Easy Blueberry Lavender Turnovers Recipe
Flaky, buttery, and bursting with flavor, these Blueberry Lavender Turnovers pair my sweet blueberry compote with the delicate floral notes of lavender. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or a sweet treat anytime; they’re easy to make and irresistibly delicious.
A pie you can carry around in your hand…sounds like the best thing ever to me. They’re pretty simple to make, made even simpler if you decide to use a store-bought crust. In my opinion, homemade crust, like my Perfect Homemade Pie Crust, can’t be beat. It’s so buttery and flaky and just so good.
What’s a turnover?
A turnover is like a small pie you can carry around in your hand. Who doesn’t want a small pie they can carry around in their hand? It’s a lot easier than carrying around a plate with a slice of pie and trying to eat that. And can you imagine eating a slice of pie with your hands? What a mess!
Turnovers are the perfect solution of deliciousness and portability.
What can I fill a turnover with?
The possibilities are endless. Everything from fruit and custards, to potatoes, meat, cheese, veggies-the list is endless. You are only limited by your imagination. Hand pies are found throughout many cultures with many different fillings. Everybody loves portability! If you love the portability of these turnovers, check out my Guava and Cheese Pasteles. They’re so delicious, and fun to make!
I love the combination of blueberry and lavender! If you love this combination just as much as I do, you’ll have to try my Blueberry Lavender French Macarons, my Blueberry Lavender Scones, or my Blueberry Lavender Bread. You can’t go wrong with either of these!
Ingredients: An Overview
The ingredient list is pretty simple, making for a fairly straightforward recipe.
- Crust Either homemade or store-bought. Store-bought makes this recipe even simpler, homemade gives such great flavor and flakiness.
- Blueberry Lavender compote Fresh or frozen works well in this recipe. Sugar, lavender extract, and vegetable starch make up this wonderfully delicious compote.
- Egg wash and coarse sugar for the topping.
- Lavender icing to drizzle on top.
Let’s make this!
Making this dessert isn’t too difficult, and it’s quite fun actually.
Make the filling by adding blueberries, sugar, lavender extract, and a bit of water to a large pot. Stir everything together and let it simmer. You’ll see the berries start to soften and the sugar will start to dissolve. Once the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is bubbly, mix in the vegetable starch slurry to thicken the mixture. This doesn’t take long and you’ll want to keep stirring it so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Once it’s thickened, remove it from the heat. Add to a glass container.
Cut out the circles. If you’ve bought the pie crust, you’ll simply need to open the package, unroll the dough and cut out the circles. If you’ve made homemade dough, you’ll need to roll that out, then cut out the circles.
Fill the hand pies with roughly one tablespoon of blueberry compote. Any more than that and you risk the filling coming out of the turnovers as they cook.
Fold the circles in half over the filling. I like to use a fork to gently push the filling in as I fold the dough over. And before you fold the circles, dip your finger in water and rub it around the edge of the circle. This helps seal the dough.
Crimp the edges of the little pies with a fork to help seal them.
Brush the tops of the hand pies with an egg wash to help get those delicious golden tops. Sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired, though these particular pies will be topped with a glaze so the sugar isn’t necessary.
Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes with the oven rack placed just above the center of the oven.
Let the pies rest for 10 minutes before biting into them. The filling will be super hot right out of the oven.
How to enjoy these turnovers
Of course, you could eat them straight out of the oven when they’re hot and fresh. After they’ve cooled down a bit so you don’t burn your mouth. You can also wait until the pies cool down fully and drizzle the delicious lavender glaze on top and enjoy them that way. Or, you could use the glaze as a dip, and the pie can be either hot or cold. So many delicious ways to enjoy such a delicious little pie.
Other recipes to try
Frequently Asked Questions
Fruit-filled turnovers can be stored at room temperature, in an airtight container, for 1-2 days. After that, they need to be stored in the fridge in an airtight container, for up to one week.
The dough and fillings may differ, but the idea is the same, something portable. An empanada originated in Spain and is common throughout Latin American culture. They are usually filled with a savory filling and fried. Many cultures have their version of turnovers, including pierogies, pasties, samosas, and Jamaican patties, to name a few. Turns out, the desire for something delicious and portable has been around for ages and is a common theme throughout many cultures.
Blueberry Lavender Hand Pies
Ingredients
- 2 pie crusts, homemade or store-bought
Blueberry Lavender Compote
- 3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon lavender extract
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch or vegetable starch
- 2 tablespoons water
Lavender Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoons lavender extract
- 1 tablespoon blueberry sauce
- 2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
Blueberry Lavender Compote
- You'll want to make this ahead of time so it has time to cool down before filling the turnovers. Add 3 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries to a large stock pot over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of water. Blueberries are pretty juicy, so they don't need much extra water. Stir everything together, then add 2/3 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of lavender extract. Stir everything together and let it simmer for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. It should be nice and bubbly at this point. This is also when I like to take out about 1 tablespoon of blueberry juice that will be used in the lavender glaze.
- In a small container, I use a small measuring cup, add 2 tablespoons vegetable starch and 2 tablespoons water. Mix together completely and stir into the blueberry mixture. Keep stirring, and make sure to spread the starch slurry into the whole mixture, you don't want it to clump up in one area. You will see it thicken as you stir, and at this point, it's ok to take it off the stove. Transfer to a glass container right away. Let it cool down for a few minutes before transferring to the fridge. We want it to be cool when we fill our hand pies.
Assembling the Hand Pies
- If you're using homemade pie crust, you'll want to make that ahead of time. My suggestion is to make it first thing in the morning as it needs to chill for 2 hours before you roll it out.
- Roll out the dough, either homemade or store-bought. If you're using homemade, roll it out to about 1/8 of an inch thick, just like you would for a pie. My homemade recipe yields two pie crusts. Even though it's not necessary to split the dough into two separate dough balls, I still do anyway. I find it helpful to work with one at a time, keeping the other one in the fridge until it's ready to come out.
- Using a 4.5-inch biscuit cutter, cut out as many circles as you can from the rolled out dough. Once you've done this, gather up the remains, loosely wrap them in plastic wrap and set in the fridge while you work with the other dough ball.Roll out the other dough ball and cut out as many circles as you can. Combine the dough scraps together and form another dough ball. You'll find that the dough is not as pliable as it initially was. I will dip my fingers in some water as I'm working to reform the dough ball. This helps the dough come together better. It doesn't have to be perfect though.
- Once the circles are cut out, it's time to fill them. Put 1 tablespoon of blueberry filling in the middle of each circle. Be careful not to put too much filling or it will come out the sides of the hand pie while they bake.
- Using your finger, lightly brush the edges of the circles with water before sealing them, helping to ensure they will stay closed. Fold the circles in half. I like to use a fork to hold the filling back as I close the circles. Once closed, crimp the edges closed with a fork. Be sure to wipe the blueberry sauce off the fork before crimping, or just use a clean fork. Using a sharp knife, cut three slits on the top of the pies, which helps to vent steam as they bake, preventing the filling from spilling out. A little bit of spillage is ok, we just don't want all of the filling coming out.
- Whisk one egg and 1 tablespoon of milk together, and brush on the tops of the hand pies. Sprinkle with coarse sugar if desired. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then bake for 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 F. Place the baking sheet on a rack just above the middle rack in your oven. When they're done, the tops should be golden brown and you will see the filling bubbling through the slits on top of the pies.
- The filling will be VERY hot once you remove it from the oven. Since we are drizzling a glaze over the top of them, we'll need to let them cool down completely before adding the glaze.
- To make the glaze, we'll mix together one cup of powdered sugar, one teaspoon of lavender extract, one tablespoon of blueberry sauce, and two tablespoons of milk. It will seem like it's not coming together, but keep mixing and you'll see that it does.
- Once the hand pies have completely cooled off, use a spoon to drizzle the glaze all over the hand pies. It doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, I think they look better when they don't look perfect.Enjoy alone or with ice cream. If you want to warm them up a bit, pop them in the microwave for a few seconds.
Notes
- I find it helpful to make the blueberry compote ahead of time so it has time to cool off before filling the turnovers.
- If you’re using homemade dough, you’ll want to make that ahead of time as it needs to be refrigerated for 2 hours before using it.
- Fruit-filled turnovers can be stored at room temperature, in an airtight container, for 1-2 days. After that, they need to be stored in the fridge in an airtight container, for up to one week.
Nutrition
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I have not tried this yet. I have lavender sugar free syrup, can I use that in place of the extract? And if so what measurement?
Yes, you can use the syrup. For the compote, I would use 1 tablespoon of the syrup and then omit the tablespoon of water that’s called for. You’ll still need the 2 tablespoons of water for the cornstarch slurry though. For the lavender icing, add 1 tablespoon of the syrup, and because it’s more liquid than the extract, you’ll want to add just 1 tablespoon of milk at first rather than the 2 tablespoons that are called for. Mix up the icing and see if you’ll end up needing a bit more milk. You might not, but it’s easier to add more than to take away. If you do need more, add 1-2 teaspoons. You just want to make sure the syrup isn’t too runny.