Quick Apple Tarts Recipe (2024)

Quick Apple Tarts are a Fall staple. You can easily serve them for unexpected guests — just pop them in the oven and in under 15 minutes you will have a hot and fresh dessert or breakfast.

Don’t have store bought puff pastry on hand? You can make your own puff pastry dough at home. It’s very easy!

Apple tarts are mini Apple pastries made with puff pastry, sliced apples and sugar. To elevate the simple flavors, we add sugar, lemon juice and sweetened condensed milk.

Apple Tarts vs Apple Pie – What’s the Difference?

Apple tarts are hand held pastries that are often served for breakfast or dessert. Thin slices of raw apple are placed right on top of the dough and baked to perfection in their most natural state.

Apple pies, on the other hand, consist of stewed apple filling that is stuffed into a pie crust and baked in the oven until golden brown and bubbly on the inside.

How To Make Apple Tarts?

• Skin, core and slice your apples.
• Slice puff pastry into equal pieces. Brush with egg and sprinkle with sugar.
• Move dough pieces to a lined baking sheet. Top with sliced apples. Optionally, drizzle with condensed milk.
• Bake in the oven until golden brown.

Hot Tip: Drizzling your tarts with condensed milk at the end is totally optional. It does make them lean on a sweet side. We love the extra sweetness around here, but feel free to omit if you like a little less sugar!

Tips for Making the Best Apple Tarts

• Slice your apples thin. Slice your apples thin to ensure that they bake through in the oven and give your tart a more delicate bite. Biting into a big hunk of raw apple ruins the vibe!
• Don’t let your puff pastry get to room temperature. Working with puff pastry can get a little finicky. Store-bought versions come frozen and require you to thaw the sheets — but not too much. You want your puff pastry to be cold, yet malleable when you work with it. If you let it thaw too long, the butter will melt and result in a flat tart.
• Don’t overload your pastry. If you stack to many apples on the puff pastry, you will risk it falling apart and becoming a big mess in your hands. Keep it to 4-5 slices of apples to air on the safe side.
• Brush the puff pastry with eggs. Don’t skip the step of brushing your pastry with egg. This gives it that beautiful golden brown color.

Best Apples for Apple Tarts

Tart apples like Fuji or Granny Smith work the best. At the end of the day, you could use any variety or even mix and match a couple different kinds.

Storing Leftovers for Later

Apple tarts are best stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They will stay fresh for 2 to 3 days on the counter. If you need to store them any longer, switch them over to the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

It might be tempting to make a big batch of Apple Tarts and freeze some for later. However, apples don’t freeze well. When you try to reheat them, they will turn to mush and ruin the texture of your tart.

Hot Tip: Want to reheat your Apple Tart, but don’t want it to get soggy? Pop it in the air fryer for 30-45 seconds and it will come out oven fresh.

More Fun Fall Recipes

• Puff Pastry Pear Tartlets – Easy sliced pear puff pastry tarts
• Apple Turnover – Another handheld apple treat for apple lovers on-the-go…
• Air Fryer Apple Chips – Cinnamon apple chips with an addicting crunch
• Caramel Apple Cake – Caramel and apple belong together. This cake is of no exception.
• Apple Banana Bread – Slather a slice of this bread with high-quality European butter straight out of the oven…Yum!