These easy Puff Pastry Apple Tarts are made with store-bought puff pastry dough, cinnamon sugar, and apples. These mini apple tarts are so easy to make, and they’re a perfect holiday breakfast recipe!
Top with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce to turn these apple puff pastries into an irresistible dessert.
Easy Apple Tart With Puff Pastry Recipe
We’re in full blown holiday season mode over here. It’s only Thanksgiving week, but it seems as if every single day from now until New Year’s Day is packed with one event, party, or gathering after another. With so many get togethers, I find myself gravitating toward the simple recipes that can be made with time to spare.
As much I find joy in baking an apple pie or my favorite batch of Christmas sugar cookies, sometimes there’s very little time between work, family, life in general, and these holiday events.
What I love about these pretty little apple tarts is that they’re made with only a handful of ingredients, and the entire apple tart recipe from start to finish is ready within an hour. They are incredibly flaky and buttery apple tarts, filled with perfectly baked cinnamon sugar sliced apples.
This recipe is versatile enough that these apple puff pastries could be served as a breakfast or brunch item, or they can be served as a dessert (I suggest topping with a little ice cream and caramel because over-the-top is my middle name when it comes to desserts).
Once you see how easy this mini Puff Pastry Apple Tart recipe is, you’ll make it again and again!
Three Reasons We Love This Puff Pastry Apple Recipe:
- Puff Pastry: Using frozen puff pastry sheets is one of my favorite kitchen secrets. Puffed pastry is an amazing ingredient that I like to keep on hand in my freezer, because it can be used in a variety of ways to make an easy dessert. It’s buttery, flaky, and most of all, the perfect ingredient to make simple desserts.
- Apples: It’s apple season and there is nothing I like more than using seasonal ingredients during the holiday season. Plus, apples are generally a safe item that most people are going to love in a dessert.
- Simple Ingredients: This recipe uses a handful of simple ingredients, like puff pastry, apples, cinnamon, sugar, butter, and apricot jam. The apricot jam is optional, but it adds a nice extra zip of flavor and shiny finish to the puff pastry apple tart.
If you love easy recipes using puff pastry or biscuit dough, you’ll love these Strawberry Nutella Turnovers, Strawberry Cheesecake Croissants, and this Monkey Bread Recipe!
Ingredients:
- Puff Pastry: We use store bought puff pastry, but if you want to use homemade puff pastry, you can.
- Apples: I prefer to use a sturdy baking apple that’s sweet in flavor, such as honeycrisp apples. You can use any fresh apples you prefer, including gala apples, pink ladies, or even granny smith apples. If using granny smith, I suggest adding a bit more sugar to the apple filling, because granny smith are tart apples.
- Ground Cinnamon
- Granulated Sugar and Raw Sugar: The granulated sugar is mixed with the cinnamon to create homemade cinnamon sugar. The raw sugar is sprinkled on top of the apple slices, which gives the apple tarts just a bit of sparkle. However, it is optional.
- Unsalted Butter
- Apricot Jam: Apricot jam or apricot preserves is optional, but it’s an easy way to make the apple puff pastry tarts look finished. Brushing jam over the tops of the pastries give them a glossy shine that completes the entire look. This is something a lot of bakeries do on top of fruit tarts.
How To Make Apple Tarts With Puff Pastry:
- Puff Pastry: Let the puff pastry thaw before baking. Once it has thawed, unfold each sheet of puff pastry (there should be two sheets in each box of frozen pastry). Cut each sheet into 4 squares, giving you 8 total puff pastry mini apple tarts. Using a sharp knife, score each piece of puff pastry dough, making sure not to cut all the way through the dough.
- Basically, cut a square within each piece of puff pastry, about 1/2″ in from the edges (again, making sure you are not cutting all the way through the dough). This will ensure the edges of the pastry puff up really well as the tarts bake, and it will keep the apple juices from spilling over the edges of the little tarts.
- Pan: Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and place 4 puff pastry squares on each.
- Filling: Spread softened butter on the puff pastry dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
- Apples: Cut your apples into thin slices (you can keep the apple peels on or you can remove them). Layer them on top of the cinnamon sugar. Sprinkle with raw sugar, if desired.
- Bake: Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the puff pastry has puffed and the apple tarts are golden brown.
- Apricot Jam: While the tarts are cooling, warm some jam and a pinch of water in the microwave. Using a pastry brush, brush a bit of jam on top of the apples and on the edges of the tart.
- Serve: Serve warm, at room temperature, or even cold. I love these served warm with ice cream and caramel, or topped with powdered sugar.
Storage Tips:
- Store baked apple tarts in an airtight container. They can be stored at room temperature for 1-2 days, or they can be stored in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
Do These Have To Be Individual Puff Pastry Apple Tarts?
- No, actually they do not. Instead of cutting the dough into puff pastry rectangles, you can leave them as is. Score all around the two large sheets of dough. Spread the butter and cinnamon sugar over the pastry and layer with slices of apple. Bake until golden and the pastry has flaky layers. Cut into squares. (This looks a little more like a rustic apple dessert.)
- Or, you can make these mini puff pastry tarts even smaller by cutting the dough into 9 small squares.
Other Easy Apple Recipes:
- Caramel Apple Pie Bars
- Rustic Apple Pie
- Apple Streusel Muffins
- Caramel Stuffed Baked Apples
- Apple Pie Coffee Cake
Quick and Easy Tips For This Puff Pastry Apple Tart Recipe:
- Thaw Puff Pastry: It only takes about 30 minutes for puff pastry to thaw, but make sure you give yourself that much time.
- Best Apples: You can use whatever apples you prefer, but I find a sweet apple is my favorite way to make this recipe for puff pastry apple tarts. Honeycrisp are my favorite apples.
- Cinnamon Sugar: I like using a simple blend of cinnamon and sugar to sweeten these apple puff pastry tarts, but you can also use a little brown sugar as well.
- Topping: These are perfect the way they are, but you can top with powdered sugar, ice cream, caramel, or whipped cream.
- 2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
- 2 large apples, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 TBSP butter, softened
- Raw sugar, for sprinkling
- 2 TBSP apricot jam + pinch of water, optional
- Vanilla ice cream
- Caramel sauce
- Powdered Sugar
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Unfold puff pastry and cut into squares. Arrange 4 squares on each tray.
- Using a sharp knife, score the edges of each puff pastry square about 1/2” from the edge (basically you’re making a square inside so that the edges will puff properly as it bakes. Make sure not to cut all the way through the pastry).
- Spread a little butter on each square.
- Mix cinnamon and sugar together. Sprinkle about 1 TBSP over each square.
- Arrange apple slices on top of the sugar.
- If desired, sprinkle each with a bit of raw sugar.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Optional apricot glaze: warm the jam and water in the microwave until the jam is warm and loose (about 10-15 seconds). Brush the apples and pastry with the jam to give it a nice shine.
- If desired, top with ice cream and caramel sauce. Or, top with powdered sugar.
Try These Other Cinnamon Desserts Next:
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