Apple Pockets

If you've ever had a chausson aux pommes, an apple turnover, an apple-pocket or any other crusty, flaky, hand-held apple-filled pastry, you know how wonderful it is when you bite through the crispy outside and hit that thick, sweet apple filling.  Hungry?  We made some quick and simple pastries this week. 

This all began with four apples that had been in the crisper a little too long.  We peeled them, cut off the bad spots, chopped them roughly into 1/2 inch cubes and put them in a sauce pan with 2 TB of butter, 2 TB sugar and a dash of cinnamon and a little cardamom.  While they cooked, we got some eggs ready and rolled out the puff pastry that had been sitting on the counter for a while, warming up to room temperature.

When the apples started to get a little soft around the edges and juicy, I sprinkled about 1 TB corn starch over the pan, stirred and cooked it for a moment longer to let the juices come together to a filling-like consistency then took it off the heat to cool a bit.

We rolled the dough out to about 14 x 16 inches and cut it into 8 long rectangles (cut once down the middle, along the longest dimension, then cut each half into 4 slices).

Using one lightly beaten egg, my daughter painted a frame around each rectangle and I put a heaping spoonful of apples in the middle (a little shy of 1/4 cup).

My son folded the pockets over and crimped the edges with a fork.  Then she painted the top of each pocket with more egg wash and he sprinkled sugar on the tops.

Into the oven (375*) for about 16 minutes and they came out looking lovely...

I'd be embarassed to tell you how quickly these disappeared.  Let's just say I don't have a lot of tips about storage for these treats!

Apple Pockets (makes 8)

Let one sheet of frozen puff pastry come to room temperature (10-30 minutes, depending on location)

Set the oven to 375*

Peel and cut 4 apples into 1/2-inch pieces

In a saucepan, combine:

apples

2 TB butter

2 TB sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

Cook over medium-low heat until the apples are soft around the edges and release their juice, about 10 minutes.  Sprinkle 1 TB cornstarch over the pan and stir.  The sauce should become thick.  Remove from heat and cool.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface until you have a sheet about 14x16 inches.  Cut into 8 long rectangles.

Assemble as described above.

Bake on a parchment-lined cooking sheet (jelly-roll pan with edges is best) until golden brown on top, about 15 minutes.