Cherry Turnovers with Cream Cheese and Almonds

These delicious puff pastry cherry turnovers are filled with sweet cherries and cream cheese, then topped with roasted almonds and vanilla glaze.

What is a Turnover Pastry?

Turnovers are one of those obviously named foods. They are made by cutting out a square of dough, plopping some filling on one corner, and turning the dough over the filling to seal it.

I don't know where they originated from, but I love that at some point, someone turned dough over filling and said, "Behold! The turnover."

Ok. So, I'm sure that never happened. Here's the "true" story according to the internet...

According to legend, the turnover has its origin in 1630 in the Sarthe region of France, during an epidemic. The town's Chatelaine supplied people with flour and apples in some effort to relieve their suffering.

The people took the ingredients and made what we now know as turnovers.

Homemade Turnovers Are One of My Favorite Things

Origin story aside, after making these Cherry Turnovers, I'm feeling a bit Turnover obsessed.

First of all, there's the puff pastry. Some days (ok, every day), I'd like to wrap everything in that flaky, buttery, delicate, magical dough we call puff pastry.

But, the truly great thing about Turnovers is their versatility. Put anything you want in there, sweet or savory. Veggies, meat, cheese, fruit, custard, chocolate, cream cheese... most everything is great inside of a turnover.

Turnovers can be black-tie elegant or tailgate party casual. They make elegant, appetizers for dinner parties or cocktail parties.

They are also an awesome way to transform last night's leftovers, or whatever else you've got hanging around in your refrigerator or freezer, into a portable breakfast, lunch, after school snack, late night supper, or dessert.

How to Make Cherry Turnovers

#1: Choose fresh or frozen cherries

I've used frozen cherries in this cherry filling for the sake of convenience. Here in Colorado, we only have good fresh cherries for a couple months out of the year. Using frozen cherries makes these turnovers possible year-round. The other tremendous benefit of using frozen cherries is that you don't have to pit them.

However, if you'd rather use fresh cherries, please do so. The only thing that might be affected by using fresh cherries is how juicy your cherries are. If the cherries don't seem to be releasing much juice as they cook, just add a couple tablespoons of water, cherry or apple juice.

#2: Choose to make plain cherry or cherry cream cheese filling

The cherry filling alone makes for a delicious cherry turnover. But, just to gild the lily, I've added a dollop of sweetened cream cheese.

This is optional, of course. But, that little bit of cream cheese gives these cherry turnovers a creamy consistency that I find irresistible.

#3: The almonds are optional

Another optional component of these cherry turnovers is the almond flavoring and topping.

If you don't like almonds, or are cooking for someone with a nut allergy, just leave the almond extract and chopped almond topping out. Your cherry turnovers won't suffer for it, I promise.

#4: Super easy vanilla glaze

I love drizzling these cherry turnovers with a simple vanilla glaze. But again, this is completely optional.

If you feel that the glaze makes the cherry turnovers too sweet, just leave it out. And, of course, if you want a more pronounced almond flavor, add some almond extract to the glaze along with the vanilla.

#5: Cherry turnovers are delicious served warm or cold

These cherry turnovers are amazing fresh and warm from the oven.

They are also fabulous cold, grabbed as a quick breakfast or snack as you rush out the door. Eat them with your fingers, or warm them slightly in a bowl and add a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It's all good.

#6: Try these turnovers with another variety of berry besides cherry

Any kind of fresh or frozen fruit can be substituted for the cherries in these turnovers. The only thing you must pay attention to is the amount of juice in the fruit filling.

If you feel that your fruit filling is too dry, simply add a few tablespoons of water or fruit juice. If you feel that the filling is too runny, add a bit more cornstarch, or just cook the filling longer, allowing the excess water to evaporate.

Here's the part of cherry turnovers that's not optional:

Making them.

Bake, eat, enjoy, share. (Ok. Sharing is also optional. But, I really think you should. You can always make more.)

More popular fruit pastry recipes:

• Sweet Cherry Crumb Pie
• Cherry Shortbread Crumble Bars
• Mixed Berry Plum Pie
• Triple Cherry Pie
• Mixed Berry Muffins with Brown Sugar Streusel 
• Apple Butter and Pastry Cream Hand Pies
• Almond Plum Cake
• The BEST Berry Cobbler
• Lemon Berry Snack Cake

If you give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment, rate it, or take a picture and tag it #ofbatteranddough on Instagram.

Happy baking!

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