Coconut Pineapple Turnovers with Caramel Sauce

Name: Coconut Pineapple Turnovers with Caramel Sauce
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 28 min
Yield: 8 pastries
Ingredients: 1 17.3-oz package (two sheets) frozen puff pastry, (thawed); 1 20-oz can crushed pineapple in juice, (drained well); 3/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes; Milk, (for brushing); 8 tsp salted caramel sauce, (for drizzling)

March 2, 2018 By Alyssa 46 Comments

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Coconut pineapple turnovers are made SO easy with puff pastry. Just three ingredients form these simple pastries that are complemented beautifully with a drizzle of homemade salted caramel sauce.

We’ve reached the time of year when I start pushing the envelope as far as my outerwear is concerned. A few daffodils have bloomed, and when it’s bright and beautifully sunny outside I’ll think I don’t need a coat. Until I go outside and get hit by a blast of thirty-something degree air, which has me running back in the house immediately.

Can it be spring already??

Besides dreaming about putting the coats up in storage for the year, I’ve been pining for spring-y and summery flavors. Not that I ever really stop thinking about fruit like peaches and watermelon, ice cream, and grilled everything, but once the calendar turned to March that feeling became harder to ignore.

So in that vein, I went through the recipe archives here to find a recipe that was in need of a photo refresh (whoo boy are there ever) that could satisfy some of my bright flavor cravings. I settled on these coconut pineapple turnovers because, hello, pineapple and coconut are quintessentially warm and tropical flavors.

Plus, I mean, they use only three ingredients (not counting a little milk for brushing only) with caramel sauce as an extra added bonus. Who can say no to dessert with a drizzle of caramel sauce?

Not me!

The backbone of this recipe for coconut pineapple turnovers is frozen puff pastry. Sure you can make turnovers from scratch scratch, but puff pastry produces reliably light, flaky, and SIMPLE turnovers. If that wasn’t enough, the filling is comprised of just two ingredients – crushed pineapple and flaked coconut.

Be sure when you drain the pineapple that you remove as much excess liquid as you can. I’m partial to using crushed pineapple in its own juice vs. in syrup. I’ll pour as much of the crushed pineapple as can fit in a strainer and press on it using the back of a spoon to allow for as much of the juice to drain out as possible. Excess liquid won’t be a good thing to add to these coconut pineapple turnovers.

When stirred together with sweetened flaked coconut, the filling has a balanced mix of pineapple and coconut flavor with barely any effort required. Because even if you enjoy the process of cooking and baking, sometimes it’s nice to have a few “semi-homemade” recipes in your back pocket.

While you can certainly stop there and enjoy flaky good coconut pineapple turnovers, a drizzle of homemade salted caramel sauce takes them over the top. It’s no secret I love caramel sauce with pineapple and coconut (see: grilled angel food cake with pineapple, coconut, and caramel). Which reminds me…is it grilling season yet?

Recipe notes:

Squeeze out as much of the excess liquid from the crushed pineapple so the filling isn’t too watery.
I brushed these coconut pineapple turnovers with milk to help the tops become golden when baked. You can use an egg wash or your favorite egg wash alternative, but I didn’t want to ‘waste’ an egg.
While I’m partial to homemade caramel sauce (recipe linked in the recipe card below), you can certainly use store-bought for a time-saving step.

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