French Apple Pastries with Puff Pastry
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These French apple pastries are a fantastic treat for Christmas morning breakfast because you can make them ahead of time and then pop them in the oven and bake on Christmas day. They are one of my favorite puff pastry recipes because they look super impressive, but are actually a cinch to make!
This post is sponsored by Wewalka Puff Pastry, all opinions are my own. Update: Wewalka has rebranded and is now known as Jus-Rol is the U.S.A.
An Assortment of Brunch Pastries
- Pair these pastries with my Mini Ham and Cheese Croissants and Sticky Buns for an assortment of brunch pastries.
- Watch the video demo below and I’ll show you how to make all three!
Brunch Pastry Video Demo
Step#1: Peel and Slice Apples
- I like to use Gala apples for this recipe because they are sweet and light. They also work well in my Apple Galette and French Apple Tart recipes.
- Try to find the smaller Gala apples since they work a bit better for the size of the pastry square.
- Once you get all the apples peeled, you’ll slice off the “cheeks” of the apples.
Then you’ll slice each apple round into thin slices making sure you keep the apple intact.
Keeping the apple intact will add to the French-inspired design, once the apples are baked.
Step#2: Roll Out and Cut Puff Pastry Sheets
- Roll out the puff pastry and keep it on the parchment paper on a cutting board. This is the nice thing about this brand of puff pastry, it comes on parchment paper you can bake on!
- Slice the pastry on a “landscape” orientation, into 3 equal strips.
- Then re-orient the pastry to face you vertically and slice it in thirds to create 6 squares/rectangles.
Step#3: Add Egg Wash and Apple Sauce
Brush each piece of puff pastry with the egg wash, just around the perimeter. This will help the pastry adhere once you fold up the corners.
Then place a small amount of unsweetened apple sauce in the center. You could also stir in 1/4 tsp of cinnamon to the apple sauce if you wish.
Step#4: Add Apples and Fold Up Corners
- Then gently transfer your apples to the center of each pastry, the apple sauce will spread a bit so just be sure it stays on the pastry.
- Fold up each corner of the pastry to meet in the middle. This design will not stay this way as it bakes, it’s only to create a flat pastry that will have turned up corners once it’s baked.
- Once all the corners are folded up, you can cover your tray loosely with foil and place in the fridge overnight.
Step#5: Brush with Egg Wash and Bake
Moments before baking brush each pastry with egg wash and then bake!
STEP#6: Brush with Melted Apple Jelly
When your pastries are baked, the final step is to brush each one with a little melted apple jelly to give them additional sweetness and shine.
If you cannot find apple jelly, you can also use Apricot jelly. The apricot jelly will add even more color to your pastries and the tartness it provides is a nice addition too.
Allow your pastries to rest for 5 minutes which will “set” the jelly a bit. Then you can dust each one with a little powdered sugar for a fun “white Christmasy” look.
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French Apple Pastries
These French-style apple pastries are a fantastic treat for Christmas morning breakfast because you can make them ahead of time and then pop them in the oven and bake on Christmas day.
Ingredients
- 1 package of Wewalka Puff Pastry
- ½ (120ml) cup of unsweetened apple sauce
- 5 small Gala apples
- 1 egg, beaten
- ¼ cup (60ml) of apple jelly
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425F (218C).
- Peel apples and slice off the 4 sides with a sharp knife, leaving a square core and 4 “apple cheeks”.
- Place each apple “cheek” cut side down and slice it very thinly keeping it intact on your board. Then set aside.
- Unroll the puff pastry, leaving it resting on the parchment paper, and place it on a cutting board. Be sure to orient the pastry in the landscape position with the short sides at the ends. Cut the pastry in 3 vertical strips.
- Cut each vertical strip into thirds, creating 9 equal-sized squares. Transfer the parchment paper with the squares to a baking sheet.
- Brush egg wash around the perimeter of each square of pastry. Place 1 ½ tablespoons of apple sauce in the center of each pastry square.
- Place an apple cheek on top of the apple sauce. Fold the corners of the pastry up to meet the apple. Then brush with more egg wash to adhere.
- Bake at 425F for 25 minutes. Corners will come loose from the apple during baking and create a pretty flat pastry with turned-up edges.
- Meanwhile, warm apple jelly in a small saucepan until liquefied.
- Once pastries are done, brush each one with the apple jelly. Then allow to cool for 10 minutes and dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
You can prep the pastries the day before, loosely cover with foil and place in the refrigerator. Then right before baking, brush with the egg wash and bake.
If you can't find apple jelly, you can substitute it for Apricot jelly. This will add a nice golden color to your pastries and a nice tartness too.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 134Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 21mgSodium: 17mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 2gSugar: 24gProtein: 1g
forgot to add this to my previous question – what are the dimensions of the square? I will probably use Pepperidge Farm because that is what is offered around here. Your instructions do not specify the size or it it does I missed it…thank you.
Oh sure I would do 4 x 3.5″ hope you enjoy!
wondering if these apple pastries would be suitable for a dessert
Oh sure! Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and they would be great!
Beth, I’ve made the ham and cheese puff pastry and my entire family loves them. I want to bring them to a church function…how would I keep them warm (any suggestions)? You have the best recipe’s ever!! PLEASE keep making more.
Oh I’m so glad they have been a hit! Unfortunately these don’t travel well, heated, they would just get too soggy if you tried to keep them warm. But maybe instead my the Apple ones since they don’t need to be hot and are great at room temperature! I made 30 of them for my daughter’s school function and they were gobbled right up! A big hit 🙂
Wow! That was the easiest, no fuss, delicious pastry. It came out just like your pictures. There are only 2 of us, so I made 6 of these plus 4 of your mini ham and cheese croissants from 1 sheet of puff pastry. Both of the recipes were excellent. Perfect for the holidays! I’ll be making this again at Christmas when there are more people around to enjoy it 🙂
Can these be frozen and then baked later?
Well I’m not sure the apples would hold up very well. But these Almond Croissants would be great! Or any of my scone recipes would be great too! The Blueberry Scones are a fan favorite as are the Pumpkin Scones.
Hi Beth
Thank you for your wonderful recipes! When making the fig and Brie puff pastry can I use thinly sliced apples on the applesauce then freeze before baking? Would the apples hold up?
Made them today using apricot jelly. They were delicious although a bit out of shape 🙂
Aww that’s OK that will come with practice 🙂 The most important part was that they were delicious! 🙂 YAY!
Hi Beth,
These look delicious, going to attempt to make them today. I do have a question though, if I happen to have left overs can I store them in the fridge and then pop them back into the oven to warm up, or will they be too soggy?
Thank you in advance! 🙂
Yes of course! They reheat beautifully! No problem 🙂 Just reheat at 350F for about 15 mins and they should crisp back up!
Hi Beth, I am enjoying the apple pastry on my patio with a cup of hot tea. Easy and quick to make first thing this morning. Definitely use store bought puff pastry to make it faster. Just wondering if it is worth it to make your own puff pastry? Thanks for recipe.
It’s such a great question and one I get asked frequently. And after taking a puff pastry class years ago I can honestly say that while pie dough, tart dough, and galette dough is ALL worth making it from scratch, puff pastry is not in my opinion! It’s just too labor-intensive and the results (if you are a home cook) are just not as good! So there’s my honest opinion on that ha! 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed the pastries! 🙂
Hi Beth. (ALL I CAN SAY IS: YUMMY!)
Just wanted to let you know, I DID make the french apple pastries yesterday and took them to a small gathering. 3 couples met in a local open air park as we have not seen each other for months due to corona. We each brought folding chairs (so we could space apart), our own lunch and I took along those delicious, beautiful apple pastries of yours. They were devoured quickly. (Mine were not quite as pretty as yours but guess I will do better each time I make them. I could not find the brand of puff pastry you recommended so used what my store sells. Also, even though I used parchment paper, mine got a little bit too brown on the bottoms (I did use a shinny pan and heard a long time ago, that they bake quicker). Should have taken them out 5 minutes sooner. Regardless I WILL be making them again and can’t wait to try out your apricot pastries (if I can find all the ingredients.)
Carol
YAY! So glad to hear they were a hit! 🙂 The park meeting soundfs lovely. It’s important to keep our social ties, however we can during this time! Yes, you will love the apricot pastries next! A bit more time consuming due to the pastry cream, but SO worth the effort in my opinion!
Beth, I apologize. I just re-read the recipe again and see that you use two cheeks of the apples and the others you use to snack on. My fault. I just missed that part before.
C.J.
Hi Beth
I plan on making your apple pastries this coming Sunday (prepare Sat for Sun baking). I am a bit confused on the apple part. If I have 5 apples and cut off 4 cheeks from each, that will give me 20. Do I use more than one cheek per pastry? As far as I can see, the recipe should make 9. Thanks for your help and just to let you know, my mouth has been watering ever since I saw this recipe. I now have all the ingredients to prepare them.
These apple pastries look amazing – perfect for entertaining! I bet they’re great with coffee, too!
Oh yes! So good with coffee or tea 🙂 Or hot chocolate ha! 🙂
Hi Beth,
I love looking at your blogs.
Sorry but I am going to ask you something that is unrelated to your baking. May I know the color of your nail polish and the brand? It looks so nice.
Regards,
Karin
LOL! Oh sure it’s from Sally Hansen it’s called Miracle Gel and the color is 244 Mauve Olous. It’s a really great natural pink that isn’t too pink 🙂 Here’s the link! Hope you enjoy! https://amzn.to/34eZRht