Apple Tarts

This is a really simple recipe that you actually make in your muffin or cupcake pan. The crust is a cookie crust which is not your traditional pastry crust. You can also use this to make pear tarts too

Apple Tarts

Ingredients

Crust

2 1/2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup of brown sugar, lightly packed
1 stick of butter, room temp
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

4 large apples, pealed, cored, seeded and diced
1 cup cream or half and half
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 cup white cheddar cheese (optional)
2 eggs
2 table spoons melted butter
2 lemons juiced
3/4 teaspoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions
Start with the crust first, it needs to chill for a few hours.
In a bowl mixer together the flour, salt and baking powder.
In the stand mixer cream together the butter and the brown sugar. Next add eggs on at a time until blended. Now add the vanilla. Once the mixture is creamy and light slowly add the flour mixture. Once The dough starts to crumble, remove from mixer and place on plastic wrap, form into a ball with your hands, wrap and chill for at least two hours.

Prep the muffin pan by spraying with Pam and placing small discs of parchment at the bottom of each of the muffin wells, trust me you need to do this it will make the tarts come out easy with out out it, well you will have an apple crumble when you try to remove them from the pan.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

In a medium bowl place the diced apples and lemon juice and toss to coat, set aside.
Next in the stand mixer blend together the eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cheese, cayenne pepper and cream until light. Blend the corn starch into the melted butter, whisk until smooth and there are no lumps. Now slowly add the butter to the cream mixture and blend for about a minute or so.

Now cut the dough into quarters and roll out op about 1/8 inch thick, cut and place at the bottom of each muffin well. I place enough dough into each well so that it comes a little on the side to create a cup but not all the ways up, about a 1/4 of an inch.
Spoon apples into each well and then spoon in the cream mixture to with in 1/4 of inch from the top of each muffin well.
Bake for 40 minutes, remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Now i use a bamboo skewer and i run it around the edge of the tart to loosen it from the muffin well.
Serve with vanilla ice cream

Enjoy cooking