An apple tart that is so elegant no one will guess how easy it is! Store-bought puff pastry and a cinnamon sugar glaze mean you can make this dessert in only slightly longer than it takes to slice the apples.
The internet says it’s fall but the weather still says summer. What’s a girl to do except crank up the AC and start baking all the apple and pumpkin recipes? This one couldn’t be easier or faster to make. It’s perfect if you’re not up for heating the kitchen for too long but still want some cinnamon apple goodness to kick off the season.
I’ve been making this tart for much of the summer and using whatever fruit is in season - plums and peaches have both made an appearance.
It’s my go-to stand in for a fruit pie. Because pies are fussy and truthfully...because pies scare me.
There’s nothing scary about this tart. If you want a homemade apple dessert without a lot of fuss, add this to your fall line-up. The cinnamon-sugar mixture melts and gets slightly sticky, creating a caramel glaze that surrounds the apples and forms a thin ribbon between two pieces of pastry.
The tart is thin, not too rich, perfectly sweet, and highlights the apples. It’s a great place for the tart flavor of Granny Smith apples in particular, but any apples will do.
Now it can be fall on the internet and in your kitchen.
More Fun Tart Recipes
- Sugar Cookie Lemon Tarts
- Plum Tarts with Sweet Basil Honey
- Chocolate Chip Brownie Tarts
- Simple Onion Tart
- Chocolate Banana Tarts
- Chocolate Mandarin and Strawberry Cheesecake Tartlets
- Leftover Greens Savory Tart
Favorite Tools
Easy Apple Tart
Equipment
- Cast Iron Skillet
Ingredients
- 1 17- oz Package Puff Pastry
- 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ¼ cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 medium Apples (preferably a tart variety, like Granny Smith)
- 2 tablespoon Butter
- 2 tablespoon Butter, melted
Instructions
- Defrost pastry according to package directions.
- Heat oven to 350 F.
- Combine cinnamon and sugar.
- Slice apples. (Note: If you want the apples more tender, slice them thin; for a bit more substance to the apples in the tart, slice them into thicker wedges.)
- Using your 10” skillet as a guide (place it on top of the pastry), cut two 10” diameter circles out of the pastry. Set aside.
- Place skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoon of butter until it melts.
- Sprinkle ⅓ of the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the melted butter. Arrange apples on top in a single layer (some overlap of the apples is fine; you may not need all of the slices). Sprinkle ⅓ of the cinnamon sugar mixture over the apples.
- Let the apples cook until the cinnamon sugar on the bottom is caramelized and bubbling up the sides, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Top apples with the first puff pastry round. Spread with 2 tablespoon melted butter and then the remaining ⅓ cinnamon sugar. Finish with the final puff pastry round.
- Transfer to the oven and bake until pastry is golden and puffy, 10 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from the oven and let the tart cool in the skillet for 10 minutes (this will allow the sugar to firm up so it doesn’t run everywhere when you flip the tart over).
- Gently invert the warm tart on a serving platter or cutting board.
- Cut into 8 slices and serve warm. Top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream!)
Notes
Nutrition
Molly and Clara attend a Montessori preschool. Check out these real life Montessori skills in action. They actually ask to help fold the laundry!
*This post contains affiliate links*
Georgia Bolton
Thank you so much for your helpful shearing post!
sheenam | thetwincookingproject.net
Oh I had been looking for an apple tart recipe for such a long time now!! This looks so perfect. Love experimenting with puff pastry. Subscribed to your newsletter as well 🙂
Jess
Hi Sheenam - thanks so much. I love your site! I have twins! Puff pastry is so much fun and the store-bought kind is so easy to work with. I love experimenting with it too!
Abigail Margaret @usehealthtips
If I don’t have heavy cream on hand, would half and half work? Should I add melted butter to the half and a half to make it fatter lol trying to think? Really want to try this.
Jess
Hi Abigail. Just skip the cream altogether - it will be delicious! Enjoy!
K-anne
Just made this for a dinner party this evening! It looks gorgeous and hoping I made it as tasty as yours. Question - is the puff pasty supposed to "fall" a bit after it cools down? It did rise in the oven but it fell slightly once it cooled down. The tarte inverted nicely!
Jess Smith
Oh that's great - I hope you all enjoy it as much as we do. Yes - it's totally normal for the tart to fall once it cools. The hot air between the layers makes it puff up, but it will fall to just a thin layer as that air cools and escapes.
Barbara
Love this easy apple tart recipe!
We never eat a whole apple pie before it goes stale! This was gobbled up with one meal!
Great idea! Love puff pastry!
Jess Smith
Agreed - that's what we love about this scaled-down version too! So glad you liked it!
Gray M
Very easy to make and tastes great- I did find it too juicy so the crust got very soggy quickly which turned it back into dough instead of a crust. I think next time I will cook apples down longer and bake it longer as well. Got any other tips to keep the crust?
Jess Smith
I've found that different types of apples have different moisture content, so that can affect the crust. The best way I've found is to slice the apples into thinner slices or let them cook longer (at a slightly lower temperature) to let as much moisture cook off as possible before adding the crust on top. Hope that helps!