Caramel Apple Tartlets
Packed with flavorful apples and topped with delicious caramel, these Caramel Apple Tartlets are a great baking project for Autumn!
This post may contain paid links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.
Let’s talk Halloween decoration for a hot minute. Now I absolutely love Halloween. For me, October 1 is the kickoff to the best 3 months of the year. I also like to decorate for the holidays – so Halloween is the perfect opportunity to embrace all things spooky, weird and a little bit creepy. Now I’m not gonna be one of those houses with a gazillion Christmas lights tied to music. That’s a bit much…even for me. But a fog machine for Halloween? I’ve thought about it. And a projector to cast spooky scenes? Thought about that one, too. Did it!
Last year, I posted this delicious recipe for homemade Devil’s Food Cake, and in that post I mentioned that I had procured a video projector to create some spooky scenes in our front yard. That actually happened! The original plan was to hang a sheer sheet in the front yard and then have the projector cast images onto that. I’ve seen videos online, and they look awesome! The problem is that rain and electronics don’t like each other. So I did the next best thing…I hung that sheer curtain in the front window of the house. There’s nothing like looking up and seeing a ghost floating by the front window, right?
Caramel Apple Tartlets
Caramel Apple TartletsAside from decorating for Halloween, my next favorite fall activity is baking. Oh, who am I kidding? Baking is one of my favorite year-round activities! I love apples. I love caramel. But the combination of the two is definitely greater than sum of the individual parts. This past weekend, I hit the kitchen with the vague idea of a caramel apple pie in mind. However, I pulled an audible, and changed the pie to “mini” tartlets instead. (I say mini because I used an oversized muffin tin here. Laura and I ended up splitting these tartlets in half for dessert.)
To make these Caramel Apple Tartlets, I cooked the apple filling like normal, and then put a scoop of that filling on top of a 6″ round circle of pie dough. I used an oversized muffin tin (affiliate link) to help the tart shells hold their shape, and then I poured some caramel sauce on top. Easy peasy. And let me tell ya, these apple tarts disappeared quite easily, too!
If you’re looking for one heck of an awesome Autumn baking project, then I highly recommend these Caramel Apple Tartlets! If you’re looking for one heck of an awesome Halloween decorating project, then I highly recommend checking out the AtmosFX website. There are some really cool ideas out there on their blog. Maybe when we don’t have a 4-year-old and 2 puppies, I’ll tackle something like that. For now, I’m quite content to sticking with a batch of these mini apple pie tarts!
Reheating Leftovers
These Caramel Apple Tartlets reheat well, too! Just store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To reheat, place the tartlets in a 350°F oven or toaster oven for about 5 minutes, or until filling is warmed through and pie crust is slightly crispy. Top with vanilla ice cream before serving.
Did you bake a batch of these Caramel Apple Tartlets at home? Leave a comment! Or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog). Happy baking!
Caramel Apple Tartlets
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsalted butter cut into cubes
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- ¾ tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp water or vodka
For the Apples
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 3 pounds apples peeled, cored and sliced (~5-6 large apples)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
For the Caramel
- 1 14-oz. package individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
- 1 5-oz. can evaporated milk
Instructions
For the Dough
- Using a food processor, add the flour, butter, brown sugar and salt. Pulse several times until a crumbly mixture forms.
- Add 2-3 Tbsp of water (or vodka); pulse until dough comes together in a ball.
- Divide dough into 6 equal pieces. Flatten each piece into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour. (Note: Dough can be made the day before and refrigerated overnight.)
For the Filling
- Using a large, deep skillet, add butter and place over medium-high heat.
- Once butter has melted, add apples, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, ginger and salt; stir until well combined. Let cook for 5-7 minutes, or until apples have begun to soften.
- Add flour and cornstarch; stir until well combined. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for 4-5 more minutes.
- Transfer apples into a medium bowl. Add lemon juice; stir until well combined. Let mixture cool completely (~30 minutes).
For the Caramel
- Using a medium saucepan, add caramels and evaporated milk. Place over low heat and cook, stirring often, until mixture is smooth.
For the Tartlets
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Working on a lightly floured surface, roll each piece of dough into a 6” circle.
- Place ~½ cup of apple filling into center of each circle, but leave ~1½” of dough on all edges. Fold edges of dough towards the center.
- Place each tartlet into a jumbo muffin tin.
- Pour caramel into the center of each tartlet.
- Bake for 28-30 minutes, or until edges of tartlets are golden brown.
- Let cool for 30 minutes before serving.
- {Optional} Serve pies with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on side.
Notes
Looking for more tasty Autumn treats? Check out these other favorites, too:
I love that projector idea! I also love your apple tartlets!
Now if only we could figure out a way to project apple tartlets…
Very cool Halloween decorations Mr. David. I’m sure Robbie thinks they’re awsome. Speaking of awsome, your caramel apple tartletts just put me straight off of my spandex diet. Yummo, aplles, carmel and ice cream.
Oh, Robbie loves the Halloween decorations! They play in a loop, so he loves to stand there until the ‘dancing ghosts’ come up. It’s cute!
And as far as the caramel apple tartlets, get rid of those spandex! You can get them back out in January. 🙂
1 – i adore halloween! 2 – what is pulling an audible? and 3 – love your beautiful tarts!
1 – me, too! Such a fun holiday
2 – ‘pulling an audible’ is a term from American football when you set out to do one thing but then change plans at the last minute
3 – thank you!! And the tarts taste even better than they look!
Gee!!! Your Halloween decor is awesome! Your caramel apple tartlets look great too. I love pastries!
Thank you so much! I really enjoy decorating for Halloween – it’s like I can embrace my inner kid again. 🙂
Creepy and fun all at the same time!! Some people really do all out for Halloween, huh?? It is pretty fun, I must admit, especially all the treats 😉 Speaking of treats, these tartlets are so adorable…and tasty to boot! And there’s no going wrong with apple and caramel. Pinned 🙂 Have a fabulous weekend, my friend!
I’ve always enjoyed the houses that go all out for Halloween! This year, one of our neighbors did a haunted forest in the trees next to her house. It looks amazing! I always want to do that – but then I never have the gumption to go all out. There’s always next year, though! Either way, these caramel apple tartlets are great for the entire Autumn season. Thanks, Dawn!
Fun times happening at your house! These tarts look like so much fun too – delicious fun, that is! I too love baking, but I also love eating sweet treats, so this one is right up my alley!
We always have good times with Halloween! I’d like to do more, but there’s the problem of where do you store all the darned decorations in the offseason. These tarts, though? No need for storage – there won’t be any leftovers. Haha! Thanks, Kathy!
Very cool spooky and fun window decoration. Love it!
Apple baking is the best during the fall. This recipe sounds fabulous. I will have mine with the ice cream, please! 🙂 ~Valentina
We do have fun with Halloween decorating here! This year we kept it kinda muted due to the pandemic, but we’re still enjoying the season. And these caramel apple tartlets? Perfect for the season, too! 🙂 Thanks, Valentina!
These tartlets look amazing, David !! Can’t wait to try my hand at these. I love the combination of caramel and apple. Halloween decoration looks super spooky.
Thanks so much, Rahul! These tartlets are packed with fall flavors. Not surprisingly, they didn’t last long in our house! 🙂
Love that video projector you got to create that floating ghost. Ha ha! I also love these caramel apple tartlets David. I’d serve them with some of my homemade vanilla ice cream. Yum!
The floating ghost video is a fun one indeed, Neil! I really want to do it outside, but there’s the weather to take into account – that and the chance that someone might try to run off with the projector. Oh well. Speaking of running off with things, I’d run off with a batch of these caramel apple tartlets and not stop running until I’d eaten ’em all! 🙂 Hope you and Lynne are doing well!
You know what? I LOVE eating baked goods year round – so if you need help with your need to bake year round… Im offering my eating services just so your kitchen isn’t crammed!
David – these tartlets are simply scrumptious! I so love they are individually sized because who wants to share eh?! We just moved and between remodeling and unpacking and trying to get the other place ready for closing next week, am exhausted and I think I could eat fifty million of these- in one sitting!
Also LOVE that projector idea! Too too cool!
Well come on up, Shashi! I’d love to have some extra help in the kitchen. I’ve got Robbie helping make stuff, but I need help eating it now! 🙂
Oh man, I remember the moving days. They are NOT fun. We’ve been talking about finally moving back South, but it’ll still be a couple years I’m sure. Nevertheless, I should start freezing all of these treats now to get me through those days of packing. They’re the worst!!
Delicious tartlets, David. A la mode for me, please! And that projector idea is so festive and fun.
Thanks so much, Marissa! One tartlet a la mode coming right up! 🙂
OHHHHH MY GOODNESS YUM!!! 😋 These look absolutely divine David! Love how adorable the size is too! It may even help me with portion control, although I’ll probably still just end up eating six when I make these tartlets haha. 😆. Also your projector idea is absolutely AMAZING! I am sure Robbie loves having the coolest Halloween decorations in the neighborhood. Absolutely genius idea!
Hah – I totally hear ya about portion control, Shannon! In theory, the individual sizes would work well…but then I just go back for more. “Well, maybe I can just nibble the corner off this other one.” 🙂 Thank you so much, my friend, and Happy Halloween!
what a great idea for single serving desert! I can’t wait to try it. Can the shell be used to bake as a single serve pie shell for fresh fruit? Can I used granulated sugar instead of brown? How much sugar should be used?
Hey Rea! Thanks so much for the kind words! These tarts are seriously one of my favorite desserts. So I haven’t tried baking the shell ‘blind’ to see how it would do for fresh fruit. I suspect it would work, though. After all, this is my go-to pie dough recipe, and I think pie dough would work just fine in this manner.
As far as the sugar vs. brown sugar, I can’t say for sure. I’ve always used brown sugar in my pie dough as I like the added depth of flavor. With that said, there is only a small amount, so I suspect that you could switch over to an equal amount of granulated sugar without noticing a difference. Either way, happy baking, and let me know if you make this recipe!!
David I just found these, they look so delicious. Perfect for a family dessert.
Can your caramel apple tartlets be assembled and frozen before baking?
Hey Joan! I haven’t frozen these tartlets before baking, but I believe that would work. The dough freezes well, and the filling does, too…so my gut instinct is you could indeed freeze these before baking. If you bake them from frozen, you will want to keep an eye on them as the timing will certainly be different. Happy baking! (We love this recipe here, and I hope you love it, too!)
These caramel apple tartlets look absolutely delicious! I love the idea of using an over-sized muffin tin to create individual servings. Can’t wait to try this recipe for my next gathering! 🍏🍮