Baked Apple Croissant (Easy Starbucks Copycat)
Craving the pastries from your favorite coffee shop? These Baked Apple Croissants are a better-than-Starbucks homemade version. Flaky puff pastry absolutely filled with spiced maple apples will transport you straight to your favorite café without the high price or even leaving the house!
Servings: 12 pastries
Calories: 343kcal
Equipment
- Muffin liners optional
- Tulip liners optional
Ingredients
- 4 apples peeled, cored, and diced into ¼ to ½ inch pieces
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup brown sugar light or dark is fine
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon allspice
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
- 1 package puff pastry
- 1 large egg for optional egg wash
- Coarse sugar optional
Instructions
Make apple filling
- Peel and dice your apples into ¼ to ½ inch dice.
- In a medium pot or deep skillet, melt butter over medium heat. As it melts, keep swirling the butter over the heat until it is light brown in color and smells nutty, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- Immediately add the diced apples and stir around in the brown butter. This will stop the butter from burning.
- Add brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt. Stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10-12 minutes until the apples have slightly softened.
- Whisk 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and pour into apple mixture. Simmer for another 1 to 2 minutes or until mixture has thickened. Add vanilla and stir in.
- Spread on a small sheet pan to cool. When completely cool place in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. If making your apple croissants immediately, place the sheet pan of apples into the freezer while you prepare your puff pastry.
For square puff pastry sheets
- Preheat your oven to 400°F and spray the wells of a muffin pan with nonstick spray.
- If using square sheets of puff pastry, cut each one into 6 pieces. Lightly roll each cut piece into a square. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry.
- Place squares every other well, using your fingers, or the handle of a wooden spoon to press them to the bottom and sides.
- Spoon maple apple filling into each one, filling them almost to the top. Repeat the cutting, rolling, and filling with the second sheet of puff pastry, placing them in the remaining wells.
- Fold the corners of the pastry over the top, leaving a bit of the filling exposed.
For rectangular puff pastry sheets
- Roll your puff pastry out over the top of the muffin pan. Press down lightly into each well with something small, like a spice jar, to give you a spot to scoop the filling.
- Fill each well with a scoop of maple apples.
- Use a pizza cutter, or a knife, to cut between each well, trimming off the excess from the top and bottom.
- Fold the corners of the pastry over the top, leaving a bit of the filling exposed.
For all puff pastry types
- Brush to exposed pastry with a bit of milk, cream, or an egg wash composed of one egg whisked with one tablespoon of water. Sprinkle with some sparkly coarse sugar or granulated sugar.
- Bake in your preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown and the apple filling is bubbling up out of the pastry. Allow to cool in the muffin tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool at least 15 minutes before eating.
Video
Notes
Storage: Allow to cool completely, then store in a covered container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Reheating: You can reheat leftover baked apple croissants in the microwave in 20 second intervals until warmed to your liking. You can also heat them up and restore their crisp a bit in a 325°F oven for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Optional icing: Combine ½ cup of powdered sugar with a few drops of vanilla, a tiny pinch of salt, and one to two tablespoons of milk then drizzle to your heart's content.
Nutrition
Calories: 343kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 26mg | Sodium: 136mg | Potassium: 117mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 173IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 1mg
