Name: Individual Free-Form Apple Tartlets
Total time: 2 h 10 min
Ingredients: 1 recipe recipe; 2 McIntosh apples , peeled, cored, halved, and sliced ¼ inch thick; 1 Granny Smith apple , peeled, cored, halved, and sliced ¼ inch thick; ½ cup (3½ ounces/99 grams) sugar , divided; 1½ teaspoons lemon juice; Pinch ground cinnamon

Why This Recipe Works

Here we surround a combination of sweet and tart apples with flaky, buttery dough to form tartlets that are just the right size for one person. We sliced the apples thin enough to cook through in a short amount of time and tossed them with sugar, a little lemon juice, and a pinch of cinnamon. After we divided our standard free-form tart dough into 6 portions and rolled them into circles, all that was left was to pile in the apple mixture and fold the dough around it before baking these tartlets to crisp, golden-brown perfection.

Before You Begin

We like to serve the tartlets with Caramel Sauce.

Instructions

Working with 1 disk of dough at a time, roll into 6½-inch circle on floured counter; stack on baking sheet, separated by 7-inch-square sheets of parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm but pliable, about 10 minutes.

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 375 degrees. Toss apples with 7 tablespoons sugar, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Arrange dough circles with parchment squares on 2 baking sheets. Mound apple mixture evenly in center of each circle, leaving 1-inch border around edge. Fold dough over apples, pleating every 2 to 3 inches as needed. Gently pinch pleated dough to secure, but do not press dough into fruit.

Brush top and sides of tartlets lightly with water and sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar. Bake until crusts are golden brown and apples are tender, about 45 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking.

Transfer sheets to wire rack and let tartlets cool for 10 minutes. Using metal spatula, loosen tartlets from parchment and carefully slide onto wire rack; let tartlets cool until apple juices have thickened, about 25 minutes. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.