By Claudia Fleming
- Total Time
- About 2 hours, plus at least 1 hour chilling
- Rating
- 4(501)
- Notes
- Read community notes
When I saw my mother making her apple turnover, I knew company was coming. I also knew the dough scraps would be my treat. She’d roll them in sugar and cinnamon, bake them and we’d enjoy the flaky, light, buttery morsels together with a cold glass of milk. My mom’s specialty was that apple turnover. Mine, apple crostata. I love its organic shape, and fact that it doesn’t require a dish or pie pan. And because the crostata is baked directly on a sheet pan, it retains its flakiness better than a pie.
Featured in: Heralding the Holidays With an Apple Crostata
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Ingredients
Yield:8 to 12 servings
- 1¼cups all-purpose flour
- 1tablespoon sugar
- ½teaspoon salt
- ½cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
- ⅓cup ice cold water, more as needed
- 1egg, beaten
- Raw sugar, for garnish
- 6 to 8Granny Smith or other tart apples, peeled and cut into 16 slices each (about 6 cups total)
- ¼cup brown sugar
- 1teaspoon cornstarch
- ¼teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼cup granulated sugar
- 1½cups all-purpose flour
- ¼cup brown sugar
- ¼teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- Bacon toffee, for serving (optional)
For the Crust
For the Filling
For the Crumble
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (10 servings)
448 calories; 21 grams fat; 12 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 59 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 28 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 168 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Step
1
Make the crust: Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and blend for 5 seconds. Add butter, pulsing, until mixture resembles small peas. Add ice water and continue to pulse until mixture comes together in moist clumps; if mixture is too dry add a bit more water a tablespoon at a time. Gather dough into a ball, flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour or freeze for up to a month.
Step
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Make the filling: In a large bowl toss together sliced apples, brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, zest and vanilla. Set aside.
Step
3
Make the crumble: In a medium bowl, mix together granulated sugar, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Drizzle in melted butter and, using a fork, stir until mixture is crumbly and all the flour is incorporated; the crumbs should be smaller than 1 inch.
Step
4
Heat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove dough from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 14-inch circle. Transfer to baking sheet and chill until firm, about 15 minutes.
Step
5
Remove baking sheet from refrigerator and let soften for 1 to 2 minutes. Arrange filling evenly in the center of the dough, leaving a 4-inch border all around; reserve the juices. Brush exposed dough border with beaten egg and fold edge in up over fruit, making pleats every 2 inches. Pour remaining juices over exposed fruit, brush the folded outer edge with beaten egg, and sprinkle with raw sugar. Cover exposed fruit with about 1 cup crumble.
Step
6
Bake crostata until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling, about 40 to 50 minutes. Remove and let cool before serving. Serve with bacon toffee sauce, if desired.
Ratings
4
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501
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Cooking Notes
Marybeth
In the video, they used, or seemed to us, all the crumble topping. I just looked at the recipe one more time after putting the crostada in the oven and see it says to use only one cup of the topping. If that's so, why make so much in the first place?
Heidi
After struggling for months to produce flaky turnovers/pie crust, I found the answer in Mark Bittman's cookbook ("How to Cook Everything"): Use 3/4 butter and 1/4 shortening (Crisco) and no egg. I make a lot (2 1/4 cups flour, 1 1/2 stick butter, 4 tbsp Crisco, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp sugar, and 6 tbsp ice water) and freeze half. The shortening ensures flakiness and also makes the dough easier to handle.
David Corcoran
Terrific recipe, good video. I did not need nearly as many apples or topping as the recipe called for; the first try was overstuffed & unwieldy. Used the leftovers to make a second, much better crostata the following day.
Sue
This was wonderful. I am so glad I decided to make the Bacon Toffee sauce at the last minute - it really made a difference. I also served it with homemade vanilla bean ice cream. Comments indicated that the crumb recipe was a lot for this dish - so I reduced crumb ingredients .. to 75% of recipe. I also reduced Bacon Toffee sauce to 25% of recipe.. and had just enough of both.
Geoff Last
All the comments about too much filling and crumble are correct, I would cut the crumble recipe ih half and reduce the apples by about a third, otherwise nice recipe.
Jeff
I found this to be a fairly difficult, involved dish. Once the dough sits out 15 minutes after cooling in the fridge, it stuck to the "lightly floured" surface.Then, a 14" circle of pastry won't fit on a typical baking sheet. I defy anyone to pile 6 cups of apples into a pile small enough to cover w/ a 4" band of dough. Finally, if only using 1 cup of crumbs, why 2-1/2 cups of ingredients? Can't comment on the taste - that will be tonight after company dinner.
Barbara
I made this for Thanksgiving, doubling the dough, because I wanted the crust to be a bit more substantial. I am glad I did; it was just enough. I also added crystallized ginger to the apples. When it came to the toffee sauce, I wanted to use it but I am a vegetarian. So, rather than using bacon drippings, I added 1/2 tsp of liquid smoke and crumbled 1 slice of the morningstar faux bacon into the sauce. The sauce is absolutely delicious and the pie is super rustic.
Lewis
Delicious. I had way too much crumb topping - I'd make half next time. Used a mix of Granny Smith, Golden Ginger and a Honeycrisp. Couldn't fit 6 cups of apples on the crust, but ate the rest while the crostata was baking.
dihard1946
The beaten egg is brushed on the crust; it is not an ingredient of the crust.
Sbuster
I am done with pie. DONE I tell you. This was way easier and utterly delicious. Second all the comments about too much filling and topping--used four apples and made half the topping and had plenty of both. Don't skip the sauce--it was amazing and was even better with the addition of a couple teaspoons of bourbon, just whisk in with the butter.
NYCMom
I saw Claudia Fleming and had to try this recipe! the crust and filling are easy and great! But i don't get the topping. Too much flour for the amount of sugar and butter. Next time i'll sub a different crumble topping recipe i have- with just a small amount of flour, and oats.
Janet
I wondered the same thing. Cut the recipe by half, two-thirds?
Angela
Works equally well with a store-bought refrigerated pie crust if you do not have time (or inclination) to make your own crust. Fresh lemon zest added a wonderful citrusy-note; I may try orange zest next time.
Marybeth
Despite my using all of the topping made, instead of just the one cup required, this was truly delicious. Of course, this is a very rich dessert. With two full sticks of butter in the recipe, this is for special occasions. Seemed pretty foolproof and was delicious the first time out. Like Susan, we had it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The bacon toffee topping seemed a bit rich for a normal Sunday dinner dessert.
Rosie
Nice recipe. Way too much crumble and too dry. Did not think it added to the crostata. Made the toffee sauce without the bacon. Again, way too much toffee sauce. Will make again but follow my own instincts ...less and better crumble; lighter caramel sauce.
Julie
Would reduce apples to 5 (a mix). Halved the crumble. Used lemon juice instead of zest . Would add cardamom to the apples. Otherwise followed it exactly.
Leslie T
I had a "frozen" pie crust a friend left, so used that with the filling and crumb parts of this recipe. Didn't have time to cool down the melted butter, but it was just fine. Just crumbled the topping and it was all delicious!
Dennis Chansky
This recipe is very inexact. I used all of the apples and all of the crumbs. Even though I used judgment to bake it 12 minutes longer, only the apples on the bottom layer were reasonably soft while the mounded remainder were crunchy. Only the topmost layer of crumbs took on solid form while those further down stayed dangerously undercooked. You could make adjustments to this recipe or find something different to serve. Simple baked goods like a galette need to be perfect. Moving on from this one
Anne
I made the full amount of filling and it was fine. I measured out 6 cups of apples and really piled it up in the middle, like the video shows. The amount of crumble is too much. It's really more like a streusel. This came out really well. It was delicious,
Kathi, Monterey CA
The recipe calls for way too much topping, doesn't list raw sugar as an ingredient but the instructions include it.
Richard
I made this and it came out very well. I cooked the apples first in a covered pan with the sugar and spices, because I like soft apples in pastries. Let the apples cool before preparing the crostata. Precooking the apples has the added advantage that you don't expose the bottom crust to as much liquid, thus reducing soggy crust.The crumble and toffee toppings strike me as overkill. The crostata is delicious without them, and healthier (but still not quite health food).
lizhobbins
A great alternative to a two-crust apple pie. I was a little put off by the several steps, but the end result was delicious.DEFINITELY cut the crumble in half.I was easily able to get a 14” crust, but 5 apples was more than enough. If your apples are large, I would recommend just 4.
DB
I took the advice of others and made only half the amount of crumb topping (added 1/4 cup of chopped pecans to it though) and the Bacon Toffee Sauce. It was plenty. The rolled dough was a little over 12 inches in diameter, I might have been able to get to 13 inches, it would have been a stretch (lol) can't see 14 inches. Scant 6 cups of apples (about 5 apples) is plenty for this recipe. The finished product was delicious and I still have toffee sauce left for ice cream or fruit!
Babs In Seattle
Followed previous notes & decreased crumble & quantity of filling. I used my own basic pie crust. It is a fabulous alternative to apple pie. Not too sweet & the crumble really adds a nice topping. Definitely a repeat recipe!!
Kate
I made this yesterday. As suggested by others I made only half of the crumble mix. I found the whole thing very dry. Since apples aren’t juicy I felt it needed moisture.I think next time I would sauté the apple slices in butter, then add the brown sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch to make a bit of caramel. Oh and maybe a splash of bourbon. Because bourbon makes everything better!
thenatpack
Great recipe. I overworked dough because I couldn’t tell what size the flour/butter pieces were in my food processor. Dough was therefore too wet, added a little bit of flour and luckily it ended up being a very forgiving dough but might try again by hand. Used all of the apples and about 3/4 of the crumble. Apples were perfectly cooked in 50 min. Will definitely make again! Skipped bacon toffee and didn’t have any sort of raw sugar and yet it was still dessert perfection. Make this now!
Alex
I didn't mind the overabundance of crumble (that's always my favorite part) but it was too much flour for the amount of sugar/butter - would play around with decreasing the amount of flour to get a more flavorful crumb. Also, the filling was a bit dry and not as sweet as I would expect of an apple pie - feels like it needs the accompanying sauce or some ice cream to finish it.
Virginia
Made this last night and it was wondrous!! There’s a new cooking genre “recycling”. A pie crust from the inner reaches of the freezer, a bag of over the hill by a long shot apples my pre-apocalyptic eating husband didn’t like. And it was still a true gift. Made half recipe of streusel and dumped it all on. Eggs like gold out here so I used cream. So good!!! Thank you.
Virginia
Even our phones are malfunctioning in California! Evaluation didn’t go through. Short version: packaged pie crust found in the freezer, bag of of slightly wizened apples, half the recipe of streusel but dumped it all on. It was wondrous!!!This is the season for a new cooking category; Recycled and Grateful. Is this how the pioneers got started??
leu2500
I took all the suggestions - fewer apples, 1/2 the crumb topping, 1/2 the toffee sauce & it was wonderful. The toffee sauce is especially good.
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