Puff Pastry Brie & Apple Tarts (a.k.a. The Fancy Pajama Breakfast)

You guys know I'm a sucker for a cozy mystery. When I’m not reading Agatha Christie with Miss Ivy (we take our sleuthing very seriously around here), I’m usually gobbling up stories of small-town business owners who somehow end up solving murders between baking scones and managing their quirky shop. My latest obsession? The Cheesemonger series by Korina Moss. It’s everything I love in a book—mystery, cheese, small-town charm, and best of all, recipes at the end of every book. I mean, come on. A mystery series that ends with cheese recipes? Feels like it was written just for moi.

Now, this particular recipe isn’t straight from Korina Moss’s pages, but it’s inspired by one—and it has all the same cozy, cheese-filled energy. Think buttery puff pastry, melty brie, cinnamon-sugar apples, and a sprinkle of walnuts and rosemary. Sounds fancy, right? But here’s the secret: you can absolutely make these while still wearing your pajamas and pretending to be a refined lady of leisure. (Or, in my case, while drinking cold coffee and tripping over the cat.)

These little tarts are the kind of thing people will assume you spent all day on, when in reality you spent ten minutes assembling and thirty minutes reading before remembering to set the timer. They work beautifully as an appetizer, a brunch bite, or a “who says I can’t have cheese and pastry for breakfast?” moment.

Puff Pastry Brie & Apple Tarts

Makes: 6 tarts
Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 20–25 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed (or two if you want leftovers—you do)

• 4 oz brie cheese, rind on or off, your call

• 1 medium apple (Honeycrisp, Gala, or whatever’s rolling around in your crisper)

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

• 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts

• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped (or a light sprinkle of dried)

• Optional: drizzle of honey or maple syrup for serving

Instructions

1. Preheat and prep.
   Heat your oven to 400°F (because puff pastry likes it hot). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper so you can feel like a proper food blogger who has her life together.

2. Roll and cut.
   Gently roll out your thawed puff pastry on a lightly floured surface just enough to smooth out the seams. Cut into six equal squares (or rectangles if you’re feeling rebellious).

3. Slice the apple.
   Core and thinly slice your apple. Toss the slices with brown sugar, cinnamon, and the melted butter. Try not to eat them all.

4. Assemble the magic.
   Place a small piece of brie in the center of each puff pastry square, then top with a few apple slices. Fold up the corners just a bit so they look rustic and intentional. Sprinkle with walnuts and rosemary.

5. Bake to golden perfection.
   Pop them in the oven for 20–25 minutes, until the pastry is puffed, golden, and your kitchen smells like a fancy French café run by a detective who also makes excellent coffee.

6. Finish and serve.
   Drizzle with a bit of honey or maple syrup if you’re feeling extra. Serve warm—or sneak one cold later, I won’t tell.

A Cozy Note from Your Resident Amateur Sleuth

These tarts are dangerously easy to make. Like, the kind of easy that might lead to “testing” one, then another, and then suddenly realizing you’ve eaten half the batch and are Googling “Can you make puff pastry from scratch in under an hour?” (Answer: you cannot, and you shouldn’t try.)

They also make an excellent snack for reading—preferably while curled up with a mystery, a blanket, and a mug of something warm. Just try not to get cinnamon sugar fingerprints on the pages.

And if Korina Moss ever happens to stumble across this post: thank you for feeding my dual addictions of cozy mysteries and cheese. You’ve created an entire vibe I aspire to daily—minus the murder, of course.

So there you have it: Puff Pastry Brie & Apple Tarts, the treat that makes you look like you have your life together even when your coffee’s gone cold and you’re on your third reheat.  Please make them, and when you do…let me know how it goes.  I can handle suspense in books only!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got another mystery to read, another tart to “taste test,” and a cat to remove from my book.