Thaw phyllo pastry dough. You can either remove the filo dough from the box and thaw overnight in the refrigerator or thaw it for about 3 hours at room temperature.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F or 190 degrees C
Microwave butter to melt it. Mix ⅓ cup granulated sugar and 1teaspoon of ground cinnamon and set aside.
Use a little of the butter with a brush to lightly coat/grease the cupcake pan in each of the 12 sections to prevent sticking. You can also use a little oil spray if desired.
Mix together ½ cup apple sauce, ½ cup apricot freezer jam and 1teaspoon ground cinnamon and mix together. Set aside.
Open up phyllo (filo) pastry dough package and unfold the thin layers. Cover with a lightly damp tea towel. We found it is super helpful to prevent drying out to fold over the filo dough in the plastic it came in first and then cover with the damp tea towel.
Remove one of the very thin phyllo dough sheets from the package and place flat on a clean dry surface. Brush the super thin phyllo pastry sheet lightly with the melted butter all over. Be very gentle. Then, sprinkle on a little bit of the sugar and cinnamon mixture. After that, add a new thin phyllo dough sheet right on top of the buttered and cinnamon sugared phyllo dough sheet. Brush this second phyllo sheet with butter and sprinkle on with a little cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat this process 6 times for a total of 6 layers. Due to the sizing of our phyllo dough sheets, we continued the process for another6 layers with another batch so that we could make 12 mini apricot tarts. Remember:Cover the remaining phyllo pastry dough that you are not using with a damp tea towel to prevent drying out of the phyllo pastry sheets. If the phyllo dough sheets slightly tear, do not sweat it. Just butter it up and put a new layer on top. This is a rustic tart, and no one will ever know.
Get a very sharp knife and cut the prepared layered phyllo pastries that have been brushed with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar between layers once lengthwise. Then cut the pastry in 3 slices horizontally so you have a total of 6 squares in each of the two prepared phyllo sheets for a total of 12 squares. Then gently place each of the squares into the prepared cupcake trays and press down lightly to make room for the apricots and apricot jam mixture
Place about 1.5 tablespoons of the prepared apricot jam, applesauce and cinnamon mixture in each of the 12 filo pastry shells. Then place on 2 slices of fresh apricots or about 2 tablespoons or chopped apricots on each. No need to peel the apricots
Bake Mini Apricot tarts for about 13-15 minutes or until the phyllo dough is bronzed and the pastry dough is nice and crispy. Mini Apricot Tarts can be served hot out of the oven or at room temperature. Garnish with a little homemade coconut whipped topping or ice cream as desired. Enjoy!
Leftover mini apricot tarts can be refrigerated for up to 3 days and can be reheated in the oven for just about 5-10 minutes at 325 degrees F (162degrees C) just to crisp back up. You can also store the prepared tarts in the freezer for up to one month. However, do not thaw the frozen mini apricot tarts at room temperature or they will get soggy. Instead, take them directly from the freezer to the oven to reheat to keep them crisp.