These apple roses look like they came from a fancy bakery, yet they are surprisingly simple to make at home — paper-thin cinnamon apple slices softened until flexible, brushed with apricot preserves and rolled inside strips of flaky puff pastry so each one bakes into a beautiful rose. They taste like a miniature apple pie, with tender fruit, warm spice and crisp golden layers, and they make a festive, make-ahead centerpiece for any holiday dessert table.
Ingredients
You will need 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 2 medium or 3 small red apples such as Honeycrisp, Pink Lady, Fuji or Gala, the juice of 1 lemon, 1 pound puff pastry made up of 2 sheets, thawed according to the package directions but still cool, a little all-purpose flour for dusting, 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, 3 tablespoons apricot preserves or apple jelly, and a little powdered sugar for dusting over the finished roses if you like.
Method
Heat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the center, butter or spray a 12-count muffin tin and stir the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl, then halve and core the apples, lay each half cut-side down and slice very thinly at about 1/16 inch thick, place the slices in a bowl, cover them with water, squeeze the lemon juice over the top and microwave for 3 to 4 minutes until the slices are just softened and bendable but not mushy, then drain them well and pat dry. On a lightly floured surface, unfold one sheet of puff pastry, roll it to about 1/8 inch thick and roughly 14 inches long by 10 inches wide, cut it into 6 even strips about 2 inches wide by 10 inches long and repeat the rolling and cutting logic for the batch, then work with one strip at a time by brushing the center with melted butter, sprinkling with cinnamon sugar, laying 6 to 7 apple slices along the top half with the peel side up, overlapping slightly and letting the curved edges peek just above the pastry, and brushing a little apricot preserves over the apples before folding the bottom half of the strip up over the base of the apples and rolling the whole strip from one end into a rose shape. Set each rose into the prepared muffin tin, brush the tops with the remaining butter and a final sprinkle of cinnamon sugar, bake for about 40 minutes until the pastry is golden and fully baked, resting them for 10 minutes in the pan before moving them to a rack and dusting lightly with powdered sugar to serve warm or at room temperature.
Tips
Keep the puff pastry thawed but still cool to the touch — if it gets too soft and sticky, chill it briefly so the strips roll cleanly and puff properly. If the apple edges start to brown too quickly near the end of baking, loosely tent the muffin tin with foil for the last 10 minutes so the pastry can finish baking underneath. The roses can be baked ahead, cooled completely and kept in an airtight container on the counter for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to 4 days, then warmed briefly in a 300°F oven or air fryer to crisp them again, and a drizzle of caramel sauce or a swap to pumpkin pie spice makes an easy, delicious variation.
