Chocolate Turnovers
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Learn how to make homemade Chocolate Turnovers! These can be made with either my homemade puff pastry or pie dough or with store-bought pastry crust. Buttery, flaky pastry packed with melty, decadent chocolate and drizzled with a chocolate glaze, these are a chocolate-lover’s dream! Recipe includes how-to video!
Some days you just really need some chocolate. For breakfast.
Today is one of those days.
Luke and I had a rough night last night in which neither of us slept very much at all. So I’m tired, and maybe a little cranky, and a chocolate turnover seems like a much better option to me right now than my usual breakfast. Melted dark chocolate wrapped in a buttery, flaky, sugar-dusted and chocolate-drizzled pastry shell. Like biting into a slightly less decadent molten lava cake.
Healthy? Not so much. But delicious, yes.
The Pastry Crust
For today’s recipe you have a few options for your pastry. If you’re feeling a little lazy you can use store-bought puff pastry (no judgement here, after last night I’m just about ready to grab store-bought crust myself). You’ll need to thaw it according to the package instructions before using it.
If you’re feeling a bit more ambitious, I highly recommend you either make your own pastry using my puff pastry recipe or using a double-batch of my foolproof easy pie crust recipe. Puff pastry is what I use when I make cheese danish and is the classic choice for turnovers (like the kind you’d find in an Arby’s). It gives the turnovers a lot of height and light, flakey layers.
However, my preference is to use my pie dough instead. It’s a bit simpler and I love the buttery, flakey taste, even if the turnovers don’t get nearly the same height. I use it for my apple turnovers and for my strawberry pop tarts, it’s got a great taste and is so easy to work with. You can’t go wrong with any of the above choices, though. You’ll make the pastry dough according to the recipe instructions, then let it chill as indicated before beginning.
How to Make Chocolate Turnovers
Once you’ve selected your pastry and have either thawed or chilled it accordingly, it’s time to actually prepare the turnovers.
- Roll your dough of choice to be approximately 1/8″ thick and then cut neatly into 4 1/2″ squares (I always need to use a ruler to get my squares nice and neat, otherwise they’re a disaster!).
- Prepare your chocolate by breaking it into small pieces or finely chopping it. Melt it in brief increments, stirring well in-between, until completely melted and smooth.
- Stir in a bit of cream. This will actually thicken your chocolate a bit, making it more like a thick ganache.
- Brush the center of your pastry squares with a bit of melted butter and vanilla, then dollop the chocolate in the center.
- Turn one corner over the other, folding the square in half and covering the filling with the pastry. Use a fork to press down and seal the turnover.
- Cut slits in the surface to vent, brush with egg wash, and sprinkle with sugar, if desired.
- Bake until light golden brown.
If you’d like, you can also drizzle the turnovers with a simple chocolate glaze. Did you know that at Arby’s the “official” number of stripes on a turnover is 7-9? I worked at one during high school/college (it’s where I met Zach!) and iced hundreds of turnovers in my day. I might have been reprimanded more than once for doing too many stripes… I like a lot of icing on my turnovers!
Storing
Chocolate turnovers are best served fresh, still warm from the oven. However, if you need to save them you may store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days. I still recommend heating before enjoying, especially since the chocolate is so much better melt-y and warm!
More Recipes to Try:
Enjoy!
Chocolate Turnovers
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 batches homemade pie crust, (click link for recipe. Alternatively you can use a batch of my puff pastry). Alternatively you can use two sheets of thawed, store-bought puff pastry.
Filling
- 2 Tablespoons butter, melted (salted or unsalted will work here)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 oz semisweet or dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces (alternatively you can use chocolate chips)
- 1 ½ Tablespoons heavy cream
Topping
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon water
- ½ cup coarse or raw sugar
Glaze (optional)
- ¾ cup (95 g) powdered sugar
- 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder , (Dutch processed or natural)
- 1-2 Tablespoons whole milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare two batches of pie dough or a single batch of puff pastry dough according to recipe instructions and then chill as indicated before beginning. If using store-bought: allow to thaw according to package instructions.2 batches homemade pie crust
- Preheat oven to 400F (200C).
- Remove dough from refrigerator, remove from wrapping, and turn it out onto lightly floured surface (if I am using homemade dough I work with just half at a time, keeping the second half in the refrigerator. If using store-bought puff pastry, work with just one sheet at a time).
- Use a rolling pin to roll to ⅛", and neatly cut dough into 4.5" squares (I like to use a pizza cutter or a knife and a ruler). Transfer to a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet (you will need to gather the scraps and re-roll them out to make all 10 turnovers).
- Add your vanilla extract to your melted butter and stir. Use a pastry brush to brush the center of each square with butter (leave about a 1" perimeter unbrushed).2 Tablespoons butter, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Place chopped chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat in 20-second intervals until completely melted. Add heavy cream and stir until smooth.8 oz semisweet or dark chocolate, 1 ½ Tablespoons heavy cream
- Chocolate mixture will be thick. Scoop by approximately 1 ½ Tablespoon-sized scoops and dollop the chocolate slightly off-center into the square. Slightly flatten with your fingertips if the dollop is too tall.
- Carefully fold one corner of each square over to the other to cover the chocolate filling, and use the tines of a fork to seal each turnover.
- Make an egg wash by beating together egg and teaspoon of water. Brush lightly over each turnover and sprinkle with sugar, if using. Cut small slits across the top of each triangle to vent.1 egg, 1 teaspoon water, ½ cup coarse or raw sugar
- Bake on 400F (200C) oven for 20 minutes, or until turnovers are lightly golden brown.
- If desired, create chocolate glaze by whisking together sugar, cocoa powder, milk, and vanilla extract until smooth. Drizzle over turnovers.¾ cup (95 g) powdered sugar, 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder, 1-2 Tablespoons whole milk, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Allow to cool on pan before enjoying (chocolate can be extremely hot!).
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
This recipe was originally published 05/11/2016. Photos, text, and recipe updated and video added 09/01/2020. Original photos below:
Hi Sammy! I maybe doing this recipe today & I wanted to ask if you only put sugar on the turnovers for garnish in the picture I can’t really tell if you added the chocolate glaze and then drizzled with corse sugar…or if you only added the sugar TIA!
I hope you love these Priscilla! I like to drizzle them with chocolate and add the little touch of sugar as well. 🙂
Hi Sam, Great Recipe.
Would like to make a dairy free version for a friend. Can I sub Margerine for Butter ? What about the heavy cream – can I sub Almond or soy milk ? how would I thicken to get heavy cream consistency – can I add some corn or potato starch like in cooking or is there a better product to use for baking.
Would greatly appreciate any help. If not possible would appreciate that answer as well.
Thnx
Hi Larry! Unfortunately, I haven’t tried making this dairy free so I really can’t advise on how to do it. 🙁 If you do try it I would love to know how it goes. 🙂
Hi could you use cheese danish filling instead of chocolate with this recipe? I love that filling!
Hi Chrissy! That should work just fine. 🙂
Do these need to be kept refrigerated?
Hi Patti! They don’t need to be refrigerated after baking. 🙂
Can these turnovers be frozen?
Hi Joanne! I haven’t tried it but I think that will work just fine. 🙂
Thank you!
Those look amazing (as usual), but I feel like there might be some steps missinng from the instructions. Likey anything about he filling, folding and baking XD
Omg! You are right, well I definitely wrote it but it was clearly lost somewhere in the publishing process. Fixing it now, and thank you for pointing that out!!!
Glad I could help 🙂
I can’t wait to try these, the folding of the pastry crust looks almost like home made puff pastry (IIRC the folding is also used there to create flaky layers) and I love puff pastry recipes. The pie crust itself is already great, but with the layer effect it can only get better I think.
But it will have to wait. This week it’s time for the Funfetti Cake and I think I’ll throw in the Oreo Smash Nutella Cookies.
These turnovers look delicious and I love that you made the pastry crust yourself 🙂