These apple rose puff pastries look elegant and come together effortlessly with just six ingredients. Buttery store-bought puff pastry is filled with cinnamon sugar & almond flour, then wrapped around fresh apple slices for a sweet appetizer or dessert.
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I Make This Elegant Apple Dessert When I Want All the Aesthetics Without the Fuss
I've been seeing apple rose puff pastries on the internet for a few years, and finally decided to make my own version. I created this recipe to achieve those beautiful buttery layers wrapped around delicate apple "rose petals", all with simple ingredients and no fancy equipment. It's rustic elegance at its finest, like my puff pastry cherry strudel!
The trick to making this effortless apple flower pastry look like it came from a fancy French cafe is slicing the apples as thinly as possible and softening them. And to put my own twist on this dessert, I love adding a little almond flour to the cinnamon sugar filling. It helps soak up excess moisture from the apples as they bake, and it adds a hint of nutty flavor to compliment the fruity pastry.
My Notes on the Ingredients
- Apples - I used Honeycrisp apples here; you can see my full list of favorites in my apple baking guide.
- Sugar - I love brown sugar's caramel flavor, but granulated sugar worked best to keep the pastries crisp.
- Almond Flour - In testing, blanched almond flour worked well, but I prefer the nuttier flavor of almond meal.
- Cinnamon and Nutmeg - I love the cozy warmth these baking spices add.
- Puff Pastry - Allow your frozen store-bought puff pastry to slowly thaw in the fridge overnight, then warm up at room temperature for a few minutes before rolling it out.
Let's Bake Pastries Together!
1. Mix cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and almond flour.
2. Slice the apples as thinly as possible.
3. Microwave the apples & cover with plastic wrap.
5. Cover with cinnamon sugar & slice into strips.
7. Fold the dough in half over the apples.
9. Bake in a muffin tin until golden.
4. Roll out the sheets of puff pastry dough.
6. Layer apples along one side of each strip.
8. Roll up each dough strip in a big spiral.
10. Cool for a few minutes & enjoy!
Carissa's Baking Tip
While testing this recipe, a muffin tin held the pastries in their rose shape much better than a baking sheet.
Tips for Bakery-Style Apple Rose Pastries
- In testing, slicing my apples as thinly as possible with a sharp knife prevented them from breaking as they were rolled to create a layered spiral pattern.
- The apples need to be softened before shaping them, and after testing several methods, a short burst in the microwave does the trick - no need to soak them in lemon juice & water.
- To make sure the pastry bakes fully, roll it out thinly. When I left the puff pastry dough too thick, it came out a little soggy.
Easy Apple Rose Puff Pastries
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large red apples (such as Honeycrisp, Fuji, or Braeburn)
- 3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 Tablespoons almond flour
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 package puff pastry, thawed in the fridge (17.3 ounces)
- powdered sugar (optional topping)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease or line a muffin tin with muffin cups.
- In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar, almond flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- Slice the apples as thinly as possible (the thinner you slice the apples, the easier they'll be to roll with the pastry). Spread out the slices on a plate (it's okay if they overlap) and microwave for 1 minute to soften them. Loosely cover the plate with plastic wrap and set aside.
- Unfold the thawed, cold puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin to gently roll each of the two pieces out until the folds and any tears are sealed together and it's about ¼ cm thick. Each piece should each be roughly 32 cm x 26 cm.
- Sprinkle the sugar mixture evenly over the puff pastry. Use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter to slice the sandwiched puff pastry into 2-inch strips lengthwise (parallel to the long edges).
- Along a long edge of a strip of dough, line up apple slices so the top half (with the peel) is hanging over the edge of the dough. One apple slice should rest over half of the previous apple slice. (See photos in the blog post above for reference.)
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the pastry is puffed up and golden. Allow them to cool for a few minutes, then remove from the muffin tin and dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
- Storing: To prevent them from getting soggy, I allow the pastries to cool completely then store them in a paper bag.
- Reheating: I avoid the microwave & reheat my twists in the oven at 350°F for about 5 minutes to keep them crispy.
- Avoid Burnt Edges: If you notice that the edges of the apples start to turn a dark color before the pastry is done baking, loosely tent a large piece of aluminum foil over the muffin tin to prevent the apple edges from burning.
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