Easy 4-Ingredient Filo Maple Vegan Apple Tart
This vegan apple tart is the perfect type of dessert for those days you don’t want to cook, but do want something hot and delicious. There’s no need to make pastry, or precook the apples, just melt a little vegan butter, assemble, and bake. Let your artistic side shine and use multi-colored apples- or don’t, it will still taste amazing! The edges are crunchy, the apples are soft, sweet and tart, and the sweet Maple flavor permeating the entire tart. This is definitely the type of dessert that looks like it was a lot harder to make, and tastes like it should have been more difficult too. But this vegan apple tart is a great reminder that often the simplest things are the best!
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When It’s Apple-Picking Time In New England
September brings a special time of year to New England- apple picking season! While stores are over-flowing with fresh, beautiful apples, anyone who is serious about apples (and many people who aren’t) take to the orchards. With a half-bushel bag slowly getting filled up with different varieties of apple, the need for apple recipes grows delightfully heavier. I’ve been going to the same orchard to pick since I was a toddler- it’s a bit of a drive, but that sense of New England tradition as the sun hits the brightly colored hillside makes it all worth it.
The apples I selected were different colors, which allowed me to create the blushing sunset effect on the top of my vegan apple tart. If you don’t have different colored apples, or perhaps you don’t feel like sorting through your apple slices to find the appropriately pink slice to settle next to the yellow ones, good for you- you’ll save a lot of time that way. If you do want to try an ombre effect, one tip I have is to make sure you start to introduce the new colored apple a line or two before you completely switch over- a well-placed slice of the new color will give the appearance of the gradually blending, rather than a line between the two shades.
Looking to Eat Apples? Try one of these recipes!
- Almond, Oat and Apple Cookies (Vegan)
- Vegan German Apple Cake
- 24 Zero Waste Root to Stalk Recipes (apple peels!)
Filo (Phyllo) Dough Vs. Puff Pastry
In the frozen section of your grocery store, you can find both premade filo dough and puff pastry, and while you should always check they’re typically both vegan (at least in the US). While they look very similar, they’re really quite different. Puff pasty is a thick, fluffy dough made with thin layers of fat folded between layers of dough. Filo dough is a paper thin dough that is very difficult to make at home- typically recipes using it have you brush oil between layers of filo. They both create layered pastries, but puff pastry tend to be light and fluffy, filo dough tends to be more crisp and crunchy. Both would actually work fairly well in this recipe, but I stuck with filo dough because it’s actually a lot cheaper. But feel free to shake it up! If you want to use puff pastry, remember that there’s no need to layer.
Let’s Go Make a Vegan Apple Tart
I added to the crispy factor by creating a border around the edges of the tart- it full sheets of filo dough originally took up almost the entire silicone mat in the picture above- by rolling it tightly, and gluing it down with vegan butter, I was able to create an extra crispy, buttery edge. In order to make sure the rest of the filo dough is crispy, and doesn’t get soggy from the maple syrup and juice from the apples, it is important to cook for 10 minutes in the oven alone before adding the other ingredients. Once you have baked the filo, you can begin assembling the tart by adding around 1 tbsp. of maple syrup directly on top and spreading it around- just enough that the entire crust has a thin layer of syrup. After adding the apples in rows, you can finish the tart my drizzling the rest of the melted butter and maple syrup over the apples. It will cook for about 25 minutes- make sure to spin it 180 degrees about halfway through to make sure it cooks evenly. Let it cool for a couple minutes after it has finished cooking before slicing into pieces and devouring it.
Looking for More Easy Desserts? Check these out!
- 5-Ingredient Vegan Banana Peanut Butter Cookies
- Vegan Rye Flour Muffins with Raisins
- Homemade Butterscotch Pudding (Vegan)
- The Easiest, Any-Fruit, Baked Dessert (Vegan Clafoutis)
Filo Maple Apple Tart
Ingredients
- 6 sheets of filo dough, defrosted
- Half a stick (4 TBPS) of earth balance, or other vegan butter, melted.
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 3 apples
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lay a silicone mat or parchment paper on a baking sheet and brush a thin coat of melted vegan butter on. Lay a filo sheet down on top of it, brush with butter and place another filo sheet on top. Continue until all 6 of the sheets have been used. To create a border, roll the edges inward about 1 inch, using a final coat of butter to glue the edge down. Put the pan with the filo crust in the oven and cook for 10 minutes.
- While the crust bakes, core the apple by evenly cutting the four sides off. Laying the flat surfaces down, cut thin slices in the shape of half-moons.
- After the filo has baked for 10 minutes, remove from the oven. It should have started to become golden and crispy. Pour a tablespoon or so of the maple syrup directly on the filo, and spread evenly. Next layer the apples in rows, making sure the rows are somewhat offset. Pour the remaining maple syrup and butter evenly across the apples. Return the tart to the oven, and cook for 25 minutes, flipping it 180 degrees halfway through.
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Let’s hear from you..
- What are your favorite apple recipes in fall? Do you have an apple picking orchard you love?
- Vegan apple tart or apple pie?
- Are you a fan of simple desserts, or do you like to make more elaborate creations?
Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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