Apple Puff Pastry Galette
This apple puff pastry galette is a delightful rustic tart with a flaky rough puff pastry and a sweet apple filling.
This free-form pie is the perfect treat to welcome fall. It’s flavorful and flaky, with the taste of a classic apple pie. The key to a great rough puff pastry is to use cold butter. You could use a pre-made puff pastry sheet but homemade pastry tastes way better and it’s not hard to make!
This gets rolled into the dough, creating layers that, when baked, puff up to give the pastry its characteristic flakiness. The filling is sweet and slightly tart, balanced with brown sugar, lemon, and spices. Read on for step-by-step instructions.
Try this blueberry puff pastry galette, cherry galette or pear galette next!
Ingredients
Here’s what you need for this puff pastry apple galette. You can find the amounts in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Homemade rough puff pastry. Don’t be intimidated by homemade puff pastry. This is a cheat version, and it’s so easy! It uses flour, butter, a pinch of sugar and salt, water, and vinegar (for tenderness.) Use a store-bought puff pastry sheet if you don’t want to go the homemade route.
- Apples– The best type of apple in a galette like this is tart, crisp apples that can hold their shape well when baked. The galette is baked for a long time to ensure the pastry is cooked and the filling is set. So you need an apple that doesn’t turn to mush when baked for a long time. Some of the best varieties to use are:
- Granny Smith apples – This green-skinned apple is tart and crisp.
- Braeburn – Crisp and sweet, this apple holds its shape well when baked.
- Golden Delicious – This apple variety is very flavorful when baked.
- Cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon, and vanilla.
- Cornstarch for thickening
- Egg wash and coarse sugar for the crust edges.
- (optional) Apricot jam for brushing the baked galette.
Method
Rough puff pastry
- Start by cubing the butter into 1-inch pieces and pop them in the freezer for 5 minutes to keep them chilled.
- Cut the cold butter into flour. Aim to keep large butter chunks and a few smaller ones.
- Add in just enough liquid to make a a cohesive dough that’s not sticky.
- Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rectangle on a floured kitchen counter. Then, fold the dough in thirds, like folding a letter.
- Rotate the folded dough, roll it out again, and fold. Continue this process until you’ve folded the dough six times.
- After the last fold, form the dough into a round, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Filling and assembling
- Slice the apples
- Mix the apple filling together and set aside.
- Roll the pastry into a 13-inch/ 33cm big circle.
- Add on the apple filling and fold the puff pastry edge over the apples,
- Brush the puff pastry crust with the egg wash and sprinkle the sides of the pastry with coarse sugar.
- Bake until deeply browned and the filling is bubbling.
Storage
The leftover apple galette can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. You can also refrigerate it for up to 5 days. Before serving again, you can warm it slightly in the oven to bring back the crispness of the puff pastry crust.
Apple Puff Pastry Galette
Ingredients
Puff pastry
- 125 g all-purpose flour
- 113 g unsalted butter cold and cubed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 55 g cold water
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar
Apple filling
- 4 medium apples
- 65 g soft brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Topping
- 1 large egg mixed with 1 Tablespoon of water
- Turbinado sugar optional
- Apricot jam optional
Instructions
- Cube the butter into 1-inch pieces and pop them in the freezer for 5 minutes to chill them.
- Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter cubes to the flour mix and cut them into small pieces using a pastry cutter. Aim to keep large butter chunks and a few smaller ones.
- Mix the lemon juice into the cold water. Slowly drizzle it into the flour mixture and mix it with a fork into a rough dough that sticks together when pressed. You want to achieve a cohesive dough that's not sticky, so adjust the water quantity as needed. If the dough gets warm or the butter melts, give it a chill in the fridge for about 10 minutes.
- Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a rectangle on a floured kitchen counter. Then, fold the dough in thirds, like folding a letter. Rotate the folded dough, roll it out again, and fold. Continue this process until you've folded the dough six times. Optionally, you can trim the edges for more uniform layers as you fold.
- If you are making this on a cold day, then there is no need for any fridge rest between the rolling of the layers unless the butter is melting. In warm weather, the rough puff pastry will likely need a fridge rest between every second fold to ensure the butter stays chilled.
- After the last fold, form the dough into a round, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and place it in the fridge for at least 2 hours. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Filling and assembling
- Peel and core the apples and slice them into equal ¼-inch slices.
- Mix sliced apples, brown sugar, lemon juice, zest, cornstarch, spices, salt, and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir to combine it all. Set aside.
- Remove the chilled pastry from the fridge and roll it into a 13-inch/ 33cm circle on a lightly floured surface. Transfer the circle onto a large piece of parchment paper.
- Arrange apple slices at the center of the puff pastry, leaving a 2-inch border around the edges of the puff pastry. Leave any apple liquid behind.
- Fold the puff pastry edge over the apples, creating a rustic look. Brush the puff pastry crust with the egg wash for a golden brown finish. Sprinkle the sides of the pastry with coarse sugar.
- Bake at 400°F/ 200°C for 15 minutes, then turn down the oven temperature to 350°F/ 180°C and bake for a further 45-50 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is deeply browned.
- Let the baked galette stand for around 20 minutes before slicing with a sharp knife. Optional- Brush the baked apples with 1 tablespoon of warmed apricot jam.
- Serve warm, preferably with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.