Apple Tart

You have our word; this apple tart is not only beautiful to look at. It’s also mouth-watering delicious, and super easy to make (no need for a food processor or rolling pin).

A flaky melt-in-your-mouth crust, a crunchy texture on the sides, and a sweet and cozy apple filling make this autumn-winter dessert hard to beat.

Serve it still warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, and you’ll be transported straight to tart heaven.

And the best thing? This apple tart is easy to make. First, you can make our pastry dough with flour, sugar, oil, water, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and a little baking powder.

There’s no need to knead the dough; it just needs to be compacted together, then transferred into your tart pan and flattened with your hands (no need to roll either).

Then, peel and chop the apples, toss them in sugar and cinnamon, and arrange them in the tart.

After baking, you can glaze the top of the apple tart with melted apricot jam for that beautiful shiny look.

That’s it; in a little more than an hour and with minimal effort, you can enjoy this delicious and beautiful apple dessert.

Apples

You’ll need about five medium to large apples and can use most apple varieties.

If you like your apple tart to be on the sweet side, then the best apples for baking are Pink Lady, Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Rome Beauty, and Gala apples.

If you like a tarter dessert, try Granny Smith apples, Winesap, or Cortland apples.

Other varieties that you can use are Braeburn, Melrose, and Jonagold.

Cinnamon and vanilla

Mix sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract with the apples. They taste delicious this way.

You can add vanilla extract to the crust to make it more aromatic.

Sugar

You can use regular white granulated sugar. It makes the edge nice and crunchy. Any sugar in the granular form will do well; brown sugar, coconut sugar, palm sugar, and so on.

Flour

All-purpose flour is excellent, but you can also use most other types of flour for this apple tart.

For example, if you want a more rustic and wholesome tart, you can go for oat flour, spelt flour, or half all-purpose and half whole-wheat flour. Although, if you do so, you might need to add a little more water; 1 to 2 tablespoons should suffice.

You can also use 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blends to make a gluten-free apple tart.

Baking powder

Baking powder is the secret ingredient in most tarts on this blog because when you mix a little of it with the flour, it makes the crust soft and crumbly. It’s excellent for crust without eggs.

Oil

You can opt for a neutral-flavored vegetable oil such as canola oil or sunflower oil, melted butter, or dairy-free butter.

Our recommendation is to use sunflower or canola oil. It produces a tremendous crumbly crust, and it’s easier to manipulate.

Salt

A pinch of salt makes the other flavors pop.

Lemon

Add a small amount of lemon zest to the dough mixture for a pleasant citrusy flavor that goes very well with the apples.

Use lemon juice to prevent the apples from turning brown.

Apricot jam

Melt the jam with a bit of water and brush it on top of the tart to make it look shiny and beautiful. It also adds some extra sweetness.

Make the pastry dough.

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Brush your tart pan with oil and lightly dust it with flour.

Tip: If you use a pie dish (instead of a tart pan with removable bottom) oil it, then place two long and wide strips of parchment paper in a cross position into the pie dish under the dough, coming out slightly from the edges.

After baking, let the tart cool down for 30 minutes, then lift it out of the tray by pulling up the parchment strips. If that sounds too risky, you can always serve the tart from the pie dish.

To a mixing bowl, add sugar, oil, water, lemon zest, and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Mix well with a spatula until the ingredients are well combined.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, salt, and baking powder, then add them to the wet mixture.

Combine the ingredients with a spatula till they turn into dough. Don’t overmix.

Compact the dough for a few seconds with your hands without kneading it.

Tip: The pastry dough should not be springy at all. When you push down with your finger, it should not bounce back.

Transfer the dough to your tart pan and flatten it with your hands to cover the bottom and sides.

Prick the bottom and sides of the pan with a fork, then put it in the refrigerator while you prepare the apples.

Make the filling

Peel the apples, cut them in half, core them, then cut them into thin slices or wedges.

Transfer the wedges to a mixing bowl and toss them gently with lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract.

Arrange the apple slices in the crust. Don’t add lemon juice.

Sprinkle the top with sugar.

Bake the tart

Bake at 350°F or 180°C for about 40 to 50 minutes, until the apples are soft and golden brown.

Let cool down for 15 minutes before taking it out of the pan.

In the meantime, melt the apricot jam with water; you can do so in a saucepan or a bowl in the microwave.

Brush the top of the apple tart with a thin layer of apricot jam. This step is optional, but the apricot jam glaze will make the tart beautiful to look at.

A delicious way to serve it is still warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream (dairy-free ice cream and dairy-free whipped cream).

Crostata with jam

Our easy crostata is a cozy Italian tart, soft on the bottom, crusty on the edge, and filled with your favorite jam – apricot is a classic.

It’s a straightforward recipe you can make with a few pantry staples and your favorite jam in a little over 30 minutes.

Check out our easy crostata recipe.

Blueberry tart

Same crust different filling. If you want to try something other than apples, you can fill your tart with blueberries instead.

This blueberry tart is incredible, and kids and adults will love it. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream for a great snack or dessert!

Check out our blueberry tart recipe.

Strawberry tart

Fresh, springy, and crispy, this strawberry tart is easy to make, and everyone will love it. We make it with our pastry dough, a thin layer of egg-free custard, and fresh strawberries. No one will be able to resist this!

Check out our strawberry tart recipe.

Mini Apple Tarts (crostatine)

Cute mini-tarts (crostatine) filled with a delicious chopped apple and a cinnamon mix. They taste delicious and are packed with fresh fruit. Perfect as a quick breakfast on the go or as a coffee break with family and friends.

Check out our crostatine recipe.

Apricot tart

A delicious summer tart is made with the same pastry dough, filled with an irresistible frangipane filling, and topped with fresh apricots.

Make this when apricots are in season, and you won’t regret it. They melt as they bake in the oven and the combo of pastry and frangipane is irresistible.

Check out our apricot tart recipe.

Ricotta pie

You can make a rich, creamy, and fabulous Italian pie with ricotta or our dairy-free ricotta. Chocolate chips, cinnamon, citrus zest. It’s a crazy recipe you’ll want to make every Sunday.

Check out our ricotta pie recipe.

Fruit tart with pastry cream

A light pastry dough base cooked without any filling, then covered with our dairy-free pastry cream, and topped with fresh seasonal fruit. Think of kiwis, bananas, peaches, grapes, and much more.

This one is the Queen of all Italian tarts. It’s beautiful, fresh, and delicious!

Check out our fruit tart recipe.

Lemon tart

A simple lemon custard filling to go in our pie crust. This is essentially a lemon custard crostata that every lemon lover will devour.

Check out our lemon tart recipe.

Room temperature: store the apple tart under a cake dome at room temperature in a dry corner of your kitchen for up to 2 -3 days; it gets soggy after that.

Refrigerator: we don’t recommend keeping tart in the fridge as it absorbs other food’s flavors, and the crust will absorb moisture and get soggy.

Freezer: you can freeze the apple tart before cooking it or after cooking it. However, we do recommend freezing it before cooking it.

In both cases, wrap the tart well in foil or plastic wrap and freeze for up to three months.

If you freeze it raw, preheat the oven and bake it frozen.

If you freeze it cooked, we recommend cutting it into slices so that you can take out just the right number of slices you are about to serve. Warm up in a preheated oven before serving.

Questions

We love making sweet and savory dishes with green and red apples when apples are in season. Get some inspiration with these easy apple-based recipes:

• Shaved red cabbage salad with crunchy green apples.
• Quick–prep overnight oats with grated apples.
• Baked apples with walnuts, cinnamon, and maple syrup.
• Easiest apple cake with just 7 ingredients – a readers’ favorite.
• Quick apple muffins with 5 minutes of prep time and 25 minutes of baking

If you love fruit-packed desserts, take a peek at these. They are all easy to make with simple ingredients:

• Blueberry muffins: delicious, soft, and moist, packed with fresh (or frozen) blueberries.
• Vegan carrot cake: honestly? No one will notice it’s vegan. Easy to make, soft, moist, and cozy; this is a favorite carrot cake.
• Pear cake: the most delicious and underrated cake in the blogging universe. This pear cake will wow you.
• Lemon blueberry pound cake (or lemon blueberry cake): an easy cake batter filled with blueberries and lemon flavor. Minimal effort for maximum deliciousness.

For many more easy dessert ideas, check out our desserts category page.