Pumpkin Turnovers with Puff Pastry

I know I usually post about furniture and painting and I spend a lot of time with paint, but I also love to cook.  I almost want to have blog about cooking, but there is one problem:  I do not follow recipes!  This makes it hard to share what I cook so for now I will stick to furniture and paint! 

We were invited over to the neighbors for dinner and I am bring dessert.  I love Fall and anything pumpkin so I decided to make pumpkin turnovers.  I did not follow a recipe, but did scan a few for ideas.  Here is what I did:

At the store I bought Puff Pastry.

Puff pastry is so easy to work with if you haven’t attempted it yet. You can find it in a package from the freezer section in your grocery store. It comes with two sheets that are folded up into thirds. Take them both out of the package and cover with plastic wrap to thaw on your counter for about 30 minutes.

In the mean time start to work on your filling.  I had baked a sugar pumpkin a few days ago because I love real pumpkin in things, but canned pumpkin is great too. 

Cream together your cream cheese, granulated sugar, pureed pumpkin, one egg yolk, and vanilla. Put aside the egg white when you separate the yolk…you’ll be needing that shortly. The filling will be a little bit medium to thin consistency. It will thicken up inside the puff pastry when baked.

After the puff pastry sheets have thawed, gently unfold them. Cut and divide each sheet into 4 pieces. I usually do a quick roll with my rolling pin. 

I love my marble rolling pin-it is heavy and easy to use and came from my grandmother! 

 Spoon about one and a half tablespoon of the pumpkin filling onto the bottom half of each piece of cut pastry. 

Brush the bottom half edge of the pastry with egg with the tip of your finger or a pastry brush. Fold over the top part over onto the filling. Pinch together and the egg on the bottom half will help seal it together. It doesn’t have to be perfect, as long as it is sealed. I use a fork and press down for a good seal. 

Place on a baking sheet covered with a baking mat or parchment paper to prevent burning and sticking.

Whisk the egg white that you had set aside, and brush the tops and sides of each filled pastry. Sprinkle the sugar mixture on top, heavily.

Bake in a preheated 375 degrees oven for 23-25 minutes, 

or until golden brown on the bottoms and tops. 

Tip: Do not use glass baking pans, it seems to not want to brown the bottoms. The metal baking pans or stones work best.

Ingredients

• 1 (17.3 ounces or 1.1 pound) package puff pastry ("ready-to-bake sheets")
• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup, plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
• 3 tablespoons pureed pumpkin
• 1 egg, divided the yolk and whites
• ½ teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

1. Take both frozen pastry sheets out of the package and cover with plastic wrap to thaw on your counter for about 30 minutes.
2. Cream together your cream cheese, ¼ cup of granulated sugar, pureed pumpkin, egg yolk, and vanilla. Set aside.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
4. After the puff pastry sheets have thawed, gently unfold them. Cut and divide each sheet into 6 pieces. Spoon about one and a half tablespoon of the pumpkin filling onto the bottom half of each piece of cut pastry. 
5. Brush the bottom half edge of the pastry with egg. Fold over the top part over onto the filling. Pinch together and the egg on the bottom half will help seal it together. (It doesn’t have to be perfect, as long as it is sealed.) Place on a baking sheet covered with a baking mat or parchment paper to prevent burning and sticking.
6. Whisk the egg white that you had set aside, and brush the tops and sides of each filled pastry. Sprinkle the sugar mixture on top, heavily.
7. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until golden brown on the bottoms and tops.
8. Serve and drizzle with your favorite caramel sauce.
9. Enjoy!

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