These Apple Croissants are the perfect combination of flaky, buttery puff pastry and warm homemade cinnamon apples. Baked in a muffin pan until golden brown, they're easy to make but look like they came straight from a bakery, making them perfect for breakfast, brunch, dessert, or holiday gatherings.
Apple Croissants Recipe Essentials
- 🍽️ Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Snack
- ⏱️ Cooking Time: Prep: 20 minutes | Cook: 35 minutes | Total: About 55 minutes
- 🍴 Servings: 12 apple croissants
- 🍎 Flavor Profile: Buttery, flaky, sweet, warmly spiced, crisp pastry with soft cinnamon apples
- ☕ Best Served With: Coffee, hot apple cider, chai tea, hot chocolate, vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream
- 🧊 Make Ahead?: Yes! Prepare the filling up to 2 days ahead or bake the croissants in advance and reheat before serving.
Summarize and Save This Content On
One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it tastes like homemade apple pie without all the extra work of making pie dough. Puff pastry creates beautifully flaky layers while the cinnamon apple filling stays soft and perfectly spiced, giving you bakery-style results with surprisingly little effort.
If you love cozy apple desserts, you'll also enjoy my apple pie with graham cracker crust and caramel apple crisp. If you love croissants try our easy almond croissant and croissant French toast bake. They're all easy family favorites that are perfect all year long.
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Why You Will Love This Recipe
- Bakery-style with minimal effort: Flaky puff pastry and homemade cinnamon apples create an impressive bakery-quality treat without making pastry from scratch.
- Perfect for any occasion: Delicious for breakfast, brunch, dessert, holiday mornings, bake sales, or an afternoon coffee break.
- Easy to customize: Switch up the apples, spices, toppings, or add caramel, nuts, or cream cheese to make them your own.
Ingredients
You only need a handful of easy-to-find ingredients to make these warm, flaky apple croissants.
- Apple filling: Fresh apples, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and cornstarch cook down into a thick, sweet, perfectly spiced filling.
- Puff pastry: Store-bought puff pastry creates light, flaky layers without the work of making homemade dough.
- Finishing touches: Melted butter helps the pastry bake beautifully golden while coarse sugar adds sparkle and a delicious crunchy topping.
Find the complete ingredient list, exact measurements, and easy step-by-step instructions in the printable recipe card below.
Variations
- Apples & fruit: Use Honeycrisp, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Fuji, or Gala apples, or mix in pears, cranberries, blueberries, or peaches for a fun twist.
- Spices & flavor: Customize the filling with apple pie spice, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, cloves, cardamom, orange zest, vanilla extract, or a splash of maple syrup.
- Sweet additions: Add caramel pieces, a spoonful of sweetened cream cheese, or finish the baked croissants with powdered sugar, vanilla glaze, maple glaze, or salted caramel sauce.
- Crunchy toppings: Mix chopped pecans, walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts into the filling, or sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar, cinnamon sugar, or streusel before baking.
- Different sizes: Bake them in a mini muffin pan for bite-sized pastries perfect for holiday brunches, dessert trays, parties, or afternoon snacks.
How to Make Apple Croissants
Preheat the oven to 400°F and lightly grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan.
Step 1: Make the Apple Filling. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples begin to soften.
Step 2: Thicken Filling. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the apples and stir continuously for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the filling thickens. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
Step 3: Prepare the Puff Pastry. Unfold the thawed puff pastry sheets and cut each sheet into 6 equal rectangles to make 12 rectangles total. Press one rectangle into each prepared muffin cup, allowing the corners to extend over the edges to create pastry cups.
Step 4: Fill the Pastry Cups. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the cooled apple filling into each pastry-lined muffin cup, dividing the filling evenly among all 12 cups.
Step 5: Fold and Top the Croissants. Fold the pastry corners toward the center in a clockwise pattern, leaving a small opening in the middle so some of the apple filling peeks through. Brush the tops with the melted butter and sprinkle generously with coarse sugar.
Step 6: Bake Until Golden, Cool and Serve. Bake for 22 to 26 minutes, or until the puff pastry is puffed and deep golden brown and the filling is bubbling around the edges.
Let the apple croissants cool in the muffin pan for 5 minutes, then carefully transfer them to a wire rack or serving platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Expert Tips
- Choose the best apples: Granny Smith adds a tart flavor while Honeycrisp is naturally sweeter. Cut the apples into small, even pieces so they cook quickly and fit neatly inside the pastry cups.
- Keep the pastry cold: Work with chilled puff pastry and return it to the refrigerator if it becomes too soft. Cold pastry bakes up lighter, flakier, and holds its shape better.
- Don't overfill: Use about 2 tablespoons of filling per pastry cup and leave a small opening when folding the pastry so the filling can bubble without overflowing.
- Bake until deeply golden: Puff pastry develops its best flavor and texture when fully baked. If the tops brown too quickly, loosely tent them with foil for the last few minutes.
- Enjoy fresh or store for later: These croissants are best served warm the day they're baked, but leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days, refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months and reheated in a 325°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes or in an air fryer at 325°F for 3 to 5 minutes until the pastry is crisp and heated through. Microwave for 20 to 30 seconds if desired, although the pastry will be softer.
If you love recipes like this, you may also enjoy our apple pie bars and apple pie bites.
Serving Suggestions
- Breakfast favorites: Serve warm with coffee and pumpkin spice creamer, chai tea, pumpkin chai latte, pumpkin spice latte, cinnamon hot chocolate, or apple cider float alongside fresh fruit, yogurt, or scrambled eggs.
- Holiday brunch: Add them to a brunch spread with apple crisp muffins, Hawaiian roll cinnamon rolls, glazed bacon, sausage, and Mexican breakfast casserole.
- Sweet toppings: Dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with vanilla glaze, apple crisp cold foam, maple glaze, salted caramel sauce, or cream cheese icing.
- Perfect for sharing: Great for holiday mornings, bake sales, potlucks, baby showers, brunch buffets, afternoon coffee breaks, or fall gatherings.
- Dessert treats: Pair with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, apple syrup, pumpkin syrup, caramel ice cream, or a drizzle of warm caramel sauce for an easy dessert.
Apple Croissants Recipe FAQs
Puff pastry needs to stay cold until it goes into the oven. If it becomes too warm while assembling, refrigerate the filled pastry cups for 10 to 15 minutes before baking.
Yes! Prepare the apple filling up to 2 days in advance, or assemble the croissants a few hours before baking and refrigerate them until you're ready to bake.
Absolutely. Homemade filling offers the best flavor and texture, but canned apple pie filling works well when you're short on time. Chop any large apple slices into smaller pieces before filling the pastry.
Allow the apple filling to cool slightly before assembling and make sure it has thickened properly. Avoid adding excess liquid to the pastry cups.
More Apple Recipes
If you love baking with apples, here are a few more delicious recipes you may also enjoy. They're perfect for breakfast, dessert, holiday gatherings, and making the most of apple season.
If you try this recipe and love it please leave a star rating in the recipe card below or even better, drop a review in the comment section. I always appreciate your feedback. Be sure to follow along with me on Facebook, Pinterest, and YouTube for more easy recipes!
Apple Croissants
Equipment
Ingredients
Apple Filling
- 3 large Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apples peeled and diced small
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1-2 tablespoons cornstarch
Pastry
- 1 package puff pastry 2 sheets, thawed and cut into twelve 3 × 5-inch rectangles
- 2 tablespoons melted butter
- Coarse sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan.
- In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples soften. Sprinkle the cornstarch over the apples and stir continuously for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the filling thickens. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.
- Cut each thawed puff pastry sheet into 6 equal rectangles to make 12 rectangles total. Press one rectangle into each muffin cup, allowing the corners to extend over the edges. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the cooled apple filling into each pastry cup.
- Fold the pastry corners toward the center in a clockwise pattern, leaving a small opening so some of the apple filling peeks through. Brush the pastry with the melted butter and sprinkle generously with coarse sugar.
- Bake for 22 to 26 minutes, or until the pastry is puffed and deep golden brown. Let the apple croissants cool in the muffin pan for 5 minutes, then carefully remove and serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- Choose the best apples: Granny Smith adds a tart flavor while Honeycrisp is naturally sweeter. Cut the apples into small, even pieces so they cook quickly and fit neatly inside the pastry cups.
- Keep the pastry cold: Work with chilled puff pastry and return it to the refrigerator if it becomes too soft. Cold pastry bakes up lighter, flakier, and holds its shape better.
- Don't overfill: Use about 2 tablespoons of filling per pastry cup and leave a small opening when folding the pastry so the filling can bubble without overflowing.
- Bake until deeply golden: Puff pastry develops its best flavor and texture when fully baked. If the tops brown too quickly, loosely tent them with foil for the last few minutes.
- Enjoy fresh or store for later: These croissants are best served warm the day they're baked, but leftovers can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days, refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 3 months and reheated in a 325°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes or in an air fryer at 325°F for 3 to 5 minutes until the pastry is crisp and heated through. Microwave for 20 to 30 seconds if desired, although the pastry will be softer.
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