Apple Puff Pastries
Ingredients
8–12 pastries
For the filling
- Apples 3–4
- Brown cane sugar 4 tbsp (55 g)
- White sugar 2 tbsp (27 g)
- Butter ½ tbsp
- Ground cinnamon to taste
Pastry and glaze
- Ready-made frozen puff pastry 1 pack (up to 1 kg)
- Vegetable oil 1–2 tsp
- Egg or water, sugar for brushing and sprinkling
Step-by-step recipe
Making the apple filling
Take the dough out of the freezer and let it thaw at room temperature. By the way, the package often gives a quick microwave defrost setting – give it a try if you’re in a hurry.
Wash the apples, then peel and core them. Cut the flesh into slices about 8–10 mm thick. The pieces should soften during cooking without turning into mush, so don’t cut them too thick or too thin.
Melt a little butter in a frying pan, add brown and white sugar and ground cinnamon to taste.
Once the butter has mixed with the sugar and it starts to heat up, add the apple slices. Stirring, heat the apples until they start to release juice. The sugar will dissolve quickly. Then turn down the heat and simmer the apples in the sugar until soft and the sugar begins to caramelize.
If there is any liquid left in the pan, drain the apples in a colander. Spread the apple slices on a large plate to cool. Puff pastry is used slightly chilled, and a hot filling would quickly melt the butter inside the dough. That’s why it’s best to make apple puff pastries with ingredients at room temperature.
Shaping the pastries
Once the puff pastry has thawed and can be unrolled into a sheet without damage, carefully lay it out on the table. Cut it into squares with a knife. Roll the squares out a little with a rolling pin to get rid of small cracks and tears. There’s no need to make the pieces any bigger, though.
Lay out the caramelized apple filling, keeping it between the diagonal and one of the corners. This makes it easier to shape the pastries and seal the dough. By the way, the filling has cooled, so you can adjust it by hand if needed without getting burned.
Fold the dough in half along the diagonal. These pastries are often called “envelopes”, which is pretty close to the truth. Line up the edges of the dough so they match, and seal the pastry. You can seal it any way you like – we use an ordinary fork: just press the tines along the edge where the top layer meets the bottom one. You get a pretty patterned edge. Prick each pastry with a fork in 3–4 places to let the steam out.
Baking
Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. To keep the pastries from sticking, brush the bottom with a little vegetable oil – 1–2 tsp of sunflower or olive oil is enough for all of them. Place the pastries on the paper, leaving a little space between them.
Brush the pastries with a little beaten egg and sprinkle with regular sugar. Strictly speaking, you don’t need to brush them with anything – they will come out crisp and golden anyway. You can also lightly moisten the dough with water and sprinkle it with sugar. The sugar won’t have time to burn during baking and will stay on the surface, forming a sweet sugar crust.
Put the baking sheet in the oven. Apple puff pastries usually bake for 20–25 minutes. Keep an eye on them, judging by how golden the tops and bottoms are. As soon as you’re happy with the result, take the baking sheet out of the oven and let the pastries cool – apple puff pastries are eaten warm or cold.
Serving
Put the finished apple puff pastries on a plate or in a wicker basket and serve with tea. They are very flaky and shed crumbs a bit, so keep that in mind. They go perfectly with tea or fruit juice.
Calories and macros
429 kcal
100 g
- Protein5.1 g5% of kcal
- Fat27.1 g58% of kcal
- Carbs39.7 g38% of kcal
Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.
How did you like this recipe?
To Get It Right
Which pastry to use
Apple puff pastries are easy to bake with frozen ready-made puff pastry, which is sold in almost any shop. Any kind will do, yeast or yeast-free – the method is the same. It’s important that it hasn’t been frozen for too long, so buy it fresh – check the production date. It usually takes 1–2 hours to thaw at room temperature: just enough time to make the filling and preheat the oven. You can also make homemade puff pastry.
Which apples
When my daughter and I bake apple puff pastries, we buy large green apples with a sweet-tart flavor. Reinette Simirenko and Granny Smith work great.
Sugar crust
Powdered sugar on puff pastries crumbles off, sticks and melts. It’s more reliable to moisten the dough lightly with water and sprinkle it with regular sugar – the crust comes out wonderful, as readers have confirmed.
Other fillings
If you seal the dough well, you can also use semi-liquid fillings for the pastries – jam, preserves or even juicy fruit. Don’t refreeze leftover pastry: spread it with thick jam, roll it up into a log with sealed ends and bake it the same way.
Have your own trick for this recipe?
Questions and answers
How long do you bake apple puff pastries?
Usually 20–25 minutes in an oven preheated to 180 °C. Judge by how golden they are on top and underneath.
How do you fold apple puff pastries?
The easiest way is as an envelope: place the filling between the diagonal of the square and a corner, fold the dough in half along the diagonal and press the edges with the tines of a fork. You get a triangle with a pretty patterned edge.
How do you make the apple filling for puff pastries?
Cut the apples into 8–10 mm slices and simmer them in a frying pan with butter, sugar and cinnamon until soft and lightly caramelized. Drain off the excess juice and let the filling cool – a hot one would melt the butter in the dough.
How many calories are in apple puff pastries?
About 250 kcal per 100 g.