Honey Apple Galette - flaky pie crust with an apple-cinnamon-honey filling. Looks stunning and tastes incredible! Perfect for Thanksgiving! | trufflesandtrends.com

I'm obsessed. With galettes. Because they're just like pies. And taste just like pies. Only galettes are so much easier to make. And provide so much less room to go wrong. And lots of times, are a lot more attractive.

I cannot understand how it is that this is only the third galette I've made. Ever. In my whole life. CRAZY. Because galettes are CRAZY good.

But this particular galette, this honey apple galette, puts all other galettes to shame. Oh man is it good. Oh brother. Oh sister. Oh friends. It is goooooooooooood.

And guess what? I made a video tutorial to show you how to make this goooooooooooooood honey apple galette. Here it is:

Or, watch it on Youtube.

Now, I chose to fill my galette with apples, because apples are available all year round, and are especially appropriate for the fall slash Thanksgiving season currently upon us. So, if you opt for a slightly less traditional dessert route this Thanksgiving and forgo the classic pumpkin pie, this honey apple galette would be the most perfectest Thanksgiving dessert ever ever ever. Because it's a pie. And it's got apples. And it's delicious. And it's easier to make than a pumpkin pie. And in my opinion, it's a whole lot prettier.

But just in case you're not convinced, a pumpkin pie recipe is in the works. It's coming. It'll be on the blog before Thanksgiving. So you can still make pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. But make this honey apple galette too. Just not necessarily for Thanksgiving. Make it all-year round. All day, every day.

And if you're not going to make this galette for Thanksgiving anyway, feel free to replace the apples with your favorite fruit. Or with any of the fruits that are in season when you decide to make this galette. Personally, I love blueberry galettes. I love the combination of the tart blueberries and the sweet honey filling. But with blueberries, you can't create the beautiful pattern you see here on this apple galette. So another option would be plums. Or peaches. Or nectarines. With these fruits, you can make the same flower design that you see done here with the apple slices.

Using apples or pears will yield the perfect fall/winter/thanksgiving/holiday dessert. Using nectarines or plums or peaches or blueberries will yield the perfect spring or summer dessert. Basically, you really can't go wrong. You just can't.

I want to talk about the pie crust used here. It has vodka in it. Let me explain.

Water reacts with the gluten in flour to help the gluten develop. This is what makes bread chewy and tough. But nobody wants a chewy, tough pie crust. Vodka, which has less water content, works to inhibit the gluten in the flour from developing too much. And less gluten development makes the crust super flaky and tender. Cook's Illustrated, you geniuses. Thank you.

Aside from the addition of vodka, a different mixing method is used to create this crust. Usually, when making a classic pie crust, all the dry ingredients are combined, after which the butter, then liquids, are incorporated. But for this crust, rather than combining all the dry ingredients in before adding the cold butter, here only half of the flour is mixed in, all the butter is added, and then the rest of the flour is mixed in. Why? When flour is coated in fat, it can't develop gluten. And remember, we want less gluten development for the flakiest layers out there. But you still need some gluten to develop. Which is why you add in the other half of the flour after you add in all the butter. This way, you get exactly the right amount of gluten to develop. It's complicated, and honestly, I don't completely understand it either, but it works. And that's really all that matters.

Use this pie crust recipe and pie crust mixing method and you'll get the most perfect, flaky, tender, crispy layers a pie crust can afford.

Oh, and I use an all-butter pie crust. Always and forever. No shortening - blech.

Now, for the filling. After you slice the apples, they're coated in a sticky honey-vanilla-cinnamon mixture. Really simple. And really amazing. That's right - there's no sugar in the filling. Actually, aside from the 2 tablespoons in the crust, there's no sugar in the whole recipe. Not intentional, but either way, you'll never miss it.

Once the stunning galette is removed from the oven, you add the finishing touches. First, you brush the galette with some more honey for a glossy finish and a perfectly sweet bite. Then, you scatter on a generous handful of chopped pistachios for garnish. If you so desire. If you prefer, you can sprinkle some confectioner's sugar instead. And then you're done. And then you eat all the pie.

Crispy, flaky, tender crust. Sweet, honey, cinnamon and apple filling. Finished off with a brush of honey for a beautiful sheen and a sprinkle of pistachios for a colorful, crunchy garnish. GAH - it's too good.

Honey Apple Galette

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Yield: 9-inch galette/8 slices

Crust:
1 1/4 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick cold butter, cubed
2 tablespoons ice water (+ a bit more if needed)
2 tablespoons cold vodka

Filling:
2-3 tart apples (I used Honeycrisp)
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup almond meal (or any other ground nuts, or breadcrumbs)

- 1 egg, for brushing
- Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling
- Honey mixed with a drop of water, for brushing
- Chopped pistachios, for garnishing

Crust: In a food processor, pulse together half the flour, the sugar, and the salt. Sprinkle in the cubed butter and pulse till all the flour is coated in butter, you have cottage cheese-like clumps, and the dough is almost homogenous. Pulse in the remaining flour until you get pea-sized crumbs. Do not over mix!

Sprinkle in the water and vodka and pulse a few times until you have small crumbs again. Do not pulse until a dough forms - the dough should still be crumbly. If the dough sticks together when you press it between your fingers, it's done. If it doesn't clump, pour in a drop more water and pulse again until the dough sticks together when pressed between your fingers.

Pack the dough together with your hands, wrap it in a large piece of parchment paper, and chill for 40 minutes in the fridge or 25 minutes in the freezer. While chilling, prepare filling.

Filling: Quarter the apples and then slice thin slices (don't peel). Squeeze some lemon juice on the apples to prevent browning while you slice the rest.

Once sliced, in a medium bowl mix the apples with the honey, vanilla, and cinnamon until evenly coated.

Once dough is chilled, flour the top of it and roll it out on the parchment paper it was wrapped in until the dough is 10 inches in diameter.

Spread the almond meal evenly over the dough, leaving 2 inches clean all around. Arrange the apple slices on top of the almond meal (either make a flower pattern as seen in video or simply dump the slices over the dough for a more rustic look).

Fold over the empty border of dough on top of the apples. Brush the border with the beaten egg and sprinkle with Turbinado/raw sugar.

Lift parchment paper with the galette on it and place onto a baking sheet. Freeze for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 F.

Once chilled, bake galette for 30-35 minutes, or until it's a deep golden brown. While galette is still hot, brush the fruit and the crust with the honey-water mixture. Sprinkle with the chopped pistachios if desired. You can also garnish with confectioner's sugar.

Let galette cool slightly before slicing.

On a completely unrelated note, in case you were looking for the exact definition: