Granny Smith Apples

What do you do with 65 apples?

We took a fabulous drive up into the local mountains of Julian yesterday, where they celebrate apples every Fall season. It was a cloudy and drizzly sort of day... the best for picking apples in an apple orchard.

Over 20 years in San Diego and this was my first time picking my own. I can't imagine why I've waited so long. I'm glad I was able to share this with my son at such an young age. He's bound and determined to do this every year now (and so am I)!

We browsed apple recipes and found what looked to be a good one in a new cookbook that I received the other day - Eat Feed Autumn Winter: 30 Ways to Celebrate When the Mercury Drops. This one caught my eye simply because I'm a sucker for seasonal cookbooks. There are several fresh, new ideas for seasonal recipes that appeal to me. I can tell I'll be using this cookbook quite a lot over the next few months. Our choice on this day: Maple Apple Tartlets.

Sliced apple is placed onto a rectangle of puffed pastry, sprinkled with cinnamon/sugar and drizzled with butter.

These apple tartlets were a huge hit with my family. They would be even more wonderful topped with a bit of sweetened whipped cream or a mini-scoop of Vanilla Bean ice cream. SO easy to make, the result is an alarmingly delicious and inviting dessert. This one invited me to eat it rather quickly. A few dabbles of maple syrup on top ensures that you have most of the fall flavors covered at one time.

MAPLE-APPLE TARTLETS

1 sheet puff pastry
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 medium Granny Smith apples
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Thaw puff pastry, if frozen.

In a small bowl, mix cinnamon and sugar. In another small bowl, melt butter in microwave. Set both aside.

Peel, core and cut apples in half. Place one half, cut-side-down, on a cutting board. With a small, sharp knife, thinly slice the apple half into about 12 thin slices. Do not move or separate the slices. Repeat with the remaining 5 halves. Leave cut side down.

Place puff pastry on a cold surface (I use a stone cutting board). Cut into 6 rectangles and place on the baking sheet about 1 inch or so apart. Pick up one apple half without disturbing the slices. Place on a pastry rectangle and apply slight pressure on the diagonal to fan out the apple slices until they nearly fill the length of the pastry rectangle. Leave a border of ¼-inch all the way around. Repeat with remaining rectangles of puff pastry and apple halves.

Sprinkle each tartlet with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Drizzle with melted butter.

Bake 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden around the edges and the apples are softened. Drizzle each with 1 tsp. maple syrup. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Article originally published on The Recipe Girl.