Easy apple tart made with puff pastry and baked until flaky and golden brown, it tastes as amazing as it looks. A favorite fall dessert for the family!

Whenever apples are in season, my daughter gets especially excited about this Easy Apple Tart recipe that we often bake together. Flaky, buttery pastry puffs topped with apples and cinnamon, it is such a treat! If you have children at home, you’ll have fun making this delicious dessert together.
Table of Contents

Why You’ll Love This Apple Tart Recipe
- Absolutely foolproof. Anyone can make this apple tart—including kids and non-bakers—because you really can’t go wrong with this recipe.
- Easiest fall dessert to make with all the apples you pick from the orchard.
- Light and flaky texture. This is the one to make when you prefer a lighter and non-heavy dessert.
- Elegant and pretty. The open-face presentation showcases the thinly sliced apples, which makes it an elegant dessert to serve on holiday get-togethers or special occasions.
Puff Pastry for Easy Apple Tart
We’ll begin with the versatile puff pastry, which is a blessing for time-saving purposes when making a tart.
I always have one or two rolls of frozen puff pastry in the freezer because I can just whip up some fruit tarts, pastries, or pies whenever we have unexpected guests. With this tart recipe, you can also make it with seasonal fruits besides apples.
What else do I love about these pastry sheets? The buttery, flaky puff pastry crust! You really don’t need to be an expert baker to use these sheets, but the final results will surely impress your friends and family.
You can find frozen puff pastry in the freezer section of your local supermarket.

Ingredients You’ll Need for this Easy Apple Tart
- Frozen puff pastry
- Cold unsalted butter
- Apples – see below for best apples to use
- Confectioners’ sugar/powdered sugar
- Apricot jam or apricot jelly (or apple sauce or fig jam) – optional but it adds a nice jammy sweetness to the tart
- Egg wash
- Cinnamon sugar – a combination of sugar and cinnamon power
Best Apples to Use
For this recipe, I used Fuji apples, which are our family’s favorite kind of apple. Though, according to The Food Lab’s test result, it’s not the best kind of apple for an apple pie (if you have time, read the article). Granny Smith apples are one of the top choices for baking. What are your favorite(s) for making apple pies and tarts?
Here are some of the popular apples to use in pies and tarts (in alphabetical order).
- Braeburn
- Golden Delicious
- Gala
- Golden Delicious
- Granny Smith
- Honeycrisp
- Jonagold
- Jonathan
- Melrose
- Mutsu
- Pink Lady
- Rome Beauty
- Winesap

Best Ways to Enjoy This Apple Tart
This apple tart is light and delicious when eaten on its own, but is also amazing a la mode with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. You could do with fresh whipped cream or crème fraîche too.
Here is another tip, you can make this tart ahead of time and set it aside. Simply reheat in a low oven temp before serving!
How to Store the Leftover Apple Tart
Wrap the tart in aluminum foil (I keep them individually packed for a later snack) and put in a freezer bag. Store in the freezer for up to a month. Reheat the frozen tart (do not defrost) in the oven or oven toaster before you enjoy.

More Tart and Pie Recipes You’ll Enjoy

- Pear and Almond Tart
- Perfect Sweet Tart Crust
- Cranberry Brie Bites (with Puff Pastry)
- Japanese Sweet Potato Pie
- Kabocha Squash Pie
Japanese Ingredient Substitution: If you want to look for substitutes for Japanese condiments and ingredients, click here.
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Easy Apple Tart
Ingredients
For the Tart
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (each box comes with 2 sheets)
- 1½ Tbsp unsalted butter (cold)
- 2 apples (I use fuji apple)
- 1 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar
For the Apricot Glaze (optional)
- 2 Tbsp apricot jam (can substitute with apple sauce or fig jam)
- 2 tsp water
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tsp water
For the Cinnamon Sugar
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- ¼ tsp cinnamon powder (optional)
Instructions
- Gather all your ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). For a convection oven, reduce cooking temperature by 25ºF (15ºC). Cut 1½ Tbsp unsalted butter (cold) into small cubes.
- Allow 1 sheet frozen puff pastry to thaw on a sheet of parchment paper for about 15–20 minutes, then carefully unfold it. When the dough is thawed, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough. This helps make the dough more even and connects the folding creases (if there are any). Work quickly while it’s still cold. If the sheet reaches room temperature, return to the fridge to chill (but not refreeze).
- With a sharp knife, score a ¾-inch (2-cm) border around the edge of the puff pastry sheet to create a crust (do not cut all the way through the dough). Poke the inner square (rectangle) all over with a fork. Transfer the puff pastry sheet with the parchment paper to a rimmed baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, add 2 Tbsp apricot jam and 2 tsp water. Stir well to combine so it’s easy to spread.
- In another small bowl, combine 1 large egg yolk and 1 tsp water. Whisk well together.
- In another small bowl, combine 2 Tbsp sugar and ¼ tsp cinnamon powder.
- Peel, core, and cut 2 apples into slices ⅛ inch (3 mm) thick. Try to keep the slices stacked together so you can easily spread and fan them out on the puff pastry.
- Evenly spread the apricot glaze in the center of the pastry sheet.
- Arrange the apple slices on the jam, overlapping slightly and fanning them out as you go. You may end up not using all the apple slices, just eat and enjoy them.
- Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon mixture. Brush around the crust with the egg wash. Then, place the butter cubes over the apples.
- Bake at 400ºF (200ºC) for about 22 to 25 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.
- Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing. If you like, sprinkle 1 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar on top and/or serve with vanilla ice cream.
To Store
- Wrap the tart in aluminum foil (I keep them individually packed for a later snack) and put in a freezer bag. Store in the freezer for up to a month. Reheat the frozen tart (do not defrost) in the oven or oven toaster before you enjoy.
こんにちは! Viewing this recipe from Japan! 🙂 I am planning to make this for a friendsgiving, but could only find pie sheet. Would it work as a replacement for puff pastry?
Hi Ren! Thank you for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!
Yes. The texture will be different, but you can definitely use pie sheets.
Happy Baking!
Made this for dessert for our Sunday dinner. Loved your step by step photos and instructions. Everyone loved it. Will definitely make it again.
Thank you.
Hi Arlette! Nami and all of us at JOC are so happy to hear that you love step-by-step photos and instructions.
Thank you for trying Nami’s recipe and providing such positive feedback! 🤗
i really want to try this recipe but my girl is allergic to eggs.
can I use milk instead of the egg wash?
Hi Jade, Thank you very much for reading Nami’s post and trying her recipe!
Yes. If that is the case, you can use milk instead.
We hope she enjoys this Apple Tart!
I am excited to try this! I plan to make two, one to bring to a relative the next day – do I need to freeze it if it’s only being made one day ahead or can I just refrigerate?
Hi Megan! Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe!
If you keep this in the refrigerator overnight, the tart will be very soft and wet. We recommend freezing it, then reheating the frozen one (do not defrost) in the oven or oven toaster before serving it. We hope this helps!
Just made this and they are awesome on its own! Love the tartness of the Fuji apple. I didn’t have apricot jam and used strawberry jam instead. This will be my foolproof apple pie recipe from now on! Thanks for sharing this!
Hi Jules! Wonderful! 😍
Thank you very much for trying Nami’s recipe and for your kind feedback!
Amazingly simple! I only had half of a pie sheet and some apple jam – I eyeballed the amount needed. (About a half apple.) Turned out great!
Hi Pat, Awesome! Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
What kind of apples are used for baking in Japan usually? The most common ones here I recognize Fuji and yellow sweet ones that I’m thinking are too sweet for baking.
Hi Ashley! Japan has whole different kinds of apples (for your reference: https://foodslink.jp/syokuzaihyakka/syun/fruit/Apple3.htm)… outside of the US we can only get Fuji and that’s what I use. 🙂
Thank you for following up. So many recipes in the US use those tart green apples so I thought sweeter apples might not work. My son just asked to make apple pie so I think we will try this recipe.
Hi Ashley! In Japan, we don’t have those tart green tart apples so we use regular sweet apples to make apple tart/pies in Japan. Hope your son will enjoy the pie! 🙂
Made this today. Delicious and ridiculously simple. Will 100% make again.
Hi Po! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback!
Hi Nami,
Thank you for this wonderful recipe. I made it tonight and it was enjoyed by all.
Hi Hillary! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe! Thank you for your kind feedback! xo
This recipe looks delicious! I’m trying to be a bit healthier so if I leave out the butter would the apple slices burn? Please let me know 🙂
Hi Chloe,
It should be fine for this recipe. But if you are worried, how about you place a piece of aluminum foil on top of the apple at halfway done?🙂
[…] Easy Apple Tart […]
All this looks absolutely wonderful
Thank you Anne-Marie! oxox