Easy Apple Pie Turnovers

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My son spent all of yesterday asking for pop tarts.  He has never had a store pop tart, and I wasn't going to go buy him one.  I decided I would try a homemade pop tart with some puff pastry I had leftover in my freezer from the last time I made puff pastry.  I know he likes apple, so I made it easy on myself and used the can of apple pie filling I had in my cupboard (I know, I know, you can make it from scratch, but hey, I made the pastry part, and they are called "easy," so something has to give).  I searched for homemade pop tart recipes and came across Smitten Kitchen's recipe.  I used it as a guide and inspiration more than anything, but it is always nice to have a plan.   Once I made them, I decided that no matter how I worded it, I just could not legitimately call these pop tarts.  The crust was just too puffy and flaky and buttery.  So, I opted for the more likely accurate description of turnover.

So, after all the work I put into making these , I presented my son with one this morning, very excited for him to exclaim that this is the best thing he ever had, and instead he turned his nose down at it and proclaimed his dislike for pop tarts.  Crushed me, totally crushed me! And then later my husband tried one, said they were amazing, and the world was right again.  I had one, and yes, they are pretty fantastic.

I made this with my easy puff pastry recipe from a previous post, but of course, if you have frozen store bought dough, then use what you've got of course. 

Before being drizzled in sugary glaze goodness

EASY APPLE PIE TURNOVERS
(Inspired by Smitten Kitchen's Homemade Pop Tarts)

Makes 12 turnovers if the whole batch of puff pastry is used.

Ingredients: 

• 1 recipe Easy Puff Pastry (Scroll down towards the bottom of the post for this link), (Thaw it in the fridge for several hours to overnight if frozen, or if refrigerated, leave it out for 15 minutes to soften slightly)
• 1 can apple pie filling
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 recipe for Vanilla Glaze (See below)  

VANILLA GLAZE  
(Adapted from King Arthur Flour's Simple Cookie Glaze)

• 2-1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract, to taste
• 2-3 tablespoons apple juice, for desired consistency
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup  

Directions:

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Lightly dust with flour.  Place half of the puff pastry dough on the baking sheet.  Using a rolling pin, roll out in to a rectangle approximately 10 x 15 inches (it will be maybe 1/8 inch thick or thinner).  
2. Using a pastry wheel, knife, or pizza cutter, trim the edges to form a nice rectangle, and then cut into four strips width wise, and three strips length wise, to form 12 squares.  
3. Using the beaten egg, brush all the squares with the egg wash.
4. Using a knife, I chop the apple pieces in the pie filling into smaller pieces, right in the can.  Using a tablespoon, start with a half tablespoon's worth of filling, and place it in to the center of 6 of the squares.  If it looks like it can hold a little bit more, than go ahead and add it.
5. Place an unfilled pastry piece, egg wash side down, onto a filled piece.  Repeat for all pieces.
6. Spread the pastries apart as necessary, and then using a fork, crimp all the way around the edges to seal.
7. Using a toothpick or fork, poke several holes in the top of the pastry for the steam to escape.
8. Repeat steps 1-7 for the second half of the puff pastry dough and place the finished turnovers all one one baking sheet, or keep on two separate ones.  
9. Brush all the turnovers with more egg wash and place the tray in the freezer for 30 minutes.
10. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
11. After 30 minutes, place the tray(s) into the oven for 22-27 minutes, or until golden brown and puffy.
12. Make the glaze:  In a bowl mix the powdered sugar, vanilla, and corn syrup.  Add the apple juice one tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached for the glaze.  
13. After the turnovers come out of the oven and have cooled slightly, drizzle with glaze, and enjoy warm.
14. Store remaining pastries (if there are any left) in the fridge. 

Apple Pie Mookies

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I really liked my chocolate chip banana mookie recipe.  Mookies, in case you are not familiar with my previous post, are what I dubbed this cross between a cookie and a muffin.  These are fluffy, slightly cakey cookies, with just a phenomenal hearty texture.  When I started to think about what other kinds of "mookies" I could make, I must have had apples on the brain.  Thus, apple pie mookies were born.  With oats, hearty chunks of apples, wonderful warm apple pie spices, and butterscotch chips, these just scream cozy fall day.  And considering it is 95 degrees out, I could very much use a mental escape to a more pleasant season.  The apples are softened but juicy, and a tart contrast against the sweet butterscotch chips.  Slightly chewy oats give way to a fine, cakey crumb.  Seriously, I don't know how many ways to describe the awesomeness except to say you just have to try them.

Let me just say, my house smells beyond amazing right now.  If I could eat the air I would.  But I guess I will settle for eating these cookies instead.  And at just around 100 calories each, I can afford to have a couple!  

These are absolutely a must try.  Really, seriously, in the stratosphere tasty.


APPLE PIE MOOKIES

Makes approximately 34-38 mookies

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 large egg
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1-1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup almond meal (if you don't have or don't want to use, add an extra 1/4 cup flour)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1-1/2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup tart apples, diced and peeled (like granny smith)
• 6 oz (1 cup) butterscotch chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together flour, almond meal, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger in a small bowl and set aside.  
3. Place butter, and sugars into a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed until they are well combined.  Depending on how soft the butter is, it may take several minutes for the mix to come together.
4. Reduce speed to low.  Add egg, applesauce, and vanilla and mix until combined.   Beat for 1 minute on medium until well combined.
5. Add flour and spice mix and mix on medium until well combined and fluffier.  
6. Mix in oats, apple pieces and butterscotch chips with mixer or by hand until well incorporated. Don't fear, this dough is very moist.
7. Using a 1 1/2-inch ice cream scoop or 2 Tbs cookie scoop, drop dough onto baking sheets spacing about 2 inches apart.  Using a fork, flatten the dough into a disk shape, they do not spread much.
8. Bake cookies until they just start to turn golden brown and just set, about 12 to 13 minutes. The centers will be fairly firm, like a cooked muffin, when done.

Personal Apple Pie Cheesecakes with Caramel Sauce

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Warning:  I am pretty darn proud of how these turned out, so I am going to shamelessly photo-bomb this post with pictures of the cheesecake.  You have been warned.  You will either need to deal with it or stop reading it right now :)

All right, now that is out of the way.  

I warned you....Lots of pictures :)

This weekend is my mother-in-law's birthday.  Her favorite dessert as far as I have been informed of is cheesecake.  Sadly, since that is the case, I usually make her the same cheesecake every year.  This year, I decided to take the extra time and rack my brain for any variations on cheesecake that I thought would make it a little bit more special for her.  I knew she liked caramel, and apple pie, so I thought about how I could integrate those things into her favorite dessert, and still have it be something that would turn out OK.  This is what I came up with.  Not too shabby if I do say so myself.  I like to make things so that she can freeze them or partition then out so that it lasts longer, so I thought I would find another use for my wonderful King Arthur Flour hamburger bun pan (which I LOVE), and make personal size cheesecakes in it.  Since it isn't a spring form pan, I cut strips of parchment paper and laid two crossed over each other in each well of the pan for (hopefully) easy removal.  See the picture below. 

Love love love my King Arthur Flour hamburger bun pan.  Nothing sticks and it cooks beautifully and can be used for so so so many things!

Close up of the parchment tabs and cooked cheesecake.

This is what they looked like after they were baked.  I stuck them in the fridge after they cooled on the counter for a while, and when I tried to pull one out this morning, I just lifted by the parchment paper pieces and it came right out.

When life hands you extra cheesecake batter....for goodness sake don't waste it! Make more crust and bake it in something!

It ended up making so much filling that I quickly made a second batch of crust, did the same thing with a 9" round cake pan (once again, not a spring form, so I used parchment strips, just a lot more of them), and ended up dumping the rest of the batter in to this.  It was exactly the perfect amount.  As you can tell, this makes a ton, but it will depend on what you decide to bake it in.

I know cheesecake can be intimidating, but I promise, it is fairly forgiving, specially if you are not  concerned with a little cracking on top, which will not affect flavor in any way.  Give it a try, it is worth it.  I will give some notes on different pan ideas at the end of the recipe, and a few different baking options depending on the pan you use. 

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Personal Apple Pie Cheesecakes with Caramel Sauce

(This recipe will make 12 personal size ones done in a hamburger bun pan that has 1 1/2" deep wells that are 4" across)*

Ingredients:

Crust:

•  4 cups ground graham crackers (about 1 box)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 sticks of butter (1 cup)
• 3 Tbs granulated sugar

Filling:

• 2 (8 oz.) blocks neufchatel cheese (light cream cheese), softened
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 2 cups fat free plain greek yogurt
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 can apple pie filling

Caramel Sauce:

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 3/4 cup 2% evaporated milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Crust:

1.  Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2.  In a mixing bowl, combine the ingredients with a fork until evenly moistened. Lay two parchment strips across each other in each well of the pan to form an X.
3. Spoon the crumbs into the pan wells and, using the bottom of a measuring cup or the smooth bottom of a glass, press the crumbs down into the base and up the sides (the paper may curl in on it, but once you get the crumbs pressed in, it should hold the paper open more). 
4. Bake in oven for 6 minutes.  Remove and let cool slightly. 
5. Place about a tablespoon of apple pie filling in the bottom of each well, on top of the baked crust, and spread to cover the bottom.

Filling:

1. In  a large bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the neufchatel cheese on low speed for 1 minute until smooth and free of any lumps. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue to beat slowly until combined. Gradually add sugar and beat until creamy, for 1 to 2 minutes (the higher speed you beat it on, the lighter the cheesecake will be, so if you want a dense cake, beat on low speed for the minimum amount of time needed to fully incorporate ingredients)
2. Add greek yogurt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla. Mix well.  Periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters. The batter should be well-mixed but not over beaten. Pour the filling into the apple pie filling covered, crust-lined pan wells, most of the way full.
3. Place in oven.  Bake for about 30 minutes. The cheesecake should still jiggle in the center just a bit (it will firm up after chilling), so be careful not to overcook.  Remove from oven.  Let cool in pan for 30 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator, loosely covered, for at least 4 hours. Remove from pan by lifting the cheesecake out by the parchment strips slowly and gently.

Caramel Sauce:

1. Place sugar and water in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil heating on high. 
2. Boil on high until the sugar dissolves and eventually turns a deep amber color, swirling occasionally to distribute the color, but do not stir. About 10-12 minutes
3. Once desired color is attained, remove from heat and CAREFULLY add the evaporated milk.  It will boil violently, release hot steam, and sputter, so be carefully and add slowly.  Stir constantly until all the milk is added and it has stopped boiling and is well incorporated.  Add vanilla and mix.
4. Let cool in pan.  Once it is cool enough to handle, spoon over refrigerated cheesecake as desired.  
5. Store remaining in fridge in air tight container for up to a week.  Reheat in microwave to make it pourable.

Rarely, if ever, have I had pictures come out of my food that I like.  I like.

*Notes:

• If you don't have a deep welled hamburger bun pan, similar sized ramikins can be used.  Use the same parchment paper technique for easy removal.  Regular sized muffin pans can be used too, it will probably make about 24 of them.  Two 9" cake pans (about 2-3" deep) can also be used.  When filling up anything for cheesecakes, it will rise so do not fill all the way to the top.
• The 9" cake pan baked for about 45-50 minutes, if you decide to go that route.
• If you have a spring form pan, by all means, use it.  You can cut the crust recipe in half if you have a 9 or 10" spring form pan and just want to make one large cheesecake.
• I know the best way to bake a cheesecake is to do it in a water bath, but I did not have a pan that would fit my hamburger bun pan in so I opted to do the method of baking at a slightly lower temperature.  The personal sized cheesecakes had no cracking problems on top what so ever.  The large one started cracking on the top around the edges slightly by the end, but after it cooled, they sealed up and you can't tell.  We are smothering it with caramel sauce, so what difference does it make anyways?  The cheesecake came out wonderfully creamy, so if you don't have a pan for a water bath, don't worry.  I am trying to make this as user friendly as possible.
• If your dissolved sugar mixture is really grainy by the time it starts to get some color, add 1/2 cup of water to it and stir to dissolve the sugar, return to a boil and continue with the recipe.  You can also add a bit of corn syrup to help also. 
• If you have never made a cheesecake, they look a bit undercooked when they are done, a bit wiggle still in the center.  It is ok.  It will set up in the fridge the rest of the way.  Just make sure it wiggles like jello, and not like a bucket of water being shaken (too loose).
• This cheesecake is much lower in fat and calories than regular cheesecake so it will be creamier band lighter.  Less guilt on going back for seconds I say!

Last one, I promise.

 Feel free to leave any questions in the comments section.  If I don't have an answer, I will try to find it for you from someone else who does.

Enjoy, and let me know if you make it how you like it!

Chocolate Covered Apple Pie Caramels

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I know I know, my pictures suck.  I am working on it, and they will hopefully get better soon. 

Now that that is out of the way, here is a new recipe I found from Blondie's Cakes called Apple Cider Caramels.  Could it be, the best of both worlds, together in one??  Yep!  After days of having this web page open on my computer...taunting me, I finally gave in last night and had to make them.

After a long time over the stove stirring, I was well rewarded.  These little caramel gems taste like apple pie, stuffed in a chewy, rich caramel.  That is all well and good, but I thought it could be better.  So I dipped them in semi-sweet chocolate too.  Now are are talking apple pie meets chocolate and caramel covered apple.  Happy, happy day!  I covered half, left the other half naked, and I enjoy them either way.  This is definitely going in my holiday/special occasion recipe folder, because it just screams happy holidays! (Hey, fourth of july is a holiday, right?  Close enough.)

I modified the recipe ingredients a bit from the original, so here it is with the modifications.

CHOCOLATE COVERED APPLE PIE CARAMELS


Ingredients:

1/3 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
1 cup evaporated milk, 2%, divided (2/3 cup and 1/3 cup)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup real butter, cubed

Chocolate coating (to cover whole batch):

12 oz. semi-sweet, dark, or milk chocolate chips
1 tbs butter

Directions:


- Line an 8" square pan with parchment paper, making sure to leave about 1" hanging over the edges for easy removal.

- In a small bowl, combine 2/3 c. evaporated milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and apple juice concentrate. Set aside.

- In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, 1/3 c. evaporated milk + enough water to reach the 1/2 c. line on the measuring cup, and corn syrup. Cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Insert the candy thermometer and simmer until the syrup reaches 234 degrees.

- Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cream mixture. Add the cubed butter and stir until the milk and butter are fully incorporated. Return the pan to heat and re-insert the candy thermometer. Cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the temperature reaches 246 degrees.

- Remove from heat and pour the caramel into the prepared pan. Let the mixture cool completely at room temperature or in the refrigerator. I covered the top of the pan loosely with saran wrap. I cut it into 64 squares.  Wrap each in wax or parchment paper and store in fridge, leave unwrapped in an air tight container in the fridge, cover in chocolate* and store in the fridge, whatever floats your boat.  Stores in fridge up to two weeks.

*To cover in chocolate, cut into desired sizes once cool.  Melt the coating ingredients together in 30 second intervals in the microwave until melted.  Using two forks, dip caramels in the chocolate and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Refrigerate until the chocolate sets.  Store in fridge.


Nutrition information (uncovered caramels, 64 servings)

	Calories-48	Carbs-9	Fat-2 g	Protein-0g