We love a good dessert – cakes, pies, and pastries are all on our favorites list. Baking with fruits are high on the favorite list in part because they contribute a natural sweetness, but also add great texture. One of our favorite fruit desserts is apple strudel. Tart apples drizzled with brown sugar and cinnamon, all folded up in a sweet pastry dough and topped with powdered sugar…anyone else drooling? These ingredients together make for the perfect combination of comfort sweets.
Traditional apple strudel is labor-intensive and takes a bit of a time investment, and as much as we love to bake from scratch, we also are not above using a few short cuts to help us enjoy a sweet treat even sooner. Here’s an example of where store bought puff pastry saves us a ton of time. The puff pastry dough creates a warm and flaky crust for our scratch-made rich apple filling. Get ready to fall in love with this delicious apple strudel.
Easy Apple Strudel
Ingredients
- 1 package puff pastry dough
- 5 tablespoons melted butter, divided; 4 tablespoons for filling, 1 tablespoon for brushing the top of the strudel
- 3-4 cups tart apples; cored, peeled, and chopped
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup hazelnuts, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar, for dusting
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Unfold puff pastry onto a floured surface and roll to a 12" by 16" rectangle.
- In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Stir in melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Add chopped nuts and toss until all ingredients are well mixed.
- Brush dough with reserved melted butter. Pour apple mixture over top of dough and spread evenly over surface.
- Gently roll dough starting at the long end until a jelly roll is formed. Place on a prepared cookie sheet and brush with more melted butter. Cut small slits in dough for venting and decoration.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. Optional: dust powdered sugar over top.
Recipe adapted from 12 Tomatoes
