Weekly visits to the farmers market are a great way to support and connect with local growers and the rhythm of the seasons. The secret joy of the market is trying a new (to you!) variety of something as familiar as an apple.
Taking a cue from the bountiful variety of apples at my local market, I wondered how to make something at once familiar, like an apple pie, and present it in a different way. The answer is in these bite-size delights. Rolling the apple roses takes a little practice but, before you know it you'll have a tray of apple rosette cookies ready to go in the oven!
A cross between apple pie and gingerbread all in a pretty bouquet of vegan, bite-size treats, these delicate apple roses are nestled into grain-free and ginger-spiced cookie crusts. Perfect for sharing, and impressing, at your holiday gatherings.
There are so many ways to celebrate and share the apple harvest! If you're looking for something more rustic, but no less delicious, this Apple Crumble is one of my favorite recipes for the holidays. If you have more apples than you can eat, preparing an applesauce or Apple Butter is in order.
Apple Rosette Cookies
A cross between apple pie and gingerbread all in a pretty, bouquet of bite-size treats, these delicate apple roses are nestled into a ginger-spiced cookie crusts.
- Prep Time: 1 hr
- Cook Time: 40 min
- Total Time: 1 hr 40 min
- Yield: 8 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: dessert, vegan
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
Cookie Crust:
- 6 Tbsp white rice flour
- 1⁄2 tsp cinnamon
- 1⁄4 tsp ground ginger
- 1⁄8 tsp nutmeg
- 1⁄8 tsp salt
- 1⁄4 cup cashew butter
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 1⁄2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- zest from 1⁄2 lemon
Apple Slices:
- 1-2 sweet red apples*
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cup water
Apple Glaze:
- 2 Tbsp apricot preserves**, no sugar added
- 4 tsp coconut oil*** (optional)
- 1⁄4 cup water
Instructions
Chill mini muffin pan in fridge.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the rice flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Add remaining crust ingredients together and stir until fully combined.
- Scoop and roll single tablespoons of dough and place into wells of the mini muffin pan. Then, press the dough into bottom and sides of each well with fingertips. Alternately, you can use a tool like a tart tamper, a sauerkraut tamper, or even the non-business end of a kitchen utensil like a citrus reamer. Return pan to fridge.
- Beginning with the apples stem up, cut the sides off close to the core. Slice each section into very thin half moons (approximately 1/16 inch or 1-2 mm wide) using a sharp knife or mandolin slicer. Place apple slices in a large bowl with the lemon juice and 2 cups water for at least 5 minutes.
- Whisk the preserves and coconut oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until melted together. Stir in ½ cup water until blended in and reduce to low heat.
- Drain apples from lemon water and gently toss with glaze for a few minutes. Once the slices are flexible enough to roll without breaking, remove from heat and strain apples from the liquid. Keep glaze liquid.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and bring muffin pan to work surface.
- Lay out apple slices on a cutting board to allow them to cool while you work. For each rose, choose 5 apple slices of graduated size.
- Taking the largest slice, roll into a tight spiral for the rose center. Steady the flat end on the cutting board and take the second largest slice, overlap over the end of the first slice, creating a petal. Do this with 3 more slices, choosing consecutively smaller pieces until you have a little rose. Carefully lift the rose and place into one mini crust. Form roses until all crusts are filled.
- If the apples are looking dry, feel free to brush more glaze on the apples
- Bake for 20 minutes then loosely tent foil over the cookies to keep the roses from turning brown. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until the crust is looks golden and dry.
- Cool in pan for 10-15 minutes. Use a butter knife to lift the cookies out of the wells and transfer to a cooling rack until completely cooled. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
*Pink Lady and Honeycrisp varieties work well
**St Dalfour and Crofter's Just Fruit brands are my go to brands for fruit preserves sweetened only with fruit juice
***For an oil free recipe, omit the coconut oil.
catherine rivard says
Quelle jolie création! C'est original, sans aucun doute délicieux et la présentation est impressionnante.
Audrey says
Merci Catherine!