Salted Caramel Apple Galette

This quintessentially autumnal salted caramel apple galette recipe features a crisp, flaky all-butter pie crust encasing a spiced fresh apple filling, all topped with an easy homemade salted caramel sauce. Cook the filling before baking for the best flavor and no soggy bottoms!

Salted caramel apple galette, how I love thee.  I’ve had this recipe rumbling around in my head for the better part of a year, and I’m so glad I finally got around to sharing it with you today! 

If you want more apple recipes, check out my baked apple cider donuts, apple cider donut bars, or apple crumble slab pie.

Inspiration for the Recipe

I was never a big caramel apple fan as a kid.  They were way too messy and always kind of disappointing. 

Maybe that’s because I only ever had the store-bought ones that were packed in that thick, nigh impenetrable plastic so commonly used in the 90s.  They’d probably been sitting on the shelf for weeks before I ever ate them.  So I suppose it’s not surprising that I found them overly sweet, got annoyed by the fact that the caramel would stick to everything and also somehow felt like it was going to break your teeth, and the apple itself…well you can imagine how gross and tasteless the apple was.  Ugh.

So today I am rectifying that bad memory with this salted caramel apple galette.  It has all the elements I think caramel apples would have in an ideal world: fresh apples cooked in just a bit of sugar and spices, a shattering, flaky all-butter crust, a homemade salted caramel sauce, and of course, vanilla ice cream and nuts over the top.

Ingredients

I love galettes because they give you all the indulgence of pie without a ton of finicky ingredients or steps. Here is the sum total of the ingredients for all the elements of this lovely creation:

For the all-butter pie crust:

• Unsalted butter. Because we like to have control over the level of salt in our baked goods!
• All-purpose flour.
• Salt.
• A very small (like 1/2 a tablespoon small) amount of sugar.
• Cold buttermilk OR cold water – I’ve tested both and they are both delightfully layered and flaky in the end!
• A bit of heavy cream (or half and half) and turbinado or coarse sugar for brushing the edges of the assembled galette crust

For the spiced apple filling:

• Fresh apples (I like a crisp and sweet variety like Honeycrisp)
• Apple cider or apple juice
• Lemon juice
• Butter
• Flour
• Cornstarch
• Cozy spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, salt

For the homemade salted caramel sauce:

• Sugar
• Water
• Heavy cream
• Butter
• Salt

That’s it. Not one weird ingredient on that list! Note this recipe is egg-free because there is no egg in the pie dough and no egg wash – so yay for those who can’t have eggs!

This salted caramel apple galette would be a phenomenal addition to your Thanksgiving table or Friendsgiving gatherings – it’s designed to be shared. This is definitely an indulgent dessert but in the world of pie, it’s not that high on the sugar scale which I feel good about.

Plus, galettes are the easiest and most forgiving of the pie varieties out there, and that’s what I like about them.  So what if one side looks a little less even, or a little filling leaks out?  Your friends and family will not care. As you can see in the photos, I had both of those issues going on.  But that’s perfectly ok – imperfections make galettes rustic, not messy.  Heheh, excellent.

Steps to make this salted caramel apple galette:

1. Make a quick all-butter pie dough in 30 seconds using a food processor, or if you prefer, mix it by hand in one bowl. You can use buttermilk OR cold water for the liquid; both work beautifully!
2. While the pie dough is chilling in the fridge, core and slice the apples (you can peel if you want but it is NOT necessary) and cook them with the other filling ingredients until they’re nice and bubbly and thick. 
   1. Why cook the filling? (a) it concentrates the flavor, and (b) it allows the cornstarch to activate and thicken the filling, which doesn’t always happen when you put raw filling in the oven.
3. Roll out pie dough, fill with filling, fold it over messily, bake until golden brown and bubbling.
4. While baking, make homemade salted caramel sauce.  I promise that’s not as intimidating as it sounds – it takes about 10 minutes of mostly hands off time.  Seriously.
5. DEVOUR, preferably with lots of vanilla ice cream and drizzles of salted caramel over top.

Make Ahead, Baking from Frozen, Storage

Make Ahead: if you need to make this galette in advance, I recommend fully assembling the galette (but not baking it) and either refrigerating for up to 1 day or freezing it for longer until you’re ready to bake it. Freeze the galette uncovered on a sheet of parchment until fully frozen, then wrap tightly in plastic. You can do this up to a month ahead of time!

Bake from Frozen: You can bake this galette directly from frozen too, hooray! Just unwrap it, put it on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and bake as directed until golden brown and bubbling (it won’t take much longer than a refrigerated galette would).

Storage: The baked galette can be stored at room temperature for up to two days, in the fridge for up to a week, or in the freezer, tightly wrapped, for up to 3 months. To reheat, warm in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees F (you may need a bit longer for frozen).

Recipe Tips

• Keep your pie dough cold at each step for flakiest results. Use cold butter and liquid to make it, keep it in the fridge until the last minute before rolling it out, and if necessary, put the assembled galette BACK in the fridge to make sure it’s really cold before you bake it. This is absolutely essential for a flaky pie crust.
• I like a crisp, sweet apple for this recipe like Honeycrisp or Gala!
• You can use store bought caramel sauce if you are short on time, and just add salt to it — but I highly recommend the homemade version.
• If you make the homemade salted caramel sauce:
  • Avoid crystallizing it by making sure NOT to stir the sugar and water at all while boiling, until the mixture reaches a dark amber color. Why? Well…
    • The water helps stabilize the heating and boiling of the sugar.
    • If you stir it too soon and the hot sugar touches the cool sides of the pan before you add the heavy cream, it can set off a chain reaction of crystallizing which ruins the sauce (and makes a mess in your pan). So hands off!
  • Use a light colored saucepan (stainless steel or ceramic) so you can see when the sugar has turned a dark amber color. Move quickly off the heat once this happens – the residual heat will continue to cook the sugar and we don’t want it to burn!

More Fall Baking Recipes:

• Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting
• Baked Apple Cider Donuts
• Cranberry Crumb Cake
• Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread

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5 from 2 votes

Salted Caramel Apple Galette

This quintessentially autumnal salted caramel apple galette recipe features a crisp, flaky all-butter pie crust encasing a spiced fresh apple filling, all topped with an easy homemade salted caramel sauce.

Prep Time1 hour hr

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: apple, apple galette, caramel, pie, salted caramel

Servings: 8 (one 9-inch galette)

Author: katiebirdbakes.com

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter, cold (1 stick)
• 1 1/4 cup (156g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 Tablespoon (6g) sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) cold buttermilk or cold water

For the filling:

• 4 cups (410g) thinly sliced apples (this was 2 large or 3 medium apples for me)
• 1/3 cup (66g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) apple cider or apple juice
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 Tablespoon (14g) unsalted butter
• 1 Tablespoon (8g) all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon (7g) cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• Pinch salt

For assembling the galette:

• Heavy cream or half & half
• Turbinado or coarse sugar

For the salted caramel sauce:

• 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) water
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
• 1 Tablespoon (14g) butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

For the crust:

• Food processor option: Combine butter, flour, sugar, and salt in food processor. Pulse until butter is well combined with the flour mixture. Add buttermilk or water and pulse until a dough forms.
• Hand mixing option: Cut the butter into small cubes. Add to a large bowl with the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter, two forks, or your fingers (my preferred method) until the mixture resembled wet sand. There will still be larger butter pieces and that's ok. Add buttermilk or water and stir just until a dough forms.
• Turn dough out onto a clean surface and shape into an even, flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap, then roll the sides to form an even edge. Refrigerate for 1 hour while preparing the filling.

For the filling:

• In a medium saucepan, combine the apples and all other filling ingredients, and cook over medium heat until the apples release their liquid and the filling thickens, about 5-7 minutes.
• Remove from heat and let cool completely – I often put it in the fridge to speed along this process. Don't put warm filling on the rolled out pie dough or it could get soggy.

For the galette:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. On a clean, lightly floured countertop or surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness in an even-ish circle. Place the circle of dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pour the apple filling mixture onto the center and spread it out to within about 2 inches of the edges.
• Fold the edges of the dough over the filling (at least 2-3 inches over), creating a freeform pie shape. This can be very rustic, and certainly does not need to be perfect! Just try to keep it even and not create any holes for filling to come out.
• Brush the folded-over edges of dough with a little heavy cream or half and half, then sprinkle with sugar. If you feel like the dough has gotten warm during this process, put the whole galette in the fridge or freezer for 20 minutes to make sure it's really cold when it goes in the oven. This creates a flaky, crisp crust!
• Make ahead option: you can freeze the entire galette at this point for up to a month before baking. Bake directly from frozen on a parchment lined baking sheet per the below.
• Bake for about 45-50 minutes, until crust is bronzed and filling is bubbling. You may have some filling leak out, and that's ok.  Drizzle with salted caramel sauce and serve with vanilla ice cream and chopped nuts, if desired.

For the salted caramel sauce:

• In a medium saucepan (I recommend a stainless steel or light-colored ceramic saucepan so you can see what's happening) stir together the sugar and water, then heat over medium heat. DO NOT STIR. You can swirl it a little from time to time, but don't stir or whisk it. The mixture will come to a boil and be very bubbly.
• Continue to cook the sugar until it has turned a dark amber hue, about 8-10 minutes. While it’s cooking, measure out your heavy cream, butter, and salt, and grab a whisk. Things need to happen fast once you reach the right color or else the sugar will burn.
• As soon as a dark amber hue is reached, remove pan from the heat and whisk in the heavy cream – whisk vigorously. It will crackle loudly and seem like it’s curdling but keep whisking!! After 10-15 seconds or so of whisking, a glorious caramel sauce will emerge in your pan.
• Whisk in the butter and salt. Serve warm sauce with the galette.

Video

Notes

Store leftover galette at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the fridge for up to a week, though galette is best the day it’s made.  Baked galette can be frozen and stored up to 3 months, tightly wrapped.  Reheat in a 350 degree oven between 10-20 minutes until warmed through.

 

Store any leftover sauce in a sealed jar or container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

 

Recipe adapted from my Apple Crumble Slab Pie.

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