Goat Cheese and Apple Tarts

Now, ya’ll know I’m all about easy, and I’m definitely about quick. Enter: Goat Cheese and Apple Tarts. With only a few ingredients and a time of under 30 minutes, you will be making these for parties, or as a snack for yourself! I’m not even going to talk about them anymore, because once you make them, you will make them over and over and over again. Here’s how to do it:

Ingredients:

• 1 package Puff Pastry Shells
• 1- 4 oz package Plain Goat Cheese, softened
• 1/2 Lemon, juiced
• 1 tsp Lemon Zest (fresh is best)
• 1 1/2 TBSP Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 C Apple Pie Filling (slices or chopped, either is fine)
• 1-2 TBSP Brown Sugar or Raw Sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat your oven to 425˚ F.

Unwrap your pastry shells and place them on a sheet tray. You can lay down parchment paper, nonstick foil, or just use some nonstick spray. Once your oven is ready, bake the shells for 10 minutes, just until the pastry puffs up and begins browning around the edges.

While your pastry is baking, put your goat cheese in a bowl. Cheese should be at room temperature. Add about 1 tsp of the zest and the juice from half the lemon. Whisk until it’s all combined. Add powdered sugar and whisk until smooth and creamy. Be sure to taste it. Some lemons are sweeter than others and it may require some adjusting.

This little piece in the middle is what you'll be removing. It will peel off easily as the pastry is so flaky. Just remember to cook it first, otherwise it'll be very difficult to pop out.

Once your shells are finished, remove them and give them about 5 minutes to cool, or at least until you can handle them. There is a small insert in the shell. Use a fork to pull it out. You can toss it, or leave it to the side on the tray and continue to cook it. Scoop a dollop of the cheese mixture into the shell and spread it around.

Fill the shells about to the rim.

Take a scoop of apples and place a spoonful on top of the cheese. If using slices, cut them to the size of the inside of the shell and lay them on top or chop them. Taste your apple filling to judge the tartness. I like to sprinkle just a little raw sugar or brown sugar on top. Whatever you have is fine. It just bakes down into the apples.

The molasses taste of the brown sugar, or, in this case, raw sugar, will give the apples that much more flavor and ease some of the tartness.

Pop the tray of tarts back into the oven and bake for another 10 minutes or until the shells are a golden brown. You can serve these warm, at room temp, or cool out of the fridge. You can make them ahead of time and chill them overnight. Just be sure the pastry is still flaky. You can always heat the in the oven on low (170-225˚ F) for about 5-10 minutes just to refresh them if need be.

I really hope you try these. They are so fresh and yummy. They are just perfect for breakfast, brunch, dessert, coffee and tea, or wine, with the girls (or guys). They’re also a great quick snack, and very satisfying. It’s the perfect treat to make when you have leftover apples, or a spare can of apple pie filling.ENJOY!

You can really see the lemon zest in the goat cheese. Look out flavor explosion.

Delicious Doughnuts, or Why Didn’t I Do This Sooner?

I’ve seen so many recipes for biscuit doughnuts and thought, “I should try that one day,” but I never did. The other morning I wanted something sweet, and thought doughnuts would hit the spot. Now, the homemade recipe I have takes about 2 1/2- 3 hours. It involved yeast and rising and cutouts and more rising…. So, I decided, what the heck. I have biscuits, I have a sweet tooth, let’s do it.

It was so easy I could slap myself for not doing it sooner! 20 minutes start to finish, and I may have played some games on my phone while I was making them. So, here’s how I did it:

3 Easy Ingredients:
1 Roll Grands Biscuits
Cinnamon- sugar seasoning
Oil for frying

Start by heating a few inches of oil to 325 degrees F.

Lightly sprinkle your work surface with flour. Make sure to flour your rolling pin, too. Roll out your biscuits, one at a time, to the size of a small pancake.

Make a hole in the middle of the flattened doughnut. My husband hasn’t yet seen fit to buy me the cutter set I keep hinting at, so I used a tip from a decorating bag. Does the job.

When you’re finished, place the doughnut, and cut out hole, on a lightly floured surface until you’re ready to fry.

Test your oil by gently dropping the holes in first. They should begin frying immediately, and take about 30-45 seconds to brown. Mine actually flipped themselves, which I thought was pretty cool. But if they don’t, flip them.

Remove them to a paper towel for a few seconds, then you have an option, you can either sprinkle them with a sugar cinnamon combo on each side, or put your mixture in a dish and roll them around, coating all sides.

Repeat the same steps with the doughnuts. The only difference is when they begin to puff up, they’re pretty fragile, so be careful. I used a spider to flip and remove mine after my tongs ripped a hole in 2 of them. You will see the bottom browning. Flip it, and if you need to flip it again, that’s fine. The doughnuts take around a minute per side or so. Remove them to a paper towel, drop the next few, then dust the finished ones with sweetness.

And, now, it’s time to ENJOY!!! I’ll be trying powdered sugar icing, caramel, and maybe chocolate ganache as toppings next time. I’ll update if it works out.