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Easy puff pastry apple donuts with cinnamon apples, brown butter pecans and maple vanilla glaze

Easy Puff Pastry Apple Donuts

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Juicy cinnamon maple apple rings wrapped in flaky puff pastry with brown butter cinnamon sugar and toasted pecans, baked until deeply golden and finished with salted maple vanilla glaze.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 24 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Servings: 6
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 380
Ingredients Method Nutrition Notes

Ingredients
  

Cinnamon Maple Apples

  • 2 large Honeycrisp apples
  • 2 tbs maple sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom
  • pinch nutmeg
  • pinch sea salt

Brown Butter Pecan Filling

  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3 tbsp maple sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup roasted pecans, very finely chopped
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • pinch sea salt

Puff Pastry

  • 1 sheet all-butter puff pastry, thawed but still cold
  • Whole milk, for brushing

Cinnamon Crunch Topping

  • 2 tbsp maple sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch flaky sea salt

Salted Maple Vanilla Glaze

  • 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
  • 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 1 tbsp maple sugar, blended into a fine powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
  • pinch sea salt
  • Whole milk, only if needed

To Finish

  • Finely chopped roasted pecans
  • Cinnamon
  • Flaky sea salt

Method
 

Prepare the Apples
  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Slice the apples horizontally into approximately 1/2-inch-thick rings. Remove the core from each slice with a small round cutter to create a donut shape. Choose the 6 largest rings.
  3. Combine the maple sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and sea salt. Pat the apple rings dry, then coat both sides in the cinnamon maple mixture.
Make the Brown Butter Pecan Filling
  1. Brown the butter over medium heat until deeply golden and nutty. Remove it from the heat and stir in the maple sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and sea salt. Fold in the finely chopped pecans.
Wrap the Apple Donuts
  1. Unfold the cold puff pastry and roll it gently to smooth the seams. Spread a very thin layer of the brown butter pecan filling over the pastry.
  2. Cut the pastry into strips approximately 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide. Thread one strip through the center of an apple ring and wrap it around the apple, slightly overlapping the pastry as you go. Add more strips as needed until the apple is almost completely enclosed.
  3. Repeat with the remaining apple rings and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet.
Add the Cinnamon Crunch Topping
  1. Brush each apple donut lightly with whole milk. Combine the maple sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkle the mixture generously over the pastry.
Bake
  1. Bake for 18 to 24 minutes, until the puff pastry is deeply golden, puffed and crisp and the apples are tender. Bake for another couple of minutes if the bottoms still look pale.
  2. Finish each donut with a small pinch of flaky sea salt.
Make the Salted Maple Vanilla Glaze
  1. Whisk the Greek yogurt, maple syrup, powdered maple sugar, vanilla and sea salt until thick and glossy. Add a small splash of milk only if needed to make the glaze drizzleable.
Finish
  1. Let the apple donuts cool for 5 minutes. Drizzle them generously with the salted maple vanilla glaze and finish with cinnamon, finely chopped pecans and flaky sea salt. Serve warm.

Nutrition

Serving: 130gCalories: 380kcalCarbohydrates: 44gProtein: 4gFat: 21gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 40mgSodium: 180mgPotassium: 150mgFiber: 3gSugar: 27gVitamin A: 500IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 45mgIron: 1.5mg

Notes

Nutrition is estimated for 1 large apple donut with 1/6 of the glaze. Exact values will vary depending on the puff pastry brand.

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