Caramel Apple Streusel Tarts
By Lizzie on January 3, 2019
HAPPY NEW YEAR, MY FRIENDS!!! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!!! I know it’s been a few weeks since my last post, but besides the craziness of the holidays, I’ve been dealing with my chronic back pain issues…so needless to say, I haven’t been quite myself lately. Regardless of all of this… I missed posting a new blog and I really wanted to make my new one something special.
Have you ever been to a famous steak house that served a super special Apple Caramel Tart for dessert? Well, my husband and I visit one near our home in Ponte Vedra Beach quite often…not because I eat meat, which I don’t, but because I was in love with that particular dessert 🙂 We visited the restaurant a few months ago with some friends, and I was so excited to order one for dessert until I was told they no longer made it. After drying my tears, I decided to try and recreate it at home…because that’s what I do 🙂 It took me a few days to write up the recipe as I remembered it, then an entire day to play around with the ingredients. After I cleaned up my disaster of a kitchen, I was pretty proud of myself when I tasted one of these beauties straight from the oven. It is really important that you eat these warm, and with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. It completely rounds out the tart and makes it over the top delicious!!!
Well, I have to say…this is not a recipe you throw together quickly. It takes some time and patience. I almost hate to say this, because I am not a big believer in already made pie crust, but you can totally use that if you don’t want to fool with homemade pie crust. I promise you that if you take time to make your own dough, you won’t be disappointed, but…it’s a long process and can be a little finicky. So, no judgement at all if you want to start with a store bought pie crust. 🙂 I hope you love these as much as I did…send me photos or let me know what you think! I love your feedback!!! Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2019. Thank you ALL for showing me so much love and support. You sure do make me feel super special 🙂 xoxo
Some of the yummy ingredients that go into these tarts!
I used Fuji apples for these tarts, but you can use any apple you love!
Making homemade caramel is pretty easy and you don’t need a candy thermometer. You just need to keep your eye on it and make sure it doesn’t burn.
Homemade dough comes out perfectly in a food processor. If you don’t have one, you can certainly buy ready made pie crust.
Wrap up the dough and chill it while you make the streusel topping.
I made extra streusel just in case 🙂
You’re going to need these mini 4 and 1/2 inch springform pans. I got mine on Amazon and they are pretty inexpensive.
Roll out the dough a bit larger than the pans. I ended up just placing pieces of the dough inside and sticking them together because the dough is soft.
I promise that they don’t have to look pretty when you put the dough inside the pans. As they bake, the dough comes together and all you’ll see is the outside which will be perfect!
Fill the pans with about 3/4 to 1 cup of filling. At this point, I added lots of streusel because it’s my favorite part 🙂
After adding the streusel and baking them, this is how gorgeous they are 🙂 Let them cool a bit before taking the springform off. These are non stick pans, so there was no issue with sticking!
Warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, and a big old spoon 🙂 Now, what can be better than this? 🙂
You know I had to take a bite for the photos, right? 🙂 Well, after this shot, this didn’t last long, but oh my, was it worth the splurge 🙂
Caramel Apple Streusel Tarts
Makes : 4 tarts Prep time: 1 and 1/2 hours Bake time: 45 to 55 minutes
Ingredients
Dough
1 cup cold unsalted, diced butter
2 and 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons ice cold water
Caramel Apple Filling
8 medium apples, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch or so pieces, ( I used Fuji, but you can use any you like)
1 tablespoon, unsalted butter
1 and 1/2 cups Dixie Crystals Granulated Sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoon cornstarch
6 teaspoons water
Streusel Topping
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 and 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup Dixie Crystals Brown Sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
Make the dough
Place the flour, salt, and cubed butter in the processor. Slowly drizzle in the 4 tablespoons of ice water until the dough forms a ball. Flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Keep in the fridge until ready to use. If you aren’t making your own dough and are using store bought, just keep it in the fridge until ready to use.
Make the apple filling
In a heavy bottomed skillet, melt the butter on medium heat. Add in the sugar and cinnamon. Cook the sugar until it is completely dissolved. This will take about 5 minutes. Do not walk away and keep stirring the sugar so it doesn’t burn. After it turns into a caramel color, add your chopped apples and cook for another 5 minutes. Add in the extract at this point and keep stirring. Mix your corn starch and water together and slowly drizzle this into the caramel apple mixture. Cook for another 8 minutes, continuing to stir so nothing will stick to the pan.
When the mixture is thickened and done cooking on the stove, take it off the stove and let cool a bit. Transfer the mixture to another bowl and place in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
Make the streusel
Melt the 6 tablespoons of butter and add to the remaining streusel ingredients. Mix with a fork, then get your hands in there and mix it up until it looks like a streusel topping 🙂
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
Roll out your chilled dough
Roll the dough until it’s about 1/4 inch or so thick. I made mine a bit thicker because I love crust 🙂 This recipe makes plenty of dough, so don’t be afraid you’ll run out.
You can either piece together the dough into the pan, or cut the dough larger than the springform pans and place the dough in that way. It will break, but that’s ok. Just take your time and piece it together until the pan is completely covered inside.
Place the tarts on a parchment lined baking dish.
Divide and scoop the apple filling into the dough lined pans. It’s about 3/4 cup or so..maybe a bit more. They should be filled about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way.
Bake the apple filled pans for 20 minutes and remove them from the oven.
Now, fill the tarts with the streusel so it reaches the top of the pan.
Bake for another 25 to 35 minutes, or until the streusel is golden brown.
Let the tarts cool for about 15 minutes before removing the sides and bottom of the pans.
Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce!!
Place any leftovers in an airtight container.
You can wrap and freeze these for up to a month!!
Enjoy!!!! xo
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