These festive cranberry apple pie puff pastry squares make the most delicious little mini apple tarts you can serve up for a festive autumn or Christmas dessert…  Baked until flaky and golden brown, they make perfect little vessels for topping with dollops of fresh whipped cream or good vanilla ice cream…

An Easy Christmas Puff Pastry REcipe…

Sometimes the simplest little things are truly the best! It really doesn’t get any easier than this quick little apple pie recipe with puff pastry crusts.  The apple filling is made up of fresh, thin sliced apples tossed up in that classic combo: brown sugar and cinnamon…  

Add in some festive holiday cranberries, raisins, and chopped pecans (for crunch), and you’ve got a taste of the holidays in every single one of these little mini apple pies.

These Apple Pie Puff Pastry Squares Are Even Better A La Mode!

Serve with dollops of dreamy whipped cream over the top and hit them up with sprinkles of cinnamon.  Serve these easy apple desserts warm, right outta the oven (a la mode) with a rich luxurious scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Serve in the morning dusted with a bit of powdered sugar alongside your favorite cup of cozy holiday blend coffee. It’s exactly how I suggest enjoying these spiced pumpkin pecan puff pastry pinwheels, too!  So many ways to eat them, so little time!

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This easy recipe is the perfect holiday dessert for those of you in search of a simple rustic Christmas dessert that resembles little individual apple pies.  The store-bought puff pastry sheets will keep things simple and easy to make up the bottom crust for our little apple squares.  

Just a handful of simple ingredients make up the rest of the recipe for the apple mixture that bakes golden and delicious into these easy mini tarts.

To make these easy apple pie puff pastry recipe, use your favorite crisp and fruity red apples such as pink lady apples, gala apples, or honey crisp apples.

Ingredients To Make Quick Christmas Apple Pie Puff Pastry Square

• 2 Sheets of thawed store-bought puff pastry – such as Pepperidge Farms (usually in the frozen section) which will automatically come with 2 sheets to a box)
• 3 Large honeycrisp apples – or your favorite red baking apple such as gala or pink lady, cut into thin slices
• Brown sugar
• Ground cinnamon
• Lemon juice
• Almond extract – optional but adds great flavor and complements the apples as they bake.  If not available, a splash of vanilla will add depth of flavor as well.
• Dried cranberries
• Raisins
• Melted butter
• Chopped pecans

Make Quick Christmas Cranberry Raisin Apple Pie Puff Pastry Squares

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees F.  Peel, core, and slice your apples into thin 1/4 inch slices and toss into a large bowl.

 Sprinkle your apple slices with the brown sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, and the almond extract.  

Add Dried Cranberries and Raisins

Add the dried cranberries and raisins to the apple mixture in the bowl.  You can use dark raisins, golden raisins, or green raisins.  Alternatively, dried currants would work nicely withe apple mixture as well.  Toss everything together with a large spoon.  

Toss together until dried fruits and apples are evenly coated with sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, and extract.  Set aside and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes until fruits release their juices.  

Raisins and cranberries will most likely fall to the bottom of the bowl.  This is okay as they will absorb the flavorings and juices from the fruit and rehydrate slightly before adding to the apple pie puff pastry.

Roll Out the Puff Pastry Sheets For The Mini Apple Pie Squares

While the oven heats through and the fruit sits, prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.  Set aside.  Unfold your thawed puff pastry sheets and use a rolling pin to roll your sheet out. Roll into a slightly larger 11 x 13 puff pastry rectangle.

To prevent sticking, do this on a lightly floured surface and flour your rolling pin as well by rubbing it down with a little flour.  It also helps to work while the dough is cool (but not frozen). 

Working With Frozen Puff Pastry…

Remember, before you attempt to unfold your puffed pastry, it must be fully thawed.  If not, it will crack at the inner folds if forced open (believe me, I’ve pushed it too far and cracked a few myself).  Once thawed, you’ll know readily as it will open easily without resistance.  You’ll want to leave your puff pastry sheets out on the counter at least 20 to 30 minutes prior to starting.  This will allow time to soften and thaw ahead of time.  

Brush The Puff Pastry with Melted Butter and Cut Into Squares

Once you’ve rolled out your puff pastry sheet, use a pastry brush to brush it evenly with melted butter.  Using a sharp knife or pizza roller, cut your buttered puff pastry sheet into 9 equal squares.  Next, 

transfer the cut squares to a parchment-lined baking sheet using a thin, wide spatula.

Cut Borders Into The Puff Pastry For the Apple Filling

Using a paring knife, cut a border inside each square.  Cut gently just to lightly score the dough but not pierce all the way through. This will create a border for the apples to bake inside their individual tarts.

Top The Puff Pastry with the Apple Mixture 

Fill each square with with apple filling we prepared earlier.  If needed, stir the apple mixture to bring up some of the dried fruits gathered at the bottom of the bowl.

Layer the apple slices one atop the other while staying inside the border that we cut using the paring knife.  Lastly, using a teaspoon, scoop up the juices from the bottom of the apple mixture bowl and drizzle each tart with the cinnamon sugar liquids that the fruit released while sitting.

Bake The Individual Apple Pie Squares Until Golden and Puffy

Bake the individual apple cranberry raisin puff pastries in a 400 degree pre-heated oven for 20 minutes or until borders puff up and turn golden brown.

Serve These Easy Apple Cranberry Puff Pastries Warm with Ice Cream on Top or Powder them!

Once the baked puff pastries are done baking, pull them out of the oven and place them on a cooling rack.  Serve immediately while still warm.  Then, top each little apple tart with a scoop of ice cream, or let cool completely and then dust with powdered sugar.

Serve this delicious dessert as a festive and rustic Christmas dessert.  You can also bake them even sooner in the fall around apple-picking season!  We had a chance to drive up to a wonderful apple farm this past weekend and go apple picking.  

We came back with 4 bags of apples.  It was enough to fill a medium wood crate to the top!  This is the first (and most favorite) thing I did with my apples!

These easy little puff pastry squares make simple little hand pies, except they are open face, without a top crust.  If you’d like them covered, you can simply cut larger squares, add the apple pie filling, and then fold them over, sort of like quick apple turnovers.  Top the with a quick powdered sugar glaze!  

Be sure to press the edges with a fork all around (like I did with these pie crust pumpkin spice Halloween tarts) so that the filling doesn’t spill out during baking.  Also, be sure to drizzle in juices with the spoon before baking so they have a nice juicy filling inside.

Enjoy this flaky puff pastry crust topped with delicious apples as an easy simple dessert all throughout the holiday season.  You can serve this easy little puff pastry apple pie with coffee or tea to complement the end of a delicious holiday meal! If you’re looking to bake a full puff pastry tart, try this easy autumn pumpkin apple puff pastry tart.

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