Apple Strudel is much easier to make from scratch than you think! Especially when you use pre made puff pastry and apple pie filling. With its flaky crust and a spiced apple filling, this Apple strudel recipe will be ready in less than one hour and is sure to wow your guests.

What's great about this recipe is that if you don't like apple filling, you can swap it out for blueberry, lemon or even cherry.

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Tips and Tricks to Making this Homemade Apple Strudel Recipe
Puff Pastry - You've Got Options
The Filling
How to Make Your Strudel Different
What to Serve With Apple Strudel
Storage Recommendations
Food Safety
Recipe Details
Comments

Tips and Tricks to Making this Homemade Apple Strudel Recipe

Puff Pastry - You've Got Options

Keeping with the tradition of cutting corners, know that I did not make my own puff pastry. Yes, you heard me right. And you shouldn't either. Especially, if you want to make this Quick Cherry Cream Cheese Strudel. You'll find puff pastry in your grocer's freezer section in the pastry area. I used this puff pastry here, but any prepared puff pastry will do.

You will need to thaw out the puff pastry. Follow the package instructions. You will only need one sheet for this strudel. The puff pastry needs to be divided into three imaginary sections. You will place the filling in the middle sections and then you will fold the outer sections on top.

Have everything ready before you start working with the puff pastry. If the puff pastry is sitting out to long, pop it back in the fridge, until the oven is ready or you are ready.

When you fold over the puff pastry sections, you can fold them over loosely to achieve a wider strudel. Or, you can fold them over more tightly for a traditional strudel.

You will also need to fold under the sides and then crimp them with a fork to keep all that goodness inside.

Cut 5 or 6 slits across the top with a knife to let the steam escape. Then bake.

Tip: I wish I had thought about this before I started making the strudel. Rolling the strudel over could be made easier by placing the puff pastry on top of a kitchen towel or food wrap prior to rolling it out and spooning the pie filling down the middle of the strudel.

Then using the towel, you could gently pick up the strudel (once folded), place it on a baking sheet and roll it over! Voila! I'll try this next time and update the post with the results.

The Filling

For this strudel, I used canned apple filling. But, you can use virtually any flavor of filling, e.g. lemon, blueberry, strawberry, etc.

Of course, if you are feeling courageous you could make your own filling. It's just a matter of preference of how much time you want to spend in the kitchen. I'm all about shortcuts when necessary so I like to use pie filling for this quick and easy dessert recipe.

I haven't tried to use frozen fruit or fresh fruit to make this strudel, so I can't really give you any insight on how it might turn out. If you do go this route, please leave me a comment to let me know how it turned out.

How to Make Your Strudel Different

So you've decided to make homemade apple strudel using puff pastry. There are many ways that you can make your strudel unique. Here are some optional ingredients for you to think about when making your strudel

rum soaked raisins
walnuts
cream cheese filling
candied fruit
top it with icing

Use your imagination to come up with unique strudel combinations. The great part of using puff pastry is that you don’t have to wait for it to rise. You can thaw it out and use it right away.

What to Serve With Apple Strudel

Serving this strudel on it's own is perfect enough. But, you can raise this apple strudel recipe by serving it with some choice ingredients. This strudel recipe goes great with:

vanilla ice cream
whipped cream or Cool Whip
Crème fraîche
coffee or espresso
cheese
Ice Wine or Riesling wine

Serve it with one of these options above and you will have the most delicious dessert that your family and guests will love!

Storage Recommendations

If you have leftovers of this Homemade Apple Strudel recipe, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator or wrapped with plastic wrap for up to 4 days. You can also freeze it (slice into serving sizes first before you freeze). When you are ready to have a slice or serve the whole strudel, remove it from the freezer and let it thaw out in the fridge over night.

Food Safety

Note that the storage guidelines provided on this page and site are estimates from personal experiences. We are all adults and as an adult you are responsible to ensure that the food you eat is safe to eat. Since, I'm not a food safety expert, you are responsible to review your local guidelines on food storage prior to storing any food left-overs.

Remember to:

Not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
Wash hands after touching raw meat
Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
Never leave cooking food unattended
Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

For Canadian Guidelines check Government of Canada's Food and Safety Guidelines, see more guidelines at USDA.gov.

Tried this apple strudel recipe? Leave me a comment and let me know how it turned out. Post your picture on Instagram and tag #girl_with_a_spatula or mention @girl_with_a_spatula.

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Recipe Details