apple, goat cheese, and honey tartlets

Ingredients

2 packages frozen puff pastry (4 sheets), thawed
1 egg, beaten to blend

6 ounces soft goat cheese (about 3/4 cup packed)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
3 medium Gala apples, peeled, quartered, cored, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup honey (preferably dark), divided
1/2 teaspoon (scant) ground allspice

Instructions

1 Day Before- Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep frozen. Do not thaw before continuing.
1. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Roll out each puff pastry sheet on lightly floured surface to 11-inch square.
3. Using 5-inch-diameter cookie cutter or bowl, cut out 4 rounds from each pastry sheet, forming 16 rounds total. Divide 8 pastry rounds between prepared baking sheets; pierce rounds all over with fork. Using 3 1/2-inch-diameter cookie cutter or bowl, cut out smaller rounds from center of remaining 8 rounds (reserve 3 1/2-inch rounds for another use), forming eight 5-inch-diameter rings.
4. Brush outer 1-inch edges of 5-inch rounds on baking sheets with beaten egg; top each with 1 pastry ring. Freeze at least 30 minutes.

Day Of

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Mix cheese, lemon juice, and salt in bowl; spread mixture inside rings on frozen pastry rounds. 3. 3. Overlap apple slices atop cheese.
4. Mix butter and 1/4 cup honey in small bowl; brush over apples. Sprinkle with allspice.
5. Bake until apples are tender and pastry is golden, about 35 minutes.
6. Place tartlets on plates. Drizzle 1 tablespoon honey over each and serve warm or at room temperature.

*From Epicurious.com

easy sticky buns

WARNING: These are definitely not healthy, but super delicious!

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 cup pecans, chopped in very large pieces

1 package frozen puff pastry, defrosted

For the filling:

2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2/3 cups light brown sugar, lightly packed

3 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 cup raisins

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin (I highly recommend using disposable tins since these will make a very tough mess to clean up) on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 12 tbsp. butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Place 1 rounded tbsp. of the mixture in each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

3. Lightly flour a wooded board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch boarder on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. of the cinnamon, and 1/4 cup of the raisins. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down. Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2 inch and discard. Slice the roll into 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make a total of 12 sticky buns.

4. Bake for 30 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon), and cool completely.

*Adapted from Ina Garten