Apple Pastry

This is so simple and delicious.  I always end up eating them all way too fast.  4 simple ingredients and just a little bit of time!  A pastry at Carb Co. (Panera to those not living in St. Louis where Panera is called “St. Louis Bread Company” or nicknamed “Bread Co.”) is about $2-3 each.  You can easily make 8 of these delicious pastries for $5-6.  Since the pastry dough is frozen and already divided in half, you don’t have to make all 8.  You can make 4!  You could cut the dough in a circle and make a ring of apples.  Or, you could make simple rectangles just 1/2″ larger on the sides then the apple slices.  Just be sure to prick the dough where the apple will go.  You could use strawberry preserves like I did instead of apricot.  But, I do think the apricot looks better.  I was craving these babies and wasn’t going for looks.  🙂

I noticed one reviewer in the recipe also forgot to pick up apricot jam.  He heated up some maple syrup and used that.  Sounds like  a GREAT idea.  He had guests, so he probably thought more about it than I did.

Apple Pastry
yield 4

1 sheet of puff pastry dough, thawed (Pepperridge Farm make this and it is kept in the freezer section.)
sugar
1 Granny Smith apple, cored, peeled and quartered
1 Tbs. lemon juice
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup apricot jam (picture shown above with homemade strawberry lemon marmalade because that is what I had on hand)

1.  Put a baking sheet covered with parchment paper/silicone liner in the fridge or freezer.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2.  Dust both sides of dough with sugar.  Cut the dough into 4 squares with a pizza cutter.  (or you could do circles and yield less pastries, or do rectangles and layer your apples in a row)
3.   Place the pastry on the cold baking sheet for 5 minutes.
4.   In small bowl, mix the water and lemon juice.  (The amount of water is not terribly important and you can eyeball it.)
5.   Very carefully, slice the apple very very thin with a knife or vegetable peeler.  Place the apples in the lemon water.
6.   Flip your pastries over and prick them with a fork EXCEPT 1/2″ from the edge.  You want the edge nice and puffy!
7.  Sprinkle pastry with sugar and layer your apple slices on the pricked section while slightly overlapping the apple slices.
8.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is light golden brown and not soft when you poke it.
9.  Microwave  apricot jam for 20 seconds.  Dab it onto the apples with a brush.  Let the tarts cool for 4 hours, or if you can’t wait like me, put them in the fridge or freezer until they are cooled off.  Store in a ziplock bag.