Looking for a fun baking project while your family is spending time at home together?
Kids love this kid-friendly recipe that is a combination of two of their favorite foods apples and peanut butter wrapped inside a crispy and perfectly flaky shell. It’s so easy that your mini sous-chefs can pull up a stool and help in the kitchen, and thanks to store-bought puff pastry, it comes together in a flash.
All-purpose flour for dusting
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
6 tablespoons sugar, divided
6 tablespoons peanut butter
6 tablespoons apple butter (go here for an easy apple butter recipe)
2 large baking apples (such as Granny Smith)
¼ cup peanuts, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons cold butter, chopped into small dice
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk
Preheat oven to 425° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Lightly flour surface and rolling pin, roll pastry out into a long rectangle, then cut into two squares, each roughly 12×12”. Carefully transfer squares of pastry to parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving a space between them. Use a fork to prick the pastry a few times in the center, then sprinkle each with 2 tablespoons of sugar.
In each square, spread 3 tablespoons of peanut butter, then top with 3 tablespoons of apple butter.
Peel, core and quarter the apples, then cut into ¼” slices. Pile half of the apples in the center of each pastry square. Top with half of the peanuts, then dot with the butter.
Pull the corners of the pastry squares up towards the center, leaving the center open with some of the apples exposed, and seal the edges. Beat the egg with the milk, and brush over pastry and apples. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
Bake for 15 minutes, until pastry is turning golden brown and apples are starting to bubble. Rotate baking sheet, then reduce temperature to 350° and bake for 20 minutes more until apples are cooked through.
Tarts can be made up to 8 hours ahead, stored at room temperature, then heated in a warm oven before serving.
Note: Any nuts and nut butter of your choice can easily be substituted. Or, for those families with nut allergies, simply double the amount of apple butter and skip the nuts.
First published Sept 20, 2017
