Apple Turnovers

Filling

• 3 cups Firm baking apples, peeled and diced small — Granny Smith or Honeycrisp
• 2 tbsp Butter
• 1/3 cup Brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp Ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp Cornstarch
• 1 tsp Lemon juice

Pastry

• 1 lb Rough puff pastry or store-bought puff pastry

Finish

• 1 Egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp Coarse sugar

Filling

1. Cook the apples, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice over medium heat, stirring, until the apples soften and most of the liquid cooks off.
2. Stir the cornstarch into a spoonful of the hot liquid to dissolve it, then stir back into the pan and cook another minute until thickened.
3. Spread on a plate and cool completely. (Tip: Warm filling melts the pastry's butter layers on contact. It needs to be fully cool, not just off the stove.)

Shape

1. Roll the pastry out and cut into 8 squares, about 4 inches each. Spoon filling onto one half of each square, fold the other half over into a triangle, and crimp the edges with a fork to seal.

Bake

1. Transfer to a lined sheet, cut 2–3 small vents in the top of each, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with coarse sugar if using. (Tip: The vents give the small amount of remaining steam a controlled way out — without them it finds its own way, usually by bursting a seam.)
2. Bake at 200°C (400°F) until deeply golden and puffed.