Cherry Turnovers
The combination of buttery, flaky pastry filled with sweet cherry filling, simply cant be beat. The dough is only 4 ingredients, with the texture of puff pastry, but much easier to make!
Why you’ll love this recipe
The dough is very similar to puff pastry, but simplified. If you have ever made puff pastry, you know how time consuming it is. This dough is only 4 ingredients, and just creamed together. It contains so much fat, that it naturally coats the gluten that forms and creates its own layers when it bakes.
You can also use frozen cherries to save some time if you don’t feel like pitting fresh cherries.
These cherry turnovers can be made and assembled ahead of time. They can be baked straight from the fridge or freezer.
How to make this recipe perfectly?
Chill your dough after it is rolled. This will make it much easier to cut and work with the dough.
A few things you can do to prevent your turnovers from leaking is
Tightly crimp the edges with a fork when sealing
Be careful not to overfill your turnovers
Slice a vent in the tops before baking, this will allow steam to escape through the vent so they do not burst on the sides.
Brush egg wash on the edges of the turnovers before baking. Egg wash acts like glue, and helps the pastry stay closed where you want it to
Ingredients and substitutions
Butter - unsalted butter is best for baking. You want to be able to control the amount of salt you add to a recipe
Cream cheese - Use full fat cream cheese for the dough
All purpose flour - Using any other type of flour may alter the texture of the dough
Cherries - Both fresh or frozen will work for the filling. If you want to skip making the filling altogether, you can always use store bought cherry jam
Cornstarch - This is used to thicken the cherry filling. You can also use arrowroot powder.
Other cherry recipes to try
If you tried these Cherry Turnovers or any other recipe on the blog, leave a comment below and let me know how you liked it. And be sure to tag me on instagram if you make these!
Cherry Turnovers
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (226 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (226 grams) cream cheese, softened
- 1 3/4 cup (226 grams) all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 4 cups (550 grams) fresh or frozen cherries, pitted
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- juice of half a lemon or lime
- 1 egg for egg wash
Instructions
- In a bowl with a paddle attachment cream the butter and cream cheese together.
- Beat in flour and sugar until combined. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.
- On a large sheet of lightly floured parchment paper, roll the dough into a rectangle about a 1/4 inch thick. Chill the dough before cutting.
- To make the compote, in a medium size pot, heat the sugar and cherries until they come to a simmer.
- Mix the cornstarch with a few tablespoons of water to make a slurry. Pour in a little at a time until the cherry compote begins to thicken. The liquid in the compote should coat the back of a spoon without dripping. You may not need to use all of the cornstarch.
- Cook the compote for about 2 minutes. Chill over an ice bath. Make sure it is completely cool before filling the turnovers.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- Whisk an egg in a bowl for egg wash.
- Cut the dough into 8 squares about 4x4 inches each.
- Brush egg wash all around the sides of each square. Fill the turnovers with about 1 tablespoon of filling and fold the dough in half to seal.
- Press the sides with a fork to ensure the dough is pressed shut, and brush the turnover with egg wash.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown all over.
- Once cool, dust the turnovers with powdered sugar or drizzle with an icing made from powdered sugar and a little bit of milk.
Notes:
*If baking frozen turnovers, the baking time will take slightly longer.