make.
Buuuuuuut, as I know some of you aren't ready to take the puff pastry plunge yet, you can always use my best ever gluten free pie crust. It's even easier to make, but still very flaky and tastes just as good!
Still, if you're not into making the pastry on your own, the third choice is to buy pre-made gluten free puff pastry. I think these products are subpar to the homemade stuff, mainly because not a single one of them contains actual butter. However, they will work if you're feeling lazy or just don't want to make your own puff pastry.
What's the Best Apple Varieties to Use?
If you've made any of my other cooked apple recipes, you know the apples I always recommend are Rome. My grandma swore by Rome apples for anything baked because they soften so well. The rest of the world constantly recommends Granny Smith apples for baking. And I have to be honest, I'm forever baffled by this recommendation. And by the fact that they never once mention Rome apples.
Maybe when everyone else bites into an apple turnover, they want apples that still have the crunch factor. But not me. When I bite into a pastry pocket full of apples, the only crunch I want is from the flaky crust! Call me crazy, but I like my apples nice and soft and Rome apples deliver.
IF, however, you can't find Rome apples, the next best ones are Jonagold, Jonathan, Ginger Gold, or even Golden Delicious. We don't need to cook our apples to death so they turn into applesauce. But we also want the softness in the apples that are the best part (IMO) of baking them!
Making Ahead
I love a great make ahead recipe, especially around the holidays! Anything I can get done earlier when everything else is a mad dash gets a two thumbs up from me!!
I'm gonna refer back to my gluten free apple pie post for this genius trick I learned. Prepping the apple filling and putting it in the freezer is such a wonderful trick. I use it every Rome apple season to preserve the apples I love so much.
This filling can be cooked first and then refrigerated OR frozen ahead of time. This makes it easier on baking day. But you can also make the turnovers to the point right before baking and freeze those until ready to bake. Just place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until solid. Then store them in a ziptop bag until ready to bake. You can bake them right from frozen, adding just a few minutes to the baking time.
Other Apple Recipes to Try
- Amazing Gluten Free Apple Pie
- Gluten Free Apple Crumb Pie
- Gluten Free Apple Dumplings
- Gluten Free Apple Cheesecake Bars
- Delicious Gluten Free Apple Fritters
- Gluten Free Apple Bundt Cake
Thought you'd never see an apple turnover again? Think again! These gluten free apple turnovers are all what we remember minus the gluten.
Gluten Free Apple Turnovers
Ingredients
- 3 large apples, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoon butter
- ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (50 g) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ cup water
- ½ recipe Glorious Gluten Free Puff Pastry
- or Best Ever Gluten Free Pie Crust
- or one package store bought gluten free puff pastry
- 1 large egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water and a pinch of salt for the egg wash
Glaze
- 1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoon heavy cream or whole milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat and add diced apples, sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until apples are soft. Make a slurry with cornstarch and water and add to the apple mixture. Cook for a few more minutes until thickened.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. The apple mixture can be refrigerated for a few days before using.
- Cut the dough in half and refrigerate the other half until ready. Roll half the dough into a 10 by 10-inch square and then cut that into four equal squares that are 5 by 5 inches in size.
- Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the filling a little over the center of each square. Brush the borders of each square with the egg wash and fold the squares in half to meet the other side. Press gently to seal. Take a fork dipped in flour and crimp all along the two edges that were folded over.
- Place the turnovers on a parchment-lined baking sheet and chill them for at least 30 minutes while you work on the other half.
- Preheat the oven to 400° F. Brush the turnovers with the egg wash and vent on the tops of each with a sharp knife.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Mix all glaze ingredients and drizzle over the turnovers. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Rinn says
This recipe is awesome, and everyone loved it better than the gluttonous counterpart. Really, you can use this and put any filling in it, still turns out very good!
Let me save you the trouble of the math on this. I don't like making the various bread mixes for each blogger's recipes because you will waste some inevitably & it's expensive so I prefer to write down the exact amounts needed per recipe. I used a whole recipe of the puff pastry rather than a half, and came up with 8 pastries vs 16. Maybe I rolled it thicker, idk. Either way, you can freeze them if you end up with too many, you'll want more. :p I've made these a few times with these measurements and they consistently come out great. Thank you for sharing! Literal only complaint is the having to look at three different recipes for one.
1 cup of Kim's GF Bread flour is this:
57 grams potato starch
50 grams superfine white rice flour
15 grams tapioca starch
15 grams whey protein isolate
3 grams xanthan gum
3 cups for turnover recipe (8 turnovers):
171 grams potato starch
150 grams superfine white rice flour
45 grams tapioca starch
45 grams whey protein isolate
9 grams xanthan gum
(16 turnovers)
342 grams potato starch
300 grams superfine white rice flour
90 grams tapioca starch
90 grams whey protein isolate
18 grams xanthan gum
Jasmine says
These were incredible. I wanted to make these and I just loved them! So easy and so quick!
Kim says
Thanks, Jasmine! So glad you liked them 🙂
Melissa says
Baking at 7100’ turnovers turned out delicious though dough turned out more like biscuit texture.
Kim says
Oh no! I had another reader say something about baking at higher temperatures for high altitude. I wish I knew how to convert to high altitude baking, but I've only ever lived at sea level so I'm clueless. Check Google for things you might be able to do to have success.
Chani says
These are the MOST incredible thing ever!! I just ate one, and already am making more!!! You're amazing, THEY'RE amazing!! Thank you!!!
Kim says
Awe, thank you so much! You're too kind 😍