Gluten-Free Apple Roses in Puff Pastry

These Gluten-Free Apple Roses in Puff Pastry are simple, elegant, and delicious. They are the perfect addition to a Thanksgiving dessert table, fall brunch, afternoon tea, or even a Beauty & the Beast birthday party.

Apple roses are easy to assemble with stunning results. And your guests will love how good they taste.

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Equipment

• Muffin Tin: baking the apple roses in the muffin tin helps them to hold their shape.
• Pizza Wheel or a sharp knife, to cut the puff pastry into strips.
• Silicone Baking Mat or parchment paper when working with the puff pastry dough.
• Rolling Pin

Ingredients

Red Apples: Slice the apples very thin, which helps them to be slightly flexible when rolling the roses.

Gluten Free Puff Pastry: There are two quite different options, but both work well:

• Schar Gluten Free Puff Pastry: It is sold in a two-pack. If you can find Schar's in your local grocery store using the Schar Product Locator, the "per sheet" price is usually lower than Sweet Loren's. However, it requires more patience. Schar's puff pastry needs to fully defrost for three hours on the counter. It is also likely to crack and break more than Sweet Loren's puff pastry.
• Sweet Loren's Gluten Free Puff Pastry: I have been able to find it at Target easily. Sweet Loren's goes straight from the fridge to your work surface, is flexible, and cracks less often than Schar's puff pastry. It is pricier than Schar's, as Sweet Loren's contains one sheet of puff pastry per box.

See my Guide to Gluten-Free Puff Pastry for more tips!

Pineapple Juice: This is the secret to slowing the browning of the apple slices, without a sour lemon taste. Pineapple juice adds a layer of sweetness to the apples.

Melted Butter: If you need a dairy-free option, substitute your favorite non-dairy butter replacement. The rest of the recipe (including Schar & Sweet Loren's gluten-free puff pastry) is already dairy-free.

Sugar & Ground Cinnamon

Step-by-Step Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400℉. (Adjust temperature to the recommended temperature for your puff pastry dough. Schar's is 400℉, while Sweet Loren's is 425℉)

Prepare the apple slices: Place the thin apple slices in a microwave-safe bowl. Add pineapple juice, and gently stir one time to coat the apples, being careful not to break them.

Add just enough water to the microwave-safe bowl to submerge the apple slices.

Microwave on high for approximately 3-4 minutes to soften the apples.

Prepare the puff pastry: Remember if using Schar puff pastry, it must be fully thawed before using. I let it sit a full 3 hours on the counter. If using Sweet Loren's puff pastry, keep the dough refrigerated until this step.

Use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat to prevent the dough from sticking to your work surface.

Use a rolling pin to roll out the puff pastry into a rectangle.

The Schar dough will likely crack as you unroll it. No worries! Repair any cracks by pressing the dough together with your fingers or the rolling pin. You can also add a little water to your fingertips to help it come together. For best results, do an optional rough puff pastry roll-out, which I describe (with pictures) in my Guide to Gluten-Free Puff Pastry.

Use a pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut the puff pastry into six long strips, roughly equal in width.

Top the puff pastry: In a small bowl, use a fork to combine sugar and ground cinnamon. Melt the butter (about 30 seconds in the microwave).

Use a pastry brush to coat the top of the puff pastry with the melted butter, making a nice sticky surface for the cinnamon sugar. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on top of the butter-coated puff pastry.

Assemble the apple roses: Working with one puff pastry strip at a time, lay the apple slices in a row along the middle of the strip, slightly overlapping each slice. I fit about 8 apple slices per strip.

The white part of the apple slices are in a line, along the middle of each strip lengthwise. The red skin is hanging off of the strip, so red "petals" will stick out once the roses are formed.

Fold the bottom of the strip up lengthwise, creating a pocket for the apple slices, with the red skin visible on top.

Gently roll the strip to form a rose. Place the rose in a muffin tin.

Don't worry about any cracks! No one will notice once they are baked. The muffin tin makes the apple rose hold its beautiful shape.

Repeat with remaining puff pastry strips and apples until you have 6 apple roses.

Bake the apple roses for approximately 20-25 minutes until golden and puffy. Visually check the center of the roses to make sure they are fully cooked and the puff pastry is not still doughy. I find that Sweet Loren's puff pastry bakes faster than Schar's.

Let the puff pastry roses rest in the muffin tin for five minutes before removing. Cool on a wire rack and then serve.

My inspiration! These cute apple roses were all over Pinterest. I have no idea who first came up with this idea, but it is lovely. I adjusted existing recipes to account for working with ready-made gluten-free puff pastry, simplified where possible to keep the recipe as quick and easy as possible, and added a unique twist with sweet pineapple juice.

The possibilities are endless with store-bought gluten-free puff pastry.

In addition to adapting your favorite puff pastry recipes, gluten-free puff pastry is interchangeable with homemade gluten-free pie crust in many recipes, such as:

• Rustic Gluten-Free Apple Galette Recipe
• Easy Gluten-Free Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
• Gluten-Free Mini Cranberry Tarts