I wanted to make an apple strudel for a long time now. I have wonderful association with this incredible but simple desert. It reminds me of our ski trip to Austria during the winter time. But you don’t have to wait for winter to make it! It is a perfect dessert you can make all year around! Usually apple strudel is made with a thin dough, which can take a while to make. In this recipe I substitute it with a flaky buttery puff pastry, which goes perfect with the apples, raisins, and crunchy walnut feeling. And let me tell you, it turned out beautifully!

Recipe:

What you will need:

6 big apples

1 sheet puff pastry dough (thawed)

1/3 cup walnuts (chopped)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp butter

1 tbsp bread crumbs

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Soak raisins in warm water for 15 min. Peel, core, and thinly slice apples. Melt butter in the pan, add apples, sugar, and cinnamon. Cook apples for 10-15 min, until they are tender and liquid has evaporated. Transfer apples to a plate and cool completely.
2. To the apples, add chopped walnuts and raisins and mix everything together. On a lightly floured surface unfold the pastry and roll out a rectangle 10×12 inches. Visualize the pastry divided into the thirds along the long part of the dough. Sprinkle the dough with breadcrumbs and spread the filling  along the length of the middle third of the dough, leaving about a half-inch on either end. Using a pastry cutter, cut strips along the long sides of the pastry, leaving the middle uncut. They should be 1 inch apart from each other. Start braiding the dough by overlapping strips from the left side over the filling, then from the right side overlapping the strips from the right. When you finish braiding, transfer strudel to the baking sheet.
3. Brush strudel with the egg mixture and sprinkle with brown sugar. Bake at 400F 35-40 min or until pastry is golden brown. Strudel is best served slightly warm with vanilla ice cream. Bon appetit!