Today starts a fun-filled week here at The Freshman Cook! It is Apple Week! Apple Week is full of applelicious recipes from myself and my blogger friends, and there is a fun giveaway that starts today! Thank you to Rainier Fruit and Flahaven’s Irish Oatmeal for the products used in today’s recipe post! There are some amazing prizes, and I know you will want to enter! At the end of this post you will find info on how to enter to win some great prizes!
Thank you to Carlee from Cooking with Carlee for all the long hours and hard work it took to put #appleweek together.
Thank you to #AppleWeek Sponsors: Rodelle, Dreamfarm, Casabella, Flahavan’s Irish Oatmeal, Pryex, Chicago Cutlery, Rainier Fruit, and Veggie Wash for providing prizes for #AppleWeek free of charge. These companies also provided the bloggers with samples and product to use for #AppleWeek. All opinions are my own.
The very first recipe I cooked for my husbands extended family, after we were married, was a traditional apple crisp. It was always one of my favorite fall recipes. Everything went well, it tasted great, and they ate every bite. I figured it was good luck! So, I try to bake one every year! But this year, I decided to branch out a little and put a special twist on my old favorite. These Apple Brickle Mini Tarts w/ an Oatmeal Crust taste just like my old fave, but they definitely have a fun, new look. I know you are going to like them!
Apple Brickle Mini Tarts w/ an Oatmeal Crust (printable recipe at end of page) (makes 12 tarts)
Oatmeal Crust
2/3 cup firmly packed Dark Brown Sugar
1/3 cup Flour
1 cup Flahavan’s Irish Oatmeal
1 teaspoon Roasted Cinnamon
pinch of Nutmeg
2 tablespoons Butter
Apple Filling
2 Rainier Honeycrisp Apples
1/4 cup Sugar
2 teaspoon Flour
1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
pinch of Nutmeg
Brickle Bits
Caramel Chips 
Make the crust by mixing the dark brown sugar, flour, oatmeal, roasted cinnamon, and nutmeg. Regular cinnamon can be used also.
Add butter and mix together.
It will all come together like this. Sometimes when I don’t feel like the spoon is doing the job, I put on disposable gloves for cooking, and mix the ingredients together with my hands. It’s so much easier!
Start measuring out the amount needed for your pan. Mine needed 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons for each cup. Then roll each separate amount into a ball as shown.
Place a ball into each spot in the pan for the crust. I realize not everyone has this type of pan. You could also make this in a regular cupcake tin or even a mini cupcake tin. You just have to figure out how much dough you will need for each crust. The best way to do that is to practice making a couple until you are happy with the size.
Use a pestle or something similar to create a whole in the center of the dough. Try to insert the pestle in the middle, so all the sides are of equal size.
Peel the apples and cut into small, little chunks. You want then to be able to fit in to the cups. Add the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg to the bowl with the apples. Mix together.
Fill each cup with the apple mix. Press them down in to the cup as you are filling them. I think it looks nice with a couple apples sticking out so they can be seen! After each cup is filled, go around to each cup again and sprinkle just a little bit of the brickle bits on the top.
Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. As a general rule, when I am making a new recipe, I usually set my timer for 5 minutes less than recommended. I check it, and usually pop it back in the oven. That insures that I never burn my food. After all, all ovens are different.
When your cups are done, remove them from the oven, let them cool for approx. 10 minutes. Then remove them from the pan, and let them cool completely on a cooling rack.
I melted the caramel chips on the stove top, and then drizzled the caramel over each tart as I served them. They tasted great!
Thanks so much for joining me today and for participating in the first day of #appleweek! Scroll down to find lots more apple recipes, a printable copy of this recipe, and info on entering the giveaway!
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Find many more fun and yummy apple recipes below:
Apple Bacon Turkey Burgers from Jonesin’ for Taste
Apple Brickle Mini Tarts with Oatmeal Crust from The Freshman Cook
Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal from Amy’s Cooking Adventures
Apple Cobbler French Toast Casserole from Tip Garden
Apple Fritter Yeast Bread from House of Nash Eats
Apple Oatmeal Coffee Mug Cake from Corn, Beans, Pigs and Kids
Apple Pecan Chicken Salad from The Chef Next Door
Apple Pie Steel Cut Oatmeal from Cooking With Carlee
Cinnamon Apple Cider Sangria from The Redhead Baker
Creamy Maple Gouda Apple Soup with Pecan-Oat Granola from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Healthy Apple Muffins from Caroline’s Cooking
Individual Apple Cranberry Galettes with Caramel Drizzle from Family Around the Table
Mulled Apple Cider from Books n’ Cooks
Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Oatmeal Crusted Apple Stuffed French Toast from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
Roasted Apple and White Cheddar Soup from 4 Sons ‘R’ Us
Salted Caramel Apple Cake from Grumpy’s Honeybunch
Savory Apple Sausage Tart from The Crumby Kitchen
Vanilla Brined Pork Chops with Applesauce from Bear & Bug Eats
Swedish Apple Oatmeal Pie with Vanilla Sauce from All That’s Jas
Torta di Mele Sicilian Apple Cake from Girl Abroad
Here is info on the giveaway and what you have to do to enter:
Click on “a rafflecopter giveaway” at the end of this incredible list of great prize packs to enter.
Prize Pack #1 from Rodelle:
A baker’s dream come true! This delicious prize pack includes premium vanilla products, gourmet dutch-processed cocoa and specialty extracts. Items include: Pure Vanilla Extract, Gourmet Dutch-Processed Baking Cocoa, Gourmet Vanilla Extract, Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Beans, Organic Vanilla Extract, Organic Chocolate Extract, Almond Extract, Vanilla Paste, and some fun baking supplies to whip up your next batch of goodies with!
Prize Pack #2 from Dreamfarm and Casabella:
Items include: a 2 ‘n 1 veggie brush a clip n strip shears a set up levups a set of levoons
Prize Pack #3 from Flahavan’s Irish Oatmeal:
A goodie basket of Flahavan’s items Prize Pack #4 from Pyrex and Chicago Cutlery: 
A Prime™ by Chicago Cutlery® 7 Slot Digital Tablet Holder Block
Prize Pack #5 from Rainier Fruit:
A prize pack from Rainier Fruit including a box of freshly harvested Rainier Fruit apples, a stainless steel apple slicer, apple corer, “Baked with Love” ceramic pie pan, copper apple loaf pan and a $25 Williams Sonoma gift card!
Prize Pack #6 from Veggie Wash:
A prize pack from Veggie Wash a Rafflecopter giveaway
Author: The Freshman Cook
Oatmeal Crust
- 2/3 cup firmly packed Dark Brown Sugar
- 1/3 cup Flour
- 1 cup Flahavan’s Irish Oatmeal
- 1 teaspoon Roasted Cinnamon
- pinch of Nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons Butter
Apple Filling
- 2 Rainier Honeycrisp Apples
- 1/4 cup Sugar
- 2 teaspoon Flour
- 1/4 teaspoon Cinnamon
- pinch of Nutmeg
- Brickle Bits
- Caramel Chips
- Make the crust by mixing the dark brown sugar, flour, oatmeal, roasted cinnamon, and nutmeg. Regular cinnamon can be used also.
- Add butter and mix together.
- It will all come together like this. Sometimes when I don’t feel like the spoon is doing the job, I put on disposable gloves for cooking, and mix the ingredients together with my hands. It’s so much easier!
- Start measuring out the amount needed for your pan. Mine needed 1 tablespoon and 2 teaspoons for each cup. Then roll each separate amount into a ball as shown.
- Place a ball into each spot in the pan for the crust. I realize not everyone has this type of pan. You could also make this in a regular cupcake tin or even a mini cupcake tin. You just have to figure out how much dough you will need for each crust. The best way to do that is to practice making a couple until you are happy with the size.
- Use a pestle or something similar to create a whole in the center of the dough. Try to insert the pestle in the middle, so all the sides are of equal size.
- Peel the apples and cut into small, little chunks. You want then to be able to fit in to the cups. Add the sugar, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg to the bowl with the apples. Mix together.
- Fill each cup with the apple mix. Press them down in to the cup as you are filling them. I think it looks nice with a couple apples sticking out so they can be seen! After each cup is filled, go around to each cup again and sprinkle just a little bit of the brickle bits on the top.
- Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. As a general rule, when I am making a new recipe, I usually set my timer for 5 minutes less than recommended. I check it, and usually pop it back in the oven. That insures that I never burn my food. After all, all ovens are different. When your cups are done, remove them from the oven, let them cool for approx. 10 minutes. Then remove them from the pan, and let them cool completely on a cooling rack.
- I melted the caramel chips on the stove top, and then drizzled the caramel over each tart as I served them. They tasted great!