Julie Clark
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Plum Turnovers
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Flaky, hand-held plum turnovers filled with fresh summer plums. It’s a great recipe if the kids want to help, because they can each make their own.
If you’re looking for a unique fruit to bake with, plums might not be the first thing that comes to mind, but once you’ve tasted these Plum Turnovers, you’ll change your mind!
When plums are in season, their juicy, sweet-tart flavor is unbeatable and adds a special touch to any dessert. These handheld turnovers feature a flaky pie crust filled with a simple, homemade filling made from fresh plums, sugar, and a touch of cornstarch for thickening. They’re perfect for a summertime treat!
Choosing the Best Plums for Baking
When it comes to making the perfect Plum Turnovers, selecting the right plums is key. Here are some tips to help you pick the best plums for baking:
- Color: Ripe plums have a deep, rich, and consistent color. Avoid plums with shades of green.
- Firmness: A ripe plum should yield slightly to gentle pressure. In order for the best results for baking, they should not be too soft.
- Aroma: Plums should have a fragrant aroma.
- Skin: Avoid plums with soft spots, blemishes, or wrinkled skin or cracks. The skin should be smooth.
How to Ripen Plums:
If your plums are not fully ripe when you purchase them, try this tip:
Place the plums in a paper bag at room temperature. Once they are ripe, transfer them to the refrigerator to keep them fresh until you’re ready to bake.
Serving Ideas
- Serve these plum turnovers warm with a bit of vanilla frozen custard.
- If ice cream disappears at your house as fast as it does as ours, Unfortunately we were out of ice cream when I was making these, but I topped the plum turnovers with a bit of honey-sweetened Greek yogurt. It was just as cool and creamy as ice cream, and it was a perfect contrast to the warm pie.
- Double the filling and make a pie. Try it with our cinnamon roll pie crust. 😋
Try our apple turnovers with puff pastry and our easy strawberry turnovers. Love unique desserts? You’ll want to make this chocolate roasted banana bread recipe. It’s delicious!
Plum Turnovers
Flaky, hand-held plum turnovers filled with fresh summer plums. It's a great recipe if the kids want to help, because they can each make their own.
Servings 8 servings
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Ingredients
For the Crust
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (6 ounces)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 8-10 tablespoons ice water
- 1 large egg
For the Filling
- 2 1/2 cups sliced plums (6-7 plums)
- 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
Instructions
- In a bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, salt. Cut the butter into pieces and add to the flour mix. Using a pastry blender, two forks, or your hands and work the butter into the flour until the mixture is sandy with some larger pieces of butter left (about the size of peas). 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon granulated sugar, 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Add the vinegar and ice water one tablespoon at a time while stirring. Add enough water just until the dough comes together. 1 teaspoon vinegar, 8-10 tablespoons ice water
- Transfer the dough onto a counter and gently shape into a circle. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, stir together the sliced plums, sugar and cornstarch. In a separate bowl beat together the egg with 1 tablespoon water. 2 ½ cups sliced plums, 4 tablespoons granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon cornstarch, 1 large egg
- Cut the chilled dough into 8 pieces. On a lightly floured work surface, roll each one out into a thin circle about 6 inches across. Place ⅛ of the filling into the middle of each circle. Brush the edges with the beaten egg. Fold the dough over the filling to create a half circle. Crimp the edges with a fork. Cut 1-2 small slits in the tops of each pastry.
- If the dough begins to soften, refrigerate the turnovers until the dough firms up before baking.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Allow to cool and then serve with ice cream!
Notes
- To make square pastries, cut the dough in a rectangle instead of a circle.
- Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks.
Nutrition
Calories: 340kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 68mg | Sodium: 231mg | Potassium: 132mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 736IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 2mg
These turned out wonderful! After reading reviews of filling, I decided to reduce the Italian plums on the stove with the the sugar, cornstarch and a few tbsp of strawberry jam. After cooling and chilling the dough, the turnovers baked to perfection. We have had them as a morning pastry, afternoon snack and as dessert with vanilla ice cream. I will be making another round with the remaining home-grown Italian plums to freeze. 🙂
I used home canned plums that i had on hand and pureed them up with just a little of the sweetened juice and added a smidge more corn starch. My 10uo asked me to make them again soon. They were good hot, warm and cold.
Can I freeze the filling?
These are good. The only thing I did differently was add more cornstarch to the filling after reading through the comments. And I made them with Mango Tango plums so they are a little tart. They’ll be perfect with vanilla ice cream though. I absolutely love the crust! I think next time I’ll make them with the red plums. 😁
I shared these with some friends who loved them. So they were definitely a success!!
If I used pre made frozen pastry sheets, what type is best;
– Puff Pastry?
– Butter Puff Pastry?
– Shortcrust Pastry?
Would these be easy to freeze?
I followed this recipe except I used puff pastry sheets and I substituted apples and pears canned filling. It was delicious.
I was gifted a large box of plums and search done recipes and cane across yours. Thank you so much for such a great recipe. They are delicious and I topped with Greek yogurt too, absolutely delish!
Beautifully done. Mine were perfect and delicious. What a great use for plums. I had no idea that they tasted so good baked. The plums just melted and made the perfect fruit filling. Thank you!
I just tried this recipe today. The crust turned out great, but the filling had way too much liquid. While the taste was wonderful, the process was messy and very time consuming. In addition, as I could see that the filling was not firm enough, I added more corn starch. This didn’t help much. Not sure what went wrong. I will probably just use pastry sheets next time.
I love the idea of using plums, I never think to use them! They would be perfect in a pie!