Ingredients

Buttery Crust:
2 1/2 cups (315 grams) unbleached all purpose flour
1 tablespoon (15 grams) coconut palm or cane sugar
1 teaspoon (5 grams) fleur de sel sea salt
2 sticks (8 ounces, 225 grams tablespoons or 1 cup) unsalted or pasture butter, very cold
Blueberry Filling:
5 cups frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup coconut sugar
1/3 cup all purpose unbleached flour (King Arthur)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Fleur de Sel salt
Cream Cheese Filling:
4 oz cream cheese
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 lemon zested
1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Have you ever tried making small fruit filled turnovers? They only take 15 to 20 minutes to bake and everyone can grab their own “pie.” You can take them on picnics, pack in lunch boxes, or enjoy them on a road trip. Make sure you bring plenty of napkins.

To change up my normal blueberry pie recipe, I whipped up some cream cheese with coconut sugar, lemon juice and zest and a splash of vanilla. Thank you Smitten Kitchen for the idea. It drastically changed the taste of these turnovers.

I made several turnovers with the cream cheese filling and some without. My husband and I could not decide which one we liked better; the kids prefered the one with the cream cheese. You cannot go wrong with either.

I highly recommend squeezing and zesting the lemons. It will taste much better, contain more vitamin C and may even help you look and feel younger. I have read citrus zest helps repair your DNA and may lower your risk of skin cancer. No wonder many spas offer citrus peel treatments.

Coconut palm sugar helps regulate blood sugar levels so I always try to use it instead of normal sugar. In this recipe, I think it adds a richness to the blueberry juices and the crust. You can use cane sugar if you have it but I highly recommend trying the coconut palm sugar sometime.

I use King Arthur’s organic unbleached all purpose flour since I feel it creates a better crust and is healthier. After hearing about someone who visited Italy and did not have any gluten issues with the pasta and breads there but cannot eat them here in the States, I feel it is important to buy organically grown wheat without any genetic modification. I want to do everything I can to continue to being able to eat my pumpkin and banana breads, fruit pies, rum cake and cookies. Plus, with my son’s allergy to eggs, going gluten free and egg free is pretty close to impossible if you want a bakery quality bread.

Directions

1) Make the crust using these instructions or use 2 frozen pie crusts. I use Coconut Palm Sugar instead of cane sugar. You can also use puff pastry sheets if you have them. Flour your working surface and roll out the dough to an 1/8″ in thickness. Use a cookie cutter or place a 6 inch ramekin on the dough and trace with a knife. Place the round dough on parchment paper to fill with fruit and cream cheese. Now most people will add an egg wash to the edges to help them seal but I am not since my son is allergic to eggs. It works fine without the wash. Just make sure all the flour is off the edges when you crimp them or they will not stick together.

Note: I used my hands the entire time when I was making the crust which creates a sticker dough. You will have very messy fingers but there is less to clean up since you will only use one bowl if you measure all the ingredients.

2) Place fresh or frozen blueberries into a bowl. Frozen berries hold their shape better. Zest and then juice the lemon. Pour 1 tablespoon of lemon juice over the blueberries. Add all of the dry ingredients into the bowl and coat the blueberries.

3) Now make the cream cheese filling. Let the cream cheese come to room temperature or soften in the oven to make it easier to whip. Place 4 ounces of cream cheese in a bowl and add 1/3 cup coconut sugar, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, zest from one lemon, 1/4 teaspoon vanilla. Mix together. There may be some lumps from the cream cheese.

4) Place two tablespoons of blueberries with the flour-sugar mixture and a tablespoon of cream cheese filling on the dough. I add a lot of filling so you can taste more fruit than crust. The homemade crust is rich and buttery.

5) Fold the dough over to create a half moon shape. Use two fingers and knuckle to create a pie shaped edge or use a fork to crimp the edges. Click here for pictures showing how to crimp the edges. Seal the edges well or the juices will bubble out. It still tastes fine but is not as pretty. Place turnovers in the refrigerator while the oven is heating up to make sure the butter is still cold in the crust when they go into the oven.

6) Preheat the oven. Bake at 385 degrees convection for 15 minutes or 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Serve warm. Enjoy!