Spiced apple turnovers

Despite the lovely weather we've been having, it is officially fall, and with that comes all the delicious flavours of the season! A friend's housewarming party provided the perfect opportunity to try a new recipe for smaller, portable apple pies.

Recipe

from Bon Appetit DessertsMakes 6Pastry1½ cups all purpose flour1 tsp sugar¼ tsp salt½ cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½" cubes4 tbsp (or more) ice waterFilling1½ lbs Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, cut into ½" pieces⅓ cup sugar2 tbsp (packed) dried currants1 tsp brandy½ tsp ground cinnamon½ tsp vanilla extract¼ tsp finely grated lemon peel¼ tsp finely grated orange peel¼ tsp ground nutmeg¼ tsp ground cloves6 tbsp plus 2 tbsp unsalted butteradditional sugarPastry: Whisk flour, sugar and salt in large bowl. Add butter and rub in with finger tips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 4 tbsp ice water; using for, stir until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Transfer dough to floured surface; divide into 6 equal pieces. Form each piece into ball; flatten each disk. Wrap separately in plastic and chill 1 hour.Line 2 heavy large baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out each dough disk on floured work surface to 8" round. Transfer rounds to prepared baking sheets. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes.Filling: Mix apples, sugar, currants, brandy, cinnamon, vanilla, lemon peel, orange peel, nutmeg and cloves in large bowl. Cover and let stand 30 minutes to blend flavors.Preheat oven to 400 F. Spoon ½ cup apple mixture onto bottom half of 1 pastry round, leaving ¾" plain border around edges. Dot filling with 1 tsp butter. Lightly brush edges with water. Fold top half of dough over filling to enclose completely. Gently press together edges to seal. Lightly brush edge with more water and fold edge inward. Using fork, gently press edge to seal. Repeat with remaining pastry rounds, filling and butter.Melt 2 tbsp butter. Using small sharp knife, cut 3 slits in top of each turnover to allow steam to escape. Brush butter over turnovers and sprinkle with additional sugar. Bake turnovers until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool slightly. Transfer to plates and serve warm.

Musings

A few notes on preparation: As I was bringing this to a party, I doubled the recipe. The rounds definitely did not roll out to be 8" in diameter, maybe 6" at most. I basically rolled them out as much as I could, which turned out to yield very nicely sized turnovers. If they'd been 8" in diameter, I think they would've been too large. I also didn't chill the dough for an entire hour (probably close to 35-40 minutes).I was pleasantly surprised at how well these turned out! They were a nice size to eat without a plate (a hand pie, if you will). The crust was delightfully flaky, and the filling was well-spiced. D noted that he could see it being a touch sweeter, perhaps sprinkling a bit more sugar on top of the crust before baking. They also tasted good the following morning for a breakfast snack. Yum!