Air fryer apple roses are a spectacular dessert that is elegant and tastes amazing! These apple pastries are bursting with flavor and look like roses but taste like apple pie!
Puff pastry makes a crisp crust for the tender apples. And when you cook them in the air fryer you can have this crowd pleasing dessert ready fast.
Apple roses pastry are perfect as an elegant Valentine’s day dessert or for a treat for your family. And while they look complicated they really aren’t.
It takes just a little bit of patience to thinly slice the fruit and roll it up in the dough. Once you’ve rolled a few you will be amazed at how easy it really is.
Love air fryer desserts? Check out my air fryer baked apples and air fryer apple crisp!
Why You Will Love These Apple Roses
They look very fancy and are sure to amaze your friends and family, who will think they were more complicated to make than really are!
The crispy dough combined with soft apples makes them like a mini apple pie.
There are only 4 simple ingredients in this recipe!
Key Ingredients
For exact amounts needed see the recipe card below
Apples – Use your favorite baking apple. Some that work well are Honeycrisp, Red Delicious, Gala and Fuji. You can also use green ones like Granny Smith, although red makes more sense for roses.
Lemon Juice – Lemon juice keeps the fruit from browning while you make the flowers.
Cinnamon – Cinnamon is the perfect spice to go with this dessert! Apple pie spice would also work well.
Puff pastry – Frozen puff pastry is an amazing shortcut for making simple, tasty desserts with very little effort. Sure, you could make homemade, but I never bother. You can find it in the frozen foods sections, usually near the pie crusts.
How to Make Apple Roses in the Air Fryer
1. Soften the Apples
Puff pastry needs to be at room temperature for this recipe. So get it out of the freezer about 30 minutes before you start cooking.
Then, cut the fruit into thin slices. The roses look better when the peel is left on, because it gives them a nice pop of color.
Cut the apples in half, then scoop out the core to get rid of the seeds. Slice them thinly with a knife or a mandolin. The pieces should be less than 1/8 inch thickness.
Place apple pieces in a microwave safe bowl and add the lemon juice and water to cover. Microwave them for about 3 minutes. Check and make sure they will bend without breaking. If not microwave them some more. Drain them when they are done.
Alternatively, you can soften them by heating them in the water and lemon juice on the stove. Put them in a saucepan and heat them on low until the water almost boils.
2. Make the Roses
Set up your work surface. You will need a cutting board for the pastry sheets, some flour and silicone muffin cups for baking the apple roses.
Sprinkle the cutting board with a little flour and unroll the sheet. Use a rolling pin to roll it a few times to make sure it is evenly flat.
Cut the sheet into 6 strips horizontally. Each should be about 2 inches wide. A pizza cutter works well for making evenly sliced strips.
Take one pastry strip and put an apple piece on it with the round part with the skin sticking above the dough. Then take another piece and arrange it the same way, overlapping with the first slice.
Continue until the pastry sheet is lined with slices. Then sprinkle some cinnamon over the top. I don’t think this dessert needs extra sugar. But if you have a sweet tooth you could sprinkle some sugar on too.
Fold the bottom part of the strip up so that the apples are sandwiched between the two halves of puff pastry.
Roll it up and pinch the ends a bit so that everything holds together. Put the apple rose into a silicone cupcake liner and set it aside while you make some more.
3. Air Fry the Apple Roses
Once you have rolled up all the pastry pieces put the roses in the air fryer. I have a few air fryers, and my 5.8 quart one can fit 6 apple roses, but my smaller one only fits 4 easily.
If you can’t fit all the roses in one batch then refrigerate them until you are ready to cook. The dough cooks better if it is cold.
Air fry them at 370 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until the dough is fully baked in the center.
Optional Oven Baking Instructions
If you don’t have an air fryer you can bake these in the oven at 375 degrees F for 40 minutes.
How to Serve
Once these apple rose puff pastry are baked take them out of the silicone cups and sprinkle them with a little bit of powdered sugar. These are best served warm.
I like them without any topping and think they taste like little apple pies! But my kids always want to add more sweetness to desserts like this!
Top them off with whipped cream, caramel sauce, honey or maple syrup. You can also serve them with ice cream for mini apple pies a la mode.
How to Store
Once they are baked then store them in an air tight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Since they taste amazing warm I like to warm them back up in the air fryer, heating them at 350 degrees F for about 3 minutes.
Can I make Apple Roses Ahead of Time?
Yes, you can roll these in advance and bake later. Just make as directed and store them in silicone baking cups in the refrigerator, tightly covered with plastic wrap. They will keep well for 12-16 hours in the refrigerator.
When you are ready to bake put them in the air fryer and bake at 370 degrees F for 8-10 minutes. They might take 1-2 minutes longer to cook since they are right out of the refrigerator.
Can I Freeze Apple Roses?
Yes, they can be frozen, but are better frozen unbaked. Package them in airtight containers and freeze them for up to 3 months. When you are ready to bake let them thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Then put them in the air fryer and bake them at 370 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.
Key Tips for Air Fryer Apple Roses
Be sure to check out the step by step instructions
Puff pastry cooks best when it is unfrozen but still cold. So take it out of the freezer about 30 minutes before baking, but don’t let it sit at room temperature for hours.
Individual silicone muffin liners are perfect for using in your air fryer.
If you are making these in batches, because you have a small air fryer or are making a double batch, refrigerate the ones in the second batch until time to bake.
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Air Fryer Apple Roses
Ingredients
- 2 red apples – Fuji Honeycrisp or Gala are great choices
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 package puff pastry sheets (1 sheet), thawed 30 minutes
- flour for dusting the cutting board
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
For serving
- powdered sugar
- honey maple syrup, whipped cream or ice cream
Instructions
- Cut the fruit in half. Take the core out and remove the seeds. Slice the apples into 1/8 inch thickness or less and put them in a large microwave safe bowl. You can use a knife or mandolin to cut the apples.2 red apples – Fuji
- Add the lemon juice to the bowl along with water to cover the pieces.1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
- Microwave for three minutes or until the pieces are soft and pliable. Take one out and make sure it bends without breaking. If not microwave them for another minute.
- While your slices are in the microwave, prepare your work surface by lightly flouring a large cutting board or your counter.flour
- Layout one puff pastry sheet and roll it with a rolling pin a couple of times. Roll it just enough to evenly flatten the sheets. Cut the sheet horizontally into six strips about 2 inches wide.1/2 package puff pastry sheets
- Drain the softened slices in a colander.
- Take one of the cut strips and place an apple slice with the round part (skin) sticking up from the edge of the pastry sheet. Take the next one and do the same, but overlap it slightly. Continue until the pastry strip is lined with slices. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- Fold the bottom part of the pastry sheet up to line up with the one underneath. Think of it as folding the pastry sheet in half over the fruit.
- Roll your filled pastry strip and slightly pinch the ends to hold it together.
- Place the rolled up rose in a silicone baking cup and put in your air fryer.
- Repeat until you have made all the roses.
- Cook at 370° F for 8-10 minutes or until the dough is fully cooked.
- Remove from the air fryer and serve warm. For extra sweetness dust them with powdered sugar.powdered sugar, honey
Notes
- Puff pastry cooks best when it is unfrozen but still cold. So take it out of the freezer about 30 minutes before baking, but don't let it sit at room temperature for hours.
- Individual silicone muffin liners are perfect for using in your air fryer.
- If you are making these in batches, because you have a small air fryer or are making a double batch, refrigerate the ones in the second batch until time to bake.
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Nutrition Information
Nutrition facts are estimates.
