A trip to her grandmother’s always meant a delicious treat for mom, either cookies, cake or often time pie. My great grandmother was an excellent pie maker, as was my grandmother and my mother. Grandma and mom even worked in a bakery when I was younger, and mom once won an award for best apple pie. I on the other hand have yet to master making pies so this recipe is right up my alley.
It may seem a little early to be talking about Thanksgiving, but it is only a few weeks away and we wanted to share a few recipes with you, this Apple Galette being one of them. Unlike the pie the galette is baked directly on a cookie sheet, the filling never needs to be precooked and it is supposed to look rustic. No need to worry about that pie edge shrinking, or the bottom of the crust coming out undercooked and soggy. I may not have mastered pies, but this I can do, and so can you.
Today we have access to so many more varieties of apples then my great grandmother, grandmother, and mother had access to so it might be tempting to try different apples for this recipe. Be aware that you need apples that will hold up to baking, you want them to keep their shape.
Granny Smith is a great apple for baking, it holds its shape but unlike some of the other varieties they are a bit tart. When you add the sugar to the apples you may want to give it a quick taste and adjust the sugar accordingly. If you want to try other varieties make sure to do a little research to see how well, they hold up to baking.
This is a new recipe for us and with it we have created new memories together. Mom had always wanted to try a Galette, and it turned out better than we could have anticipated. We are thankful to have time to create these memories together and hope you will create memories with this recipe whether it’s in the kitchen or after a delicious thanksgiving meal.
Pastry Ingredients
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
¼ tsp salt
½ cup cold salted butter cubed
4-6 tbsp ice cold water
Measure ½ cup of cold water adding an ice cube or two before setting aside. Dice butter into ¼ inch cubes. In a large bowl whisk flour, sugar and salt. Rub in butter using tips of fingers or a pastry blender. If you are using your fingers work quickly, the heat from your hands can soften the butter. Mix until crumbly with pea size pieces.
Stirring with a fork sprinkle 4 tablespoons of the ice-cold water, gradually adding 1 to 2 more until the mixture comes together. Always start with less water as the amount needed may vary. Once most of the pastry has come together tip it out onto your counter and gently knead until the flour is fully incorporated. Be careful not to over work as this will result in a tough pastry.
Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill the pastry for 30 minutes to an hour.
Filling Ingredients
2-3 large Granny Smith apples
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1¼ tsp cinnamon
1½ tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tbsp salted butter
Slice 2-3 large apples ¼ of an inch thick. Place in water with lemon juice to prevent the apples from browning.
We always find it a little nerve wracking when a recipe calls for medium or large apples. Everyone may have a different idea of what a large apple is, so we decided to weigh different sized apples. Our largest apple came to 231g, the medium was 188g, and the smallest was 161g. After weighing all apples, we found there were a lot of sizes in between. So, to simplify this for you measure out approximately 5 cups of sliced apples.
Toss the apples with sugar, cinnamon, and flour, set aside. We like to do this right before we roll out our pastry to prevent excess liquid from being drawn out of the apples. Too much liquid will will soften the pastry.
During one of mom’s thrifting excursions, she came across a pastry cloth, curious she purchased it for us to try. This was a game changer! The pastry doesn’t stick to the cloth, and it has a circular template for us to follow. For those who do not have or are unable to find one you can roll out your pastry on a floured surface. If you ever come across a pastry cloth, we highly recommend you get it.
Remove your pastry from the fridge, if it is too firm let the pastry warm up a little before rolling out.
On your floured surface roll out your pastry 14 inches in diameter
When rolling out your pastry start in the centre of the dough working your way out. Rotate as you roll to keep it from sticking.
To transfer your pastry without stretching it roll it onto your rolling pin.
Gently roll it out onto a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper. We have a large cookie sheet so the pastry doesn’t hang over the sides. Yours might and that’s okay, we will be folding the edges over later.
Before we start to place the filling, we like to give ourselves a template. Place a 9” bowl upside down, press lightly.
As you can see, we have given ourselves a nice template to follow.
Next, dust some flour on the surface. This will help soak up excess moisture from the filling and ensure the bottom is nice and crispy.
Lay out the apple slices overlapping slightly in a circle. You can fill in here and there as needed. Do not use the juice left behind from the apples.
Dice a tablespoon of butter into small cubes and sprinkle over the apples.
Fold over the pastry pinching the sides to prevent leakage. Brush milk, cream or an egg wash over the pastry and sprinkle with some cinnamon and sugar. Bake for 55 to 60 mins in a 350 F oven. The galette is done when you can stick a knife through the apples and the crust is golden brown. Enjoy!
Apple Galette
Ingredients
Pastry
- 1½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup cold salted butter cubed
- 4-6 tbsp ice cold water
Apple Filling
- 2-3 large apples approximately 5 cups
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1¼ tsp cinnamon
- 1½ tbsp all-purpose flour
- t tbsp butter
Instructions
Pastry
- Measure ½ cup of cold water adding an ice cube or two before setting aside. Dice butter into ¼ inch cubes. In a large bowl whisk flour, sugar and salt. Rub in butter using tips of fingers or a pastry blender. If you are using your fingers work quickly, the heat from your hands can soften the butter. Mix until crumbly with pea size pieces.
- Stirring with a fork sprinkle 4 tablespoons of the ice-cold water, gradually adding 1 to 2 more until the mixture comes together. Always start with less water as the amount needed may vary.
- Once most of the pastry has come together tip it out onto your counter and gently knead until the flour is fully incorporated. Be careful not to over work as this will result in a tough pastry.
- Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill the pastry for 30 minutes to an hour.
Filling
- Slice 2-3 large apples, approximately 5 cups sliced ¼ of an inch thick. Place in water with lemon juice to prevent the apples from browning.
- Toss the apples with sugar, cinnamon, and flour, set aside. We like to do this right before we roll out our pastry to prevent excess liquid from being drawn out of the apples. Too much liquid will will soften the pastry.
- Remove your pastry from the fridge, if it is too firm let the pastry warm up a little before rolling out.
- On your floured surface roll out your pastry 14 inches in diameter. When rolling out your pastry start in the centre of the dough working your way out. Rotate as you roll to keep it from sticking.
- To transfer your pastry without stretching it roll it onto your rolling pin. Gently roll it out onto a cookie sheet, lined with parchment paper. We have a large cookie sheet so the pastry doesn't hang over the sides. Yours might and that's okay, we will be folding the edges over later.
- Before we start to place the filling, we like to give ourselves a template. Place a 9'' bowl upside down, press lightly.
- As you can see, we have given ourselves a nice template to follow.
- Next, dust some flour on the surface. This will help soak up excess moisture from the filling and ensure the bottom is nice and crispy.
- Lay out the apple slices overlapping slightly in a circle. You can fill in here and there as needed. Do not use the juice left behind from the apples.
- Dice a tablespoon of butter into small cubes and sprinkle over the apples.
- Fold over the pastry pinching the sides to prevent leakage.
- Brush milk, cream or an egg wash over the pastry and sprinkle with some cinnamon and sugar.
- Bake for 55 to 60 mins in a 350 F oven. The galette is done when you can stick a knife through the apples and the crust is golden brown.
