Hi frendos! No snowmans around. Not yet. I did, however, manage to make it snow with these ah-mazing peanut butter cookies. They’re so. so. so good. I mean it. So good. How’s the winter season treating y’all so far? Hope everyone’s doing great 💛
BROWN SUGAR APPLE TARTS
Autumn deliciousness incoming! 🙂
- Crust
- 300 gr flour, 2-3 tbsp more for rolling dough
- 150 gr chilled butter, small cubes
- pinch of salt
- 2 small eggs
- 2-3 tbsp ice water
- Filling
- 5-6 apples, peeled or unpeeled, thinly sliced
- 5 tbsp dark brown soft sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 5 tbsp toasted walnuts, chopped
- 3 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 3 tbsp candied orange peel
- Preheat oven at 190 degrees C/ 375 degrees F.
- Combine flour, salt and butter until the mix resembles small crumbs.
- Add egg and ice water and form dough.
- If the dough is too wet, add more flour gradually, until the dough doesn't stick.
- Chill dough in the fridge for 30 mins
- Roll dough and place in small tart pans.
- Mix brown sugar with cinnamon.
- Sprinkle a layer of brown sugar with cinnamon over each tart crust, add a few walnuts and pumpkin seeds.
- Layer apple slices (7-10 slices) on top of the walnuts and pumpkin seeds.
- On top of the layered apple slices, add the rest of the walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and the candied orange peel.
- Sprinkle heavy with remaining brown sugar and cinnamon mix.
- Give each tart a real quick oil spray.
- Bake at 190 degrees C/ 375 degrees F for 15-18 minutes.
CARAMELIZED RED ONION AND CREMINI PUFF PASTRY TART
I love coming up with recipes that involve caramelized onions and since puff pastry makes a good combo with basically anything (doesn’t it? it does, right?), I was pretty sure these two would make a good match. The brown Creminis add a depth of flavor to the recipe and also add 72 mg of calcium, 100 mcg of folate, and 4.4 mg of zinc to the dish. Yes, yes, there is a lot of butter involved in this recipe, however, keep in mind this is an appetizer and it should serve 8-10 persons. The red onion offers the dish 55 mg of Vitamin C, 172,5 mg of Calcium, 142.5 mcg of folate. So overall, it’s a pretty nutritious appetizer, just stick to the serving size. Or don’t 🗽🎉.
You can make your own puff pastry from scratch using my puff pastry recipe or buy it frozen if you don’t have the time to prepare it at home. Works perfect both ways. You can try out this recipe with different types of mushrooms, such as Portobello, Shiitake, or Oyster mushrooms.
You can make one big puff as I did, or cut the puff pastry dough before adding cremini mixture in 8-10-12 cute individual ones. Totes up to you! 🎈
Full recipe & nutritional information below ⤵️ ✌️
- 5 medium-large red onions cut in circles horizontally
- 2 ½ tsp butter
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar or red/white wine
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 400 gr Cremini mushrooms or other, cut lengthwise
- 2 tsp fresh dill, frozen or dry work also
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 400 grams puff pastry, chilled
- Salt
- Pepper
- Cut the onions horizontally, in circles. The size of the circles should be roughly 0.5 cm/0.2 in.
- Melt 2 tbsp butter in skillet and add onions.
- Cook for 25-30 minutes on medium heat, checking and stirring every 3-4 minutes to avoid onions sticking to skillet.
- Add 2 tbsp vinegar and 1 tbsp sugar and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Season with salt to taste and set aside to cool.
- Cut the mushrooms vertically, 1 cm/0.4 in each slice.
- In another pan, melt ½ tbsp of butter and add mushrooms.
- Cook on medium heat for 3 minutes.
- Add soy sauce, cook for another 2 minutes.
- Season with salt, pepper and fresh dill.
- Spread puff pastry dough and roll it for a 30cm/12in length and 20cm/8in wide sheet.
- Spread caramelized onions from center of puff pastry dough to the edges.
- Remove excess liquid from cooking mushrooms and add them on top of onion.
- Brush puff pastry dough with 1 tsp of melted buttes.
- Bake at 190 degrees C/375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until puff pastry has risen and became golden.
PUFF PASTRY
Aerial and crisp, puff pastry is the richest pastry; still, it’s the lightest. The recipe uses equal quantities of butter and flour. It’s a bit time consuming; however, it doesn’t require plenty of work, only re-rolling it once every 30 minutes. The lemon juice softens the gluten in the flour and makes the dough more supple but measure it carefully, as too much lemon juice can make the pastry difficult to handle 🍋. Try not to chill the pastry longer than 30 minutes between re-rolling it as the butter will harden and can break the dough. If left for longer than 30 minutes, let the puff pastry rest for 10 minutes at room temperature before re-rolling.
It is essential to work on cold surfaces and chill water and butter before using them. The recipe makes enough for two single–crusts for 1.5 liter pie dishes or fifteen 8.5cm vol-au-vents. Both sweet and savory fillings or topping work great. In the picture above I used caramelized red onion and brown creminis to make a delicious and easy appetizer. 🍴😎
- 225 gr/2 cups white bread flour
- 225 gr/1 cup chilled butter
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Pinch of salt
- 150 ml/2/3 cup chilled water
- Sift flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Cut or rub 2 tbsp of butter into flour until it resembles fine crumbs.
- Place remaining butter between two sheets of plastic wrap and gently beat it up into a 15 cm/6 in flat square using a rolling pin.
- Make a well in the middle of dry ingredients. Combine lemon juice with water and add to well. Stir with cold utensil adding more water if necessary. The dough should be soft but not sticky.
- Flour rolling pin and roll out a 25 cm/10 in square. Don’t kneat it even if it looks lumpy.
- Place butter diagonally in the center of dough and bring each side of the dough in the center of the butter, to enclose it completely.
- Roll the dough to a 40 x 50cm/ 16 x 6in rectangle, then fold the lower third if the pastry over the center third and the top third of pastry down over that. Seal edges gently with rolling pin. Brush off any excess flour and wrap the pastry in plastic wrap, then chill for 30 minutes.
- Roll out the pastry to the same size again, with sealed edges on top and bottom. Fold and chill as before.
- Repeat 5 more times.
- Use right away according to recipe directions or wrap tightly in clear film and use in the next 3 days.