Your Favorite Starbucks Pastry, Made Fresh At Home

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Starbucks has a notoriously large selection of pastries, though the baked apple croissant may be one of the tastiest options. Featuring suger-topped flaky croissant dough wrapped around an apple filling, baked apple croissants are especially delicious when enjoyed warm. Sure, it's convenient to grab this treat from Starbucks whenever you want one, but the costs add up, and sometimes it's nice to make a special treat in the comfort of your own home. Luckily, it's not too difficult to create this delicious fruit-filled croissant yourself.

Recipe developer Michelle Bottalico has created a copycat version of the Starbucks baked apple croissant that's just as delicious as the real thing. Your kitchen will smell amazing when you cook up the warm apple filling from Granny Smith apples, butter, brown sugar, and spices. The sweet, textured, and syrupy filling is spooned into squares of puff pastry set into the depressions of a muffin tin (which gives the croissants their characteristic shape), and then the edges of the dough are folded over the filling to conceal it inside. Turbinado sugar serves as a final garnish for a slightly crispy, extra-sweet little something on top.

We recommend Granny Smith apples for this recipe because they are tart and allow the apple flavor to stay strong when mixed with sugar. However, any apples appropriate for apple pie (that is firm apples that can hold their shape and aren't overly sweet) will be fine. Besides apples, you'll need unsalted butter, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, water, and cornstarch for the filling. The other ingredients are a frozen puff pastry sheet (thawed before use), a large egg and more water for the egg wash, and turbinado sugar for garnish.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

Add the apples, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 2 tablespoons water to the saucepan. Stir well to evenly combine.

Bring the mixture to a simmer, lower the heat to medium-low, and let simmer gently for 7-8 minutes until the apples have softened a little and the mixture has thickened slightly.

Sprinkle the cornstarch over the apple mixture and stir well.

Simmer for an additional 5 minutes until thickened and syrupy. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Grease a muffin tin with butter or spray it with cooking spray.

Unfold the thawed puff pastry sheet and slightly roll it out lengthwise to make it longer (with the rolling pin parallel to the creases).

Cut the sheet into 8 equal squares.

Center each pastry square over a depression in a muffin tin and press to mold them to the shape of the bottom and sides of the tin.

Spoon the apple filling into the pastry, evenly dividing it among the 8 cups.

Carefully fold 2 opposite corners of pastry towards the center to cover the filling.

Fold the 2 remaining corners in the same way.

Whisk together the egg and 2 teaspoons water in a small bowl. Brush the egg wash over the tops of each croissant.

Sprinkle turbinado sugar over the croissants.

Place the muffin tin in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops of the croissants are crispy and golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let the croissants cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Serve warm or let cool completely before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container on the counter for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

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An easy way to customize this recipe is to modify the filling by adding other spices like ginger or additional ingredients like raisins or chopped nuts. Pecans or walnuts would work especially well. Consider adding a somewhat unexpected apple pie ingredient, sour cream, to the filling as it creates a creamier texture and adds a subtle tang that complements the apples. You could also glaze the croissants after they've cooled completely for some added sweetness. Whip up a simple powdered sugar icing by mixing about a tablespoon of milk or water into a cup of powdered sugar to start, adding more liquid as necessary to reach a desired consistency. Then, simply drizzle the glaze over the cooled croissants.

You can also switch up the fruit filling. Other fresh fruits like peaches, pears, blueberries, and cherries would all be delicious in this recipe. Use them the same way you would use the apples. If you're pressed for time, store-bought pie fillings can be substituted for the home cooked filling if desired. Apple, blueberry, cherry, raspberry, peach, lemon, and strawberry pie fillings are just some of the options found in the supermarket baking aisle.

Finally, you could change the shape of the pastries. Instead of cutting small squares, keep the puff pastry sheet intact and make a braid by spooning all of the filling into the center, cutting the sides into strips, and overlapping them over the filling (you won't need a muffin tin for this method, just a standard baking sheet).

Making homemade puff pastry is a labor of love, which is precisely why this recipe calls for using a store-bought version. With the repeated rolling and folding to create all those lovely buttery and flaky layers, homemade puff pastry requires several hours in the kitchen as well as careful attention to temperature. The reason you don't need to make puff pastry from scratch (unless you really want to) is because the store-bought puff pastry is on par with the texture and flavor of homemade. It's easy to work with, bakes into flaky layers, and is a time-saving option for simple appetizers or pastries. 

Although using store-bought puff pastry is pretty straightforward, there are still some tips to keep in mind for the best results. Plan ahead if you're using frozen puff pastry, because it will need to be fully defrosted before use. It will be harder to open if it's not thawed completely, and the seams where it was folded can crack or break. However, don't thaw it too much. If the pastry gets too soft, it can stick and be hard to work with. We've found the shorter end of the range of time the package suggests for keeping it in the refrigerator after thawing to be a better choice. We also recommend lightly flouring your work surface to keep the pastry from sticking.

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