Easy Puff Pastry Apple Tart
This puff pastry apple tart is an easy, elegant dessert layered with sweet dulce de leche and caramelized apples. Made with store-bought puff pastry and just a few pantry ingredients, it's the perfect cozy treat for fall and beyond.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 6 slices
- Category: Dessert
- Method: baking
Ingredients
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1/2 cup dulce de leche, divided
2-3 medium apples (like Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, or Fuji), peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1 egg, beaten with 1 tbsp water (for egg wash)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
- Roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle on a piece of parchment paper that will fit onto your baking sheet.
- Score a ½-inch border around the edges with a knife, making sure not to cut all the way to the bottom of the pastry. Then prick the center all over with a fork.
- Spread about ⅓ cup of dulce de leche evenly inside the scored border.
- In a bowl, toss the apple slices with brown sugar, granulated sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt until coated.
- Arrange the apples over the dulce de leche in overlapping rows.
- Brush the pastry border with the egg wash.
- Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the apples are tender.
- While the tart is still warm, gently brush the apples with the remaining dulce de leche (warm it slightly if needed).
- Let cool slightly before slicing and serving.
Notes
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Don’t skip scoring and docking the pastry: Scoring gives you that perfect raised border, and poking holes prevents the center from puffing too much under the apples.
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Chill the pastry if it gets too soft: If your kitchen is warm and the puff pastry gets floppy, pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes before baking.
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Use a mandoline for super even apple slices if you want a really polished look.
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Warm the dulce de leche slightly so it spreads and brushes on more easily.