caramel apple tart

Doesn't this tart look yummy?  Is it.  So simple, yet amazing good.  Want to know a secret?  It was made entirely by a 4 year old.  MY four year old, Liam.  Not bad, huh?

I've gotta say, it made me get all warm and fuzzy inside yesterday when he told me he wanted a tart pan for Christmas for himself so we could make more tarts together.

Confused by the round caramel balls as opposed to a pretty drizzle?  I saw the bag of Kraft caramel balls at the store and just HAD to try them, I would have melted them down and drizzled the caramel over the tart, but since Liam made this himself I thought it would be simpler (and not quite so hot) for him to just dump them over top of the apple slices.

I still have lots of caramel left in the bag, and I can't wait to use them, so sorry in advance if I have a plethora of caramel related recipes soon!

I love baking with Liam.  We don't get to do it all the time, mostly because Jack wants to help too and 2 isn't quite old enough to be of much help.  When Jack is out of the house I take full advantage of my cute kiddo baking time!  As soon as I asked Liam if he wanted to bake a tart he ran over and immediately grabbed his apron, which made me so happy, because he hadn't used it in a while and he could have legitimately forgotten about it.

I'm trying something new starting with this post.  I have a you tube channel that I'm going to put the occasional post on.  I figure some people might prefer video over reading or whatever, and when I do post a video I'll make sure to link it up with the corresponding recipe.  I'm still very new at making cooking videos, and the video for this recipe is just awful, but cute.  It's my first cooking video, starring a 4 year old, with me helping a bit plus filming, with bad lighting, a messy kitchen, etc.  If you do watch the video make sure your sound is up because Liam is much quieter than me, but he says some cute funny things.

Okay, I really don't have much else to say other than list the recipe, but this photos look so pretty, I just had to post them.  :)

This tart really makes 6 servings, I just started cutting too big and ended up with 5 huge slices instead.  Aim for 6 slices.

As you can see, we left the apple peels on.  I wanted Liam to make as much of the tart as possible by himself, and I thought peeling might be a bit above him.  Also, I like the added color and look of a tart with the peels.  You can peel the apples first if you like.

Slicing the apples and helping Liam spread the dough into the tart pan are really the only things I helped with.  Liam seriously did the rest by himself.  Liam wasn't quite up to cutting the apples.  He either tried to hack them into weird huge chunks, of he keep trying to put his fingers too close to the blade.  Don't worry, I paid VERY close attention when he handled a knife.  I even tried to have him use a curved mincing knife for a while because I thought it might be easier for him to hold that handle, but no.

watch Liam bakes a caramel apple tart on my new you tube channel.

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• Caramel Apple Tart

makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups AP flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cold water

2 fuji apples, sliced thinly (peels optional)
2 tbsp caramel balls


Directions:

1. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, and butter in a food processor until the butter is in tiny crumbles.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix until absorbed.  Slowly pour in the water through the processor lid while mixing.  The dough should be soft but not sticky.  Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Lightly spray the tart pan with cooking spray.  Gently push the dough into place in the pan.  Spread it out evenly.  Cover the dough evenly and thoroughly with the apple slices.  You will probably not need all the slices.  
3. Either dump the caramel balls over top the apples and bake for 45 minutes, let cool, and eat.  OR  bake the tart without the caramel.  While the baked tart cools heat the caramel balls evenly in a microwave, then drizzle the caramel sauce over the tart.  Enjoy!

Note: Makes enough dough for one 9 1/2-inch tart, six 4-inch tartlets, twelve 2-inch miniature tartlets or one 13 3/4-by-4 1/4-inch rectangular tart.

frozen yogurt tarts

I've been on a bit of a tarts kick as of late.  Can you tell?  I really wanted a healthier version, both for me, and for an easy snack for the kids.  These tarts are MUCH healthier than my previous recipe, and are mini sized (perfect for snacking!).

I got the recipe for the crust from Deliciously Ella.  I love her!  She's a super cute healthy girl from London.  A bit hippy for me sometimes, but great for easy, filling, low sugar, veggie recipes.  I had to alter her tart crust recipe a bit to suit me (and to account for the US measurements).

These tarts take about 45 minutes to make (plus freezing time), but you can make them the night or morning before you want them so easily.

These tart crusts only use 4 ingredients.  So simple.  Almonds, dates, coconut oil, and water.  That's it.  Really.  I like mine a little coarse, but you can grind them finer if you like.  I find the easiest way to make these is to cut the dates into small pieces and soak them in a small bowl with the water and (melted) coconut oil until they have softened a bit.

While the dates are soaking pulse the almonds in a food processor until fine.  Pour the almond pieces out into a medium sized bowl.  Now pulse the dates in the water and coconut oil until there are no remaining chunks.  Pour this out into the bowl with the almonds and stir together with a wooden spoon.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and lightly grease a mini muffin tin.

Ball up pieces the size of half your thumb (as a rough estimate) and press them down in each mini muffin mold, pushing the crust out gently up near the tops of the mold.  I ended up with about 21 tarts.  Bake for 15 minutes, then move and let sit about 10 minutes.  Remove carefully and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

I know the darker than average crust color might concern some of you, but almonds and dates are dark before baked.  Don't worry.  Nothing is burned.

Place the tarts on a large plate or tray to prep for the freezer.

I had the PERFECT amount of yogurt in one container to exactly fill all my tarts.  Just spoon a dollop into the center of each tart.

Place the tarts in the freezer until the yogurt has firmed.  Freezing the tarts makes them so refreshing on a hot day, and there's WAY less mess for the kiddos!

Look at how pretty and simple these are.  You could eat them like this.  Or...

...you could spoon a nice dollop of lite cool whip on top of each tart.  Really, it makes all the difference in the world.  Now you have a still pretty healthy dessert that is great for hot days, good for kids, not messy, and perfectly bite sized.

Not enough reason to make these?  Well, they are also super easy to make, required very few ingredients, can be made in advance  Shall I go on?

In short these tarts are sweet, tart, nutty, chewy, refreshing, and creamy.  What's not to love?

You could even go one step further in telling yourself to make these by remembering that the ingredients include whole almonds and yogurt.  Very good sources of protein you know.

And cool whip not included, I happened to have all the other ingredients necessary already in stock.

frozen yogurt tarts
makes 20-22 mini muffin sized tarts

ingredients:

• 7 ounces of whole almonds
• 3 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 tbsp water
• 10 medjool dates
• 1 container of strawberry yogurt (I used yoplait original)
• lite cool whip

directions:

1. Cut the dates into small pieces and place into a small bowl to soften with the coconut oil and the water.  While they soak grind the almonds in a food processor (coarse or fine, up to you).  Pour the ground almonds out into a medium bowl.
2. Pour the date mixture into the food processor and puree.  Pour the mix out into the almond bowl and stir to combine with a wooden spoon.
3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F and oil a mini muffin tin (24 muffin capacity).
4. Grab crust pieces about half the size of your thumb and gently push into the base of each mini mold, then push up the sides evenly.
5. Bake for 15 minutes, or until edges have darkened a bit.
6. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before removing from the mold and letting cool completely on wire racks.
7. Place crusts on a large plate or tray and gently spoon strawberry yogurt into the center of each tart.  Freeze the tarts.  
8. Remove from the freeze and top each tart with a large dollop of lite cool whip.  Serve.

The crust recipe is a lightly edited version from Deliciously Ella.