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3/21/11

What to do with leftover pie crust? Apple and Dulche de Leche mini tarts

Remember when I made a Bacon & Spinach Tart? Instead of making my own pie crust, I simply purchased rolled pie crust dough from my grocery store. I used one of the pie crusts for the tart and had one left over and sitting in my refrigerator. I wasn't sure what to do with it until my friend Cecilia from One Vanilla Bean gave me a jar of Dulce De Leche.

For some reason I decided to make hand pies and fill them with apples and Dulce De Leche. Hand pies are pretty much identical to empanadas: you take your dough, add the filling, fold it over and bake. How hard could it be?


There really is no precise recipe for this dish. I took a few Empire apples, cut them and sauteed them for 10 minutes in a bit of butter.

I then rolled out the pie crust and cut out circles from it using a biscuit cutter.


However, after topping each circle with some of the apple mixture and a dollop of Dulce De Leche, I realized there was no way I'd be able to close them up.

And then I panicked.

And then I came to my senses and decided to make mini tarts instead! I simply pinched the dough around the apple mixture. And voila! Mini tarts! {It helps to wash the edges of the dough with an egg wash (1 egg + a bit of water) so that they don't come unglued during baking.} Special thanks to my friend Jenna of Modern Domestic for walking me through how to make hand pies: I'll have to follow her advice soon.


I baked the tarts at 375 for 17 minutes.
Here they are:


The pie crust turned a bit golden brown, the apples caramelized, and Dulce De Leche got oozy, which is a good thing.


Although this was not my original plan for using the pie crust, the final result turned out rather well!


What do you do with leftover pie crust?
What should I make with leftover Dulce De Leche (other than eat it with a spoon)?

11 comments:

J3nn (Jenn's Menu and Lifestyle Blog) said...

I've never had leftover pie crust, but I like your idea! Those are so cute. I'm thinking something with Nutella if I did have any leftover. I have never made crust from scratch, though!

Denise said...

What a great idea for leftover pie crust! I love tarts...and these look delicious!! I've been on the lookout for rhubarb...I may have to make tarts out of it.

Happy Spring!! I'm in South Florida, but I know many of you (who endured many snowstorms) are really ready for spring. Your blog is a treat to read since I was born in Alexandria, Virginia & lived my first 7 years there. I have a lot of family still in the area, and can't wait to take my 3 girls up and show them around!! Are you ready for the cherry blossoms?

Denise @ Creative Kitchen

1000+1 said...

great idea to use up leftovers. apples+dulche=muy delicioso!

Simones Kitchen said...

That looks delicious. I don't think I've ever seen dulce de leche here in a jar... sounds like a nice ingredient to be cooking with!

Debbie B. said...

So adorable and they look great!! Sometimes the best dishes come by accident. Would be such a fun party dessert.

Delicious Dishings said...

Send some over please! Those look absolutely adorable and so tasty!

Jenna said...

Thanks for the shout-out Olga! The tarts look absolutely lovely. You should make the hand-pies the next time you have extra jam on hand - they're great with jam filling. Mmmmm . . .

sally said...

How cute are these little tarts? What a great use of dulce de leche! I think I would probably end up eating all of the dulce de leche straight out of the jar before I got around to making these though.

nicole said...

your co-workers must love you!
i love the cute pointy star/flower shape.

Sanjeeta kk said...

These Tarts are awesome..love that you made them mini and bite sized. Came here following your Tweets.

Sabine said...

I have made these for my birtdayparty. At the English shop here in the Netherlands I bought some puff pastry and made this. I topped it off with Home Made Dulche de Leche, which did not melt in the oven...
But I saved the pies by melting a spoon full of butter with a spoon of Dulche, some castor sugar and a bit of cream - it made a delicious caramel which I poured over the pies: wow!! Thanks for the idea!!