Mini Apple Galettes Recipe: Rustic Individual Tarts
Mini Apple Galettes are a delightful treat year-round: a tender, flaky crust layered with creamy almond frangipane and topped with thin apple slices.
If you enjoy apple desserts, here are a few related recipes from the same author to try (titles shown without external links): Jewish apple cake, apple muffins, Italian-style apple crostata, and apple bars.
How to Make These Mini Galettes
Start by making the pie dough. Use an all-butter pie crust or a cream cheese pie crust — both work wonderfully for these mini galettes. A cream cheese crust adds extra richness, but use whichever crust you prefer.
Prepare the frangipane (almond cream) and slice the apples while the dough rests. When everything is ready, roll the dough into a thin sheet and cut circles for individual galettes.
Assemble the galettes right on the baking sheet. Moving them after filling and shaping is awkward, so it’s easiest to build and bake them on the pan where they’ll cook.
Spoon a thin layer of frangipane in the center of each dough circle, leaving about a 1″ border of bare dough.
Arrange the apple slices over the frangipane, then gently fold the exposed dough edges toward the center to create the rustic galette shape.
Re-rolling Pie Dough Scraps
You can often make a couple of extra galettes by re-rolling the dough scraps — but treat pie crust scraps differently than cookie or donut dough.
To rework pie dough scraps correctly:
Layer the scraps between two pieces of plastic wrap, overlapping the pieces slightly. Roll the scraps into a smooth sheet, then refrigerate for about 30 minutes before cutting more circles. Chilling helps the dough relax and maintain its flaky texture.
Baking the Mini Galettes
You can tell the galettes are done by watching the crust: when it turns a deep golden brown and feels firm to the touch when lifted, they are finished. Keep a close eye while they bake because oven temperatures vary. If they bake a little longer, the apples may soften more and pull away slightly from the crust — still delicious, just different texture.
Notes and Tips for Success
- If you prefer not to use almond frangipane, substitute a cinnamon-sugar mixture or a cinnamon-spiced apple filling.
- This recipe calls for pastry flour because it has a lower gluten content, which helps produce a flaky, tender crust rather than a chewy one.
Alternatives to pastry flour
- Use a pastry flour blend — it preserves pastry flour qualities but is more forgiving to work with.
- Use bleached all-purpose flour and reduce the amount slightly (2 cups is a common substitute). (A trusted brand often recommended by bakers is Gold Medal.)
- Make a homemade pastry flour by mixing two parts bleached all-purpose flour with one part cake flour (not self-rising).
- Freeze the butter and flour briefly before making the dough to minimize moisture in the mixture and improve flakiness.
HAPPY BAKING!
More recipes you might enjoy (titles shown without external links):
- Blackberry Ginger Pie
- S’mookie Bars
Mini Apple Galette
Ingredients
- 1 Recipe — Cream cheese pie crust
Frangipane Filling
- 1 cup almond meal or almond flour (100 g / 3.5 oz)
- 1/2 cup sugar (100 g / 3.5 oz)
- 1 large egg
- 1 stick unsalted butter, melted (113 g / 4 oz)
- 2 tsp almond extract
- 1 tbsp flour
Apples
- 4 medium Granny Smith apples (400 g / 14 oz)
- 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tbsp sugar
Topping
- 1 egg (for egg wash)
- 1/2 cup sliced toasted almonds
Instructions
To Make the Crust
- Cut the butter into 1/2″ cubes, place in a plastic bag, and freeze for at least 30 minutes.
- Place the flour, baking powder, and salt in a zip-top bag and chill in the freezer for about 30 minutes as well.
- When chilled, put the flour mixture in a food processor and pulse briefly to combine.
- Cut the cream cheese into 4–5 pieces, add to the flour, and pulse for 10–15 seconds until the mixture looks coarse.
- Add the frozen butter pieces and pulse until the butter pieces are no larger than peas.
- Add heavy cream and vinegar and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand and forms small particles; it should not fully come together in the processor.
- Transfer the mixture to a bowl and use your fingers to gently pinch it into a dough.
- Divide the dough into two portions, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, preferably overnight.
Assembling and Baking
- Core and slice the apples into 1/4″ rounds. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar and drizzle with the lemon juice; set aside to macerate briefly.
- Remove one piece of chilled dough and roll it into a 12″ x 10″ rectangle.
- Cut out 2 circles of 5″ diameter and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Keep the scraps for later.
- Spoon about 1 tablespoon of frangipane into the center of each circle, leaving a 1″ bare border.
- Arrange apple slices over the frangipane in an overlapping pattern.
- Fold the dough edge up and toward the center in sections, creating the rustic galette rim.
- Repeat for the remaining circles. Brush edges with beaten egg and sprinkle sliced toasted almonds on top.
- Chill the assembled galettes on the pan in the refrigerator for about 45 minutes to firm up before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Place the pan on the lowest oven rack and bake for 15 minutes.
- Lower the oven temperature to 375°F (190°C) and bake an additional 10–15 minutes, or until the crust is a deep golden brown and feels firm.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 5–10 minutes before serving.