Oh Those "I'll-Be-Awful-At-Baking" Fears

I absolutely love time spent in the kitchen, especially if it can be with people I love! Last week I feel like the kitchen was constantly ringing with laughter as my sister and I tried new recipes and experimented with old ones.

Preparing food for my family is one of my favorite pass-times, even though I don't get to do it as often as I like. There is something special about cooking; something so simple about using fresh, locally sourced ingredients to make family favorite recipes.

While I'm great at the cooking side of the kitchen, I'll admit I am not as much of a baker as I'd like to be. But last week I put aside those 'I'll-be-awful-at-baking' fears and made Jamie Deen's Baked Apple Turnovers and they turned out to be amazing! Of course, that was probably only because I had the best sous-chef helping me make them (my sister Jenny).

I don't know if you're as hesitant to try baking as I was, but if you simply follow this recipe nothing could be easier! We always have fun music playing in the background, which we often sing along to =P and that always helps to keep the atmosphere light and fun.

Two Granny-Smith, Three Honeycrisp

Baked Apple Turnovers

Makes 8 pastries
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 Honeycrisp apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
1 package (17.3 ounces) puff pastry, thawed
1 tablespoon granulated sugar for sprinkling

Method

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until it’s foamy. Add the apples and cook, while stirring, for 3 minutes, or until they’re slightly softened. Stir in the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, ginger, and salt, and continue cooking, stirring, for 3 minutes more, or until the pan looks almost dry and the sugar is syrupy. Remove the apples to a bowl and cool them completely.

Simmering the Filling

Preheat the oven to 400°F and adjust your oven racks to the center. Line two sheet trays with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and water and set it aside.

Adding the Filling

One at a time, very carefully unfold your sheets of puff pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Roll out each sheet to an 11 by 11-inch square. Cut each sheet into four equal-size squares and place them on the prepared sheet trays. Brush the outside corners of each square with some egg wash and add a scant 1/3 cup filling across the center of each square, going from one corner to the other. Fold the top corner over the filling and press it to seal. Then fold the bottom corner over the last fold and press it to seal. (Two corners of the tart will remain open with the filling peeking out.) Repeat this step with the remaining squares of pastry. Brush the outside of each turnover with egg wash and sprinkle lightly with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes, until puffy and golden. Allow the turnovers to cool a bit before serving.

Sprinkling the Sugar

Cooking Tips

The filling can be made up to two days in advance—but I bet you won’t be able to wait that long to use it. Little chefs can help roll out the puff pastry, add the filling, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

And that's that! You can have delicious turnovers in less than an hour. I think next time I'll try making the filing the night before so that it's completely cooled. I couldn't wait till mine cooled completely (oh impatient little me) but thankfully it still worked fine! =] And if I get REALLY ambitious next time I'll try making my own pastry dough!

Just had to add this picture - I love making curly-cues when peeling!