Delicious Cherry Turnovers

Cherries are my favorite summer fruit, so you’d better believe I’m loving life right now. Cherries are only available for a month or two each year at my local supermarket– and when Dennis and I both brought home bags recently, I needed to find a use for the surplus. 

Hello, turnovers!

These turnovers have been our favorite summer dessert so far this season- They’re easy to make, they make a great dessert or a special breakfast treat, they’re good hot or at room temp, and they freeze well. I like to make my own dough for this recipe, but if you’re short on time, use crescent roll — or even biscuit dough. Also, you can fill these turnovers with just about anything, from fruit to Nutella to spiced meat. (There’s no sugar in the dough.) Get creative!

INGREDIENTS

dough:

-2 2/3 cups AP flour
-1 teaspoon salt
-3/4 cups shortening (I like Crisco butter-flavored shortening)
-8 tablespoons (or more) water

filling:

-2 cups fresh pitted cherries, cut in half (frozen cherries will work, too.)
-1/2 cup sugar
-2 tablespoons cornstarch

DIRECTIONS

-Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in shortening with a fork or clean hands until crumbly- It should feel like soft beach sand. Add water a tablespoon at a time and blend until you can form the dough into a ball- You may need more water than 8 tablespoons. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

-Combine cherries and sugar in a saucepan, stir and then let stand for about 15 minutes. Stir in cornstarch and bring cherry mixture to a medium boil until thickened. You can add an extra teaspoon of cornstarch if the mixture is not thickening to your liking– When the filling is ready, it should not be runny. Remove from stove and let cool.

-Divide dough into eight balls.  roll each ball into a 5-inch circle, fill half of circle with cherry filling (about 3 tablespoons), and fold dough over into a half moon shape. Use fork tines to seal and crimp the edges. Make 3 inch-long slices in the top of the turnover.

-Bake on greased baking sheet or stone (I’m all about my baking stone when it comes to breads and pastries) at 375 for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Top with vanilla ice cream or make a glaze with 1 cup confectioners sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 1 or 2 tablespoons of milk and pour over turnovers while still warm.

-Note: If you are using crescent roll dough, separate dough into 4 rectangles. Press edges together to seal, then cut rectangles into two squares. Place filling on half of square, then fold dough into a triangle shape and seal with a fork. If you are using biscuit dough, roll out each biscuit into a 5-inch circle and proceed as you would with homemade dough in the recipe above.

-Want to make this recipe even easier? Use cherry pie filling instead of making your own!

Pastry recipe adapted from tasteofhome.com.