Puff Pastry Apple & Walnut Half-Moons
DessertsOven RecipesEuropean

Puff Pastry Apple & Walnut Half-Moons

Recipe by AlexPrep: 30 minCook: 25 minTotal: 55 minServes 6Easy

Puff pastry apple and walnut half-moons are the bakery-window dessert built from a ready-made sheet: one strip cut into semicircles with the rim of a lid, a narrow egg-wash border, a thin layer of honey in the middle, then a filling of two apples cubed about 1.5 cm and cooked in butter with two tablespoons of brown sugar, a level teaspoon of cinnamon, orange zest and vanilla. The trick that keeps the juice with the fruit is cornstarch stirred into the orange juice before it reaches the pan. Soaked dried cranberries and coarsely chopped nuts go in, the second strip becomes the tops, pricked with a fork, and 20 minutes at 200 °C with the fan off turns them puffed and golden under a fine nut crumble. At the very end you hear the crunch. Makes 6.

Instructions

  1. 1

    Cut the puff pastry into two long strips. Keep one covered — it becomes the tops later.

  2. 2

    Use half the rim of a lid to cut semicircles from both sides of the first strip — six bases.

  3. 3

    Whisk the egg yolk with a spoonful of milk. Brush a narrow border around each base, keeping the middle free, and save the rest of the wash.

  4. 4

    Spread a thin layer of honey in the center of each base and set them aside.

  5. 5

    Peel the apples and cut them into pieces about 1.5 cm across — you want a proper bite of apple in the filling.

  6. 6

    Melt the butter in a pan, add the apples and cook over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring.

    02:00
  7. 7

    Add the brown sugar and the level teaspoon of cinnamon, grate in the orange zest in long strokes, and add the vanilla.

  8. 8

    Squeeze the orange into a separate bowl, stir the cornstarch into the juice until smooth, then pour it into the pan stirring the whole time — that is what keeps the juice with the fruit without lumps.

  9. 9

    Once the sauce clings to the apples, take the pan off and let the filling cool. Meanwhile soak the cranberries in hot water.

    15:00
  10. 10

    Spoon the cooled apples onto the honeyed bases, keeping the egg-washed edges clear. Drain the cranberries well and scatter them over, then coarsely chopped nuts — save some nuts for the tops.

  11. 11

    Bring back the covered pastry and cut six tops with the same lid. If the dough feels soft and sticky, chill it briefly. Prick each top with a fork.

  12. 12

    Lay each top over its base, tuck in any stray apple, and press all the way around to seal.

  13. 13

    Move them to a lined tray, brush the tops lightly with the remaining egg wash and scatter the finely chopped nuts over.

  14. 14

    Bake at 200 °C / 400 °F, fan off, for roughly 20 minutes, until puffed and golden. Listen as one breaks.

    20:00

Watch the video

Play: Puff Pastry Apple & Walnut Half-Moons

Notes from our kitchen

The cornstarch goes into the cold orange juice, never straight into the hot pan — mixed first it dissolves, added dry it clumps — and you keep stirring as you pour. Let the filling cool before it meets the pastry: warm filling softens the base and the tops won’t seal. The fork holes on the tops are not decoration; they release steam so the pastry lifts in layers instead of ballooning. And keep the egg wash to a narrow border on the bases — wash under the filling is wash that won’t glue the edges.

Variations

  • Nuts and fruit. The video’s nuts read as pecans on screen and walnuts on the recipe card — either works, and almonds too. Raisins stand in for the cranberries, but the cranberries’ tartness is doing real work against the honey and brown sugar, so keep something sharp in there.
  • Bigger batch from one sheet. A smaller lid gives you more, smaller half-moons from the same two strips — good for a party plate. Cut the bake to 15–17 minutes and watch the color; small ones brown fast under the nut crumble.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why use a lid as a pastry cutter?

Because it gives six identical semicircles from a plain strip with no special tool: half the rim pressed from both sides of the strip, and the tops cut with the same lid later match the bases exactly, so the edges meet and seal cleanly.

How does the filling stay juicy without leaking?

Cornstarch — stirred into the orange juice until smooth before it goes into the pan, then poured in while stirring. It thickens the juices so they cling to the apple pieces instead of running out through the seams in the oven. Add it dry to the hot pan and you get lumps instead.

Why prick the tops with a fork?

The holes let steam escape while the pastry bakes, so the tops rise in even layers rather than puffing into big bubbles that can split the seal. It is easiest to do while the tops are still flat, before they go over the filling.

Can I make them ahead, and how do they keep?

Assemble them fully, keep them chilled on the tray for a few hours, and bake when you want them — the egg wash and nuts go on right before the oven. Baked half-moons keep 2 days airtight; 5 minutes back in a 180 °C oven brings the crunch back. Skip the microwave, which turns the layers soft.

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