Homemade Appelflappen, those Dutch puff pastry apple turnovers, are one of the most famous pastries in the Netherlands. Crispy sugared puff pastry filled with a mix of a warm and delicious apple filling with cinnamon and raisins. So easy to prepare and tasteful. This is a crowd-pleaser for sure!
Appelflappen (Dutch Apple Turnovers)
Appelflappen is a traditional pastry in the Netherlands and is a hand pie. You can buy them at our bakeries, local stores, and supermarket. But most Dutch people prepare these sweet treats themselves because they are so easy to prepare.
A Dutch Turnover is a puff pastry sheet folded into a triangle. It’s filled with apples and cinnamon, with the addition of currants (or raisins) or almond paste. This is quite the same as an apple pie filling. The pastry is given an egg wash, and some (cinnamon) sugar is sprinkled on top. This delicious treat with a sweet apple filling is baked in the oven until it’s golden brown and hot. (so watch out when taking the first bite, make sure it’s cooled a bit; otherwise, you will burn your mouth).
Sometimes it’s thought that appel beignets (Dutch Apple Doughnuts) are the same, but there’s a lot of difference. An appelbeignet is a piece of apple covered with a batter and deep-fried. And the doughnuts are eaten on New Year’s Eve. On the other hand, appelflappen are eaten whole year-round, not only in the apple season. So let’s start making this easy apple turnover recipe!
What do you need for homemade apple turnovers?
To prepare these Dutch appelflappen, you need the following ingredients. You can find the correct amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog:
- Apples - The apples are peeled and sliced into cubes. Suitable apples are Elstar, Jonagold, golden delicious, or Cox. It is better not to use a golden reinette, pippin (or any other stewing apple). The texture is less tasty after baking.
- Puff pastry - This recipe uses slices of butter puff pastry, which will make a flaky crust. The sheets are 4 x 4 inches (10 x 10 cm). You could use fresh or frozen puff pastry. Make sure to thaw before use. If the pastry dough is larger, use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to adjust the size and make small pieces. You’ll need six sheets of puff pastry.
- Egg - used for an egg wash. It ensures the puff pastry will bake golden brown, and the sugar will stick to the apple turnovers.
- Sugar and cinnamon - sweeten the apple turnovers and are used for sprinkling on top of the puff pastry. Instead of cinnamon, you could use apple pie spice instead.
- Raisins - part of the filling of the apple turnovers. If you don’t like raisins, you can omit them, but I like them as part of the appelflappen filling.
How to prepare Apple Cinnamon Turnovers
You can find a printable recipe with a step-by-step description at the bottom of this blog.
- Mix the sugar, cinnamon, apple cubes, and raisins in a bowl.
- Place a sheet of puff pastry on your work surface and add two tablespoons of filling on one corner of the puff pastry (keep ½ inch, 1 cm out of the sides).
- Fold the dough in half and press the sides with a fork, so they’ll stick together. Place the unbaked turnover on the baking tray.
- Give the puff pastry turnovers an egg wash with a pastry brush and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top of the turnovers. Bake at 390 °F (200 °C) for 20 minutes until they’re golden brown.
When serving, make sure to cool the hot apple turnovers a bit because the cooked apples are hot, and you could burn the inside of your mouth.
Substitutes
- You can substitute apple by pear for pear turnovers.
- You can substitute raisins with small cut sizes of apricot, for a tropical hint.
Delicious with
- Add 1 tablespoon of finely chopped walnut for a bite.
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Appelflappen (Dutch Apple Turnovers)
Equipment
Ingredients
Apple turnover filling
- 1 apple sweet
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons raisins
- 6 sheets puff pastry thawed, 4 x 4 inches, 10 x 10 cm
Topping
- 1 egg size S, beaten
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
Ingredients you need per step are listed below the step in Italic
Instructions
Apple turnover filling
- Preheat the oven to 390 °F (200 °C).
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Peel the apple, remove the core and cut into small cubes.1 apple
- Mix with the sugar, cinnamon and raisins.2 tablespoons sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 tablespoons raisins
- Place a sheet of puff pastry in front of you and put two tablespoons of apple mixture in a corner. Keep ½ inch (1 cm) out of the side.6 sheets puff pastry
- Fold the dough in half (triangle shape).
- Press the sides of the dough with a fork so it’s closed.
- Place the apple turnover on the baking tray. Repeat until all sheets are done.
Apple turnover topping
- Brush the apple turnover with beaten egg.1 egg
- Mix in a small bowl the cinnamon and coarse sugar. Sprinkle that sugar mix on top.1 tablespoon sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- Repeat for all the pastry sheets.
- Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.
Notes
- Freeze before baking - You can freeze the apple turnovers before you bake them in the oven. Wrap each apple turnover individually in plastic foil and put it in a freezer bag or box. Freeze for a maximum of 2 weeks. Don’t thaw them before baking, but bake them for an extra 5 minutes.
- Room temperature - You can store the apple turnovers after baking for one day at room temperature in a paper bag or airtight container. They’re even better when they are warmed just before eating them.
- Refrigerator - Don’t store them in the fridge. Because of the humidity, the structure will change, and that’s not delicious
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