Ingredients
- 2 cups flour (250 g)
- 1 cup sugar (200 g)
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 9 tablespoons butter (125 g)
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 1/4 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (1 kg)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- Lemon juice (for tossing apples)
- Optional: ground almonds, raisins, or dried cranberries
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C).
- In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder.
- Cut in the butter using a pastry blender, two knives, or your fingers until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
- Work in the egg and egg yolks. The dough will be crumbly – that’s exactly right. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Reserve 1/3 of the dough for the topping.
- Press the remaining 2/3 of the dough into a 9‑inch springform pan, covering the bottom and sides.
- Squeeze a little lemon juice over the apples before slicing to keep them bright. Toss the sliced apples with cinnamon.
- Pile the apples into the pan – don’t be shy, żarlotka is meant to be apple‑forward.
- Crumble the remaining dough over the top.
- Tip: Make a little extra crust if you like a thicker topping.
- Bake for about 50 minutes, until the crust is lightly golden and the apples are tender.
- If the top browns too quickly, loosely tent with foil.
- Optional: Add ground almonds on top of the crust before the apples, or mix raisins/dried cranberries into the apple layer for extra texture.
Żarlotka is best served slightly warm, ideally with a dusting of powdered sugar or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. But honestly, even cold the next morning with coffee? Pure Polish perfection.
