Carmel Apple Turnovers

Still trying to make the best use of my 5kilos of dulce de leche, today’s recipe is for messy gooey caramel apple turnovers. Flaky pie dough hugs a tender filling of 3 varieties of apples, sugar, spices, and dulce de leche. Though I’m not yet an expert at picture-perfect empanadas, tarts, or turnovers, let me assure you that the flavor is phenomenal. Kids and adults alike will have you running to the kitchen time and time again to keep up with the demand of these yummy turnovers.

Caramel Apple Turnovers
2 pre-made pie disks or 1 recipe for double crust pie Here’s one from Paula Deen
Filling:
6 apples, diced small I used 2 gala, 2 granny smith, and 2 red delicious. No need to peel.
1 c. sugar
1 T. apple pie spice or combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves to taste
zest of 1/2 lemon, lime, or orange I used a lime, as that’s what I usually have around
juice of 1/2 of the zested citrus fruit of choice
4 T. flour
pinch salt
1/3 c. dulce de leche I’ll bet that caramel candies would be a great alternative, and less messy!
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1 egg, for wash
2 T. peach jam or 1 T. water plus 1 T. sugar, for glaze

Preheat oven to 375F. Roll out dough to 1/8″ or something close. Just eye it, nothing has to be perfect here. Use a cookie cutter or large glass to cut dough into desired shape. Place cutouts onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and let rest in the fridge while you combine the topping. In a large bowl combine apples, sugar, spices, flour, salt, zest and juice.

Take out the cutouts and place a small amount of apple filling in the middle of half of the shapes. Add to this 1/2 t. or more of dulce de leche, depending on how big your dough circles are. Make sure not to overfill the pastries they will ooze during baking. Trust me, I did it both times I baked these. Separate the egg into 2 small bowls and brush the yolk around the edges of all dough with filling. Carefully place a cutout on top, trying to remove air, and seal gently with fingers. Use the end of a skewer to crimp edges. Brush tops of dough with egg white to achieve a golden crispy crust. Use skewer to poke 3 holes in the top of each pastry. Knife slits are too big and allow ddl to escape. Bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, microwave the peach jam until it’s liquidy. If using sugar-water combo, microwave about 1 minute or until sugar is dissolved. Brush your liquid shine glaze over hot pastries. If you want this glaze to harden fully, replace the pastries in the oven for a couple of minutes, but be sure to keep a good eye on them.

Allow to cool 5 minutes and serve a la mode with your favorite vanilla ice cream. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. If refrigerated, revive the crispy crust by baking pastries in a preheated oven for 5 minutes.