This easy German apple strudel recipe is made with store bought puff pastry. A flaky crust with a soft apple and walnut filling makes it a perfect fall and winter dessert. Serve as is or with vanilla ice cream.
I still remember my first encounter with authentic German apple strudel when I traveled to Germany many years ago. I had this delectable dessert at a small restaurant in a town in Bavaria near the Austrian border. As soon as I took my first bite, I knew this was something that I wanted to make at home.
However, I soon came to realize that making the strudel crust in an authentic way is time- and labor-intensive. As much as I love apple strudel, I am also a busy mother with a hectic life schedule. So far, I haven’t had time to make it from scratch. Someday I will, but for now, I’ll put it on my bucket list.
I therefore created my easy version of apple strudel – using puff pastry! I posted my first puff pastry apple strudel recipe on my website in 2010, and it was well received. This is an updated version.
What’s Apple Strudel?
Apple Strudel (Apfelstrudel) is a traditional apple dessert popular in Germany, Austria, and other parts of eastern Europe. The soft apple filling is rolled in a thin, elastic dough. The authentic strudel dough is stretched carefully to make it large enough to cover the table. Some say that the dough should be thin enough to read a newspaper through it. The filling consists of softened apple, nuts, cinnamon, sugar, and breadcrumbs. You can also add raisins to the filling.
Why You Should Try This Recipe?
4 reasons:
- impressive but hassle-free
- easy
- everyday ingredients plus store-bought puff pastry
- and delicious!
Making traditional apple strudel requires an investment of time and labor. If you like apple strudel but want to avoid the work, this quick puff pastry version will satisfy your strudel craving. The preparation is easy and you will get a delectable apple strudel that has a flaky crust with a soft cinnamon-y apple filling inside.
Recipe Ingredients
- Baking Apples – I recommend one of the following: Granny Smith; Golden Delicious; Ginger Gold; Gala; Honey Crisp; or Jonagold. I used ginger gold for this recipe.
- Store-bought Frozen Puff Pastry – Make sure to thaw in advance. It takes about 40-50 minutes at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator.
- White Sugar and Brown Sugar – I used both sugars to get a better flavor.
- Cinnamon – You can’t leave out the cinnamon when there are apples involved.
- Flour – It will help thicken the apple filling.
- Breadcrumbs – They will absorb the juice from the apples and shield the pasty from getting soggy. It also provides a good texture.
- Walnuts – Or other nuts of your choice. I like them finely chopped, but you can leave them coarsely chopped.
- Egg Wash – Beat an egg with 1-2 teaspoon of water. Brush the pastry with the egg wash before you bake to get that golden look on your pastry.
Recipe FAQs
Can I make apple strudel in advance?
Absolutely! You can prepare the strudel and freeze it before you brush on the egg wash. When you are ready to bake, brush the frozen strudel pieces with egg wash and put them in the preheated oven. You will need to increase the baking time by an extra 10 minutes or longer.
Can I use canned apple pie filling instead?
Yes. I recommend making apple filling from scratch (since it tastes better), but it is doable with canned pie filling.
Do I have to chop the apples so small?
You can chop the apples into any size you prefer. You can slice them or even grate them instead of chopping. Depending on the size of apple pieces, the texture of your filling might vary after it is baked. I like a softer filling so I chopped mine small, but if you like your apples to require more work to chew, bigger chunks will do better.
Can I drizzle apple strudel with a glaze rather than dusting with powdered sugar?
Of course. Glaze will be fantastic on top. Keep in mind that it will make your strudel sweeter in taste, though.
How do I serve apple strudel?
I like my strudel to be warm when I serve. You can’t beat the flakiness of crust and the soft apple filling when the pastries are warm. When the strudel comes out of oven, let it cool for 10 minutes. Then dust with powdered sugar and serve.
More Apple Recipes to Enjoy
- Apple Cinnamon Bundt Cake
- Easy No-Crust Apple Pie
- Polish Apple Pie (Szarlotka)
- Best Deep Dish Apple Pie
How to Make Apple Strudel Puff Pastry
Step 1. Apple Filling
Chop apples into small pieces (about 1/2-inch). Add white sugar, flour, cinnamon and toss well. Let the apple sit for 15 minutes to macerate.
Step 2. Nut Filling
Chop walnuts into desired size. Add sugars and breadcrumbs and mix well.
Step 3. Making Strudel with Puff Pastry
- Roll out the thawed puff pastry on a lightly floured board to stretch out a little, about 10×12-inch.
- Put half of nut mixture in the center of the pastry leaving 1-inch from both sides.
- Add half of apple mixture on top of nut mixture.
- Lift the front side of pastry and cover over the filling.
- Lift the opposite side of pastry and cover over. Pinch the sides down.
- Carefully transfer the strudel to a prepared baking pan with the seam side down. Tuck both ends under. Brush with egg whites and make slits for the steam to escape.
Step 4. Bake and Dust
- Bake the strudel in a preheated 375˚F oven for 40-45 minutes until golden brown. Let the pastry cool for 10 minutes.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm.
Serving Suggestions
Typically, apple strudel is often served with vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream on the side. However, you can enjoy apple strudel just as is.
I would like to hear from you if you tried this recipe. Please rate it below by clicking stars in the comment section. Stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram for all the latest updates.
Easy Apple Strudel Puff Pastry
Ingredients
- 1 package (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry thawed in room temperature
- 2-3 baking apples
- 4 tbsp white sugar divided
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 cup walnuts finely chopped
- 3 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
- 1 beaten egg with 1 tsp water for brushing
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line a baking sheet with a parchment paper and set aside.
- To make the apple filling, peel, core, and chop apples into 1/2-inch cubes. You will need total 3 cups of chopped apples. Place them in a bowl and add 2 tablespoon of white sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Toss well and set aside for 15 minutes so the apple can release its juice.
- Meanwhile, combine nuts, brown sugar, the remaining 2 tablespoon of white sugar, and bread crumbs in another bowl. Stir well and set aside.
- To assemble the strudel, roll out the thawed puff pastry on a lightly floured board to stretch out a little, about 10×12-inch. Put half of nut mixture in the center of the pastry leaving 1-inch from both sides. Add half of apple mixture on top of nut mixture.
- Lift the front side of pastry and cover over the filling. Lift the opposite side of pastry and cover over. Pinch the sides down. Carefully transfer the strudel to a prepared baking pan with the seam side down. Tuck both ends under. Repeat the same on the other pastry sheet.
- Brush the strudels with egg whites and make slits for the steam to escape. Bake the strudel in a preheated 375˚F oven for 40-45 minutes until golden brown. Let the pastry cool for 10 minutes.
- Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm with vanilla ice cream and/or whipped cream.
Thank you, thank you for sharing this recipe! I found it on foodgawker, and it immediately caught my eye. My husband and I just returned from Germany, and I am craving everything Deutsch — especially the pastries! I am definitely going to make this one.
Can leftovers be frozen?
Very nice! I made my first strudel the other day, too — turned out wonderfully: http://squirrelbread.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/apfelstrudel-a-new-tradition/. Doesn't Germany just pull you in, make you want to stay the rest of your life?
Cheers,
*Heather*
What a great-looking fall treat! I always make apple turnovers around this time of year!
your photos of Germany almost made me homesick…and Ive never been there!
such beautiful countryside *sigh*
great recipe, Im adding it to my recipe file!
thanks =)
@Noshings
Thanks for visiting. German countryside is absolutely gorgeous. Every house has flowers box on their window and their door steps. People are very orderly and well mannered. Just lovely!
I just found your blog. And I must say that in the midst of thousands of food blogs online, I love yours! You are so funny! I have now added you to my favorites bar. Will be returning soon! 🙂
I'm so glad to hear your sweet happy experience on my second land – adopted by heart and because of the sweetheart as well!
Deutschland is my new homeland…
Very soon I'll end my business trip here in the southern sky and my wings will guide me home, a tiny little island in the cold precious North Sea. Who knows, maybe you can visit me and I take you for a Kaffe und Kuchen!
Wonderful recipe, darling!
Beautiful photos!
Hugs!
What a delicious looking desert! I have 3 apple trees with loads more apples than I know what to do with, thanks for the idea 🙂
*kisses* HH
My German grandmother used to make delicious apple strudel – I miss that! 😀
Your photos are beautiful and the strudel looks delicious!
@MPapery
Thanks for your compliment. My husband says all the time that I am funny but I've always thought I am boring person. I wonder my boring-ness can be funny?
I am from Germany and most people here either buy strudel or cheat just the way you did 😉 Making the real dough is just too much work at home. If you ever go to Vienna you can watch an "apple strudel show" in Schönbrunn. You will love it!
Just found this blog via Tastespotting and now it's bookmarked, I'm looking forward to more nice recipes and beautiful pictures 🙂
@Patricia Scarpin
Hi Pat!!! Wonderful to see you here!!! Isn't this space such pure delight? This talented korean chef is wonderful!
I've never had the pleasure of visiting Germany. But thanks for taking me along for the ride with your wonderful photos. The struedel looks like the perfect souvenir, too.
Lovely post, and your strudel looks fabulous!!
Love ur blog!
I wanted to say almost the same, as my fellow German commentator already did. Ohh well, there is a German saying : "Doppelt genaeht haelt besser." which can be roughly translated as "Doubly stitched make things stronger".
Once in my lifetime – in fact it was in the middle of last century (in 1959) – while attending a cooking school, I made "Strudel" from scratch, since then I am using either puff pastry or fillo dough. Both work very well.
Anna in N.
First of all thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe. And the pictures are gorgeous. I better plan my trip for next year. I love Europe.
Mmmmm, looks so good! Simple but delicious, I love it!
I was in Germany a few years ago and loved the apple strudel. This looks amazing and I can't wait to make it!
@Anonymous
Thanks for the information on the apple strudel show. I will check it out when I visit Vienna someday. Thanks for visiting my blog. Hope you visit again.
I LOVE your blog. I have already bookmarked about…10 recipes.
Maybe you can do a blog post about korean hot pot soon!? It's getting cold in New York. 🙂
I just made this today…phenomenal!!! I'm just so glad it makes two!
delicious favourite
lovely addition of breadcrumbs
This makes me happy. 😀
I'm a 19 year old girl from Germany and I found your blog, because I love spicy food and always wanted to try spicy rice cakes. However, I havent found a place to get them yet and therefore decided to try making my own.
So I'm spending some time here, reading a few of your recipes and suddenly I stumble across this one. 🙂
The shop for christmas decoration you talked about… I have been there too, because I live in another small town just across the Rhine River. And I'm glad you liked Germany 🙂
My Grandma lives in Bavaria in a small town quite near to the border to Austria so she is the master of apple strudel 🙂 And a thing she also is great at cooking: Zigeunerschnitzel (Zigeuner means gypsy). I don't know if you have tried it, but it's really really good. It's schnitzel with a sauce with lots of paprika and some other vegetables in it. Its really nice, especially with home made french fries. Oh, and it actually tastes a lot better if you dont coat the meat with breadcrumbs, i think it just gets soggy because of the sauce.
And do you know Bratapfel? Uuh, how to translate this… It basically means baked/roasted apple, I think. I dont even know if they have this in other countries. Its an old recipe and I think its origin is in Bavaria… You eat this in winter when its really cold, especially around christmas. You just take out the apple core and fill the apple with a mixture of nuts, raisins, cinnamon, sugar and so on and then you put it in the oven.
Greets from Germany!
Hi
I am so happy to hear from someone in Germany. I am glad that you found my blog as well.
I love Germany.
Some day I will challenge myself to make the strudel in authentic way. Is the "Zigeunerschnitzel" you mentioned closed to Hungarian Goulash? Sounds delish!
I think I have tried the Bratapfel but I didn't know the actual name. It was baked apples with brown sugar and cinnamon in the center. Thanks for letting me know the name. Such a great comfort food in the winter.
For the rice cakes, I found a Korean grocery store in the Kauserslautern near Ramstein U.S military base (I think there are quite many Korean population there). They had frozen rice cakes on sale. Of course you can make at home if you can get sweet rice flour. Just mix with water until it becomes a dough (Bread dough consistency). Roll out to be a long skinny sticks and cut. Steam them until they are all cooked. Coat with some oil on the surface so they don't stick to each other.
I would love to go back especially to Bavaria. Just stunningly beautiful! Please feel free to contact me if you have any question regarding any recipes.
Holly
Hi 🙂
I'm so sorry I didn't reply sooner…
Thank you SO much for the information about the rice cakes 😀 I will definitely try to make some myself!
I think the sauce of the Zigeunerschnitzel is quite similar to the one used in Hungarian Goulash… Just lots and lots of paprika. 🙂
Lena
Your strudel looks wonderful! My boyfriend is from Austria and this is his favorite. I'll be making your recipe today, and I'll let you know how it turns out.
Thank you Rachel. Hope your boyfriend enjoys it.
Am a Korean-American who also loves Germany and Austria and the apple strudel in both countries so was elated to come across this recipe and the photos. What a great idea to use the puff pastry sheets. I used raisins instead of walnuts and sliced the apples on a mandolin to get very thin slices. All in all, your recipe was a huge hit!
Thak you for a great recipe!
Just scrolling through Pinterest and found your strudel recipe. I made it this evening and it was wonderful!! I never made strudel before because I thought it was way to difficult, your recipe made this dessert not only an all time favorite but so easy to master. It also filled my home with the most delicious aromas!!! Autumn is here and so is apple season, thanks to you apple strudel will be on my dessert menu often.
Heya i’m for the first time here. I came across this board and I find
It truly useful & it helped me out much. I hope to
give something back and aid others like you helped me.
I made this (with only very slight alterations to suite my tastes) and it came out looking so perfect and professional. I real show-case pastry. Thank you for such detailed photographs. To accommodate my daughter’s tree nut allergy I sprinkled an apple crisp crumble topping (flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, butter) inside mine in place of the walnut mixture. It worked out perfectly! I know the nuts are traditional and really give it that authentic German taste, but this is a good alternative for those with allergies to enjoy it too. Thank you!
Another pin win!! Delicious and super easy
Ohmygoodness!!!!! I made 2 boxes worth of German Apple Strudel, so 4 logs of it, for my German-side Family Reunion today. Not many things I try actually turn out, but THIS???? It was easy, looked Fabulous, tasted Delicious, and was a very special nod to my Grandma’s German heritage, even though she died 4 Summers ago. I got sooo many compliments on it, from extended family members that I didn’t even know!!! THANK YOU for a Wonderful strudel recipe!!! I look forward to making this again and again – for home, to share with my family, to share with my coworkers, to bring to church…to rely on WHENEVER I need a Delicious dessert!!!! The Puff Pastry was really buttery and flaky and DELICIOUS!!!!! What a great recipe!!! Thank you for posting it. ❤
I saw that the recipe makes two logs of apple strudel, yum!! But just in case we can’t eat it fast enough, have you tried to freeze it and re-heat it with any luck?
No, I have not tried freezing them. But I think you can. Just reheat in the oven to get the flaky crust back.
I am making your Strudel recipe for a church event but need to bake it the night before. Will that work or will it lose its crunchy pastry?
It will loose the crisp texture outside if left too long. You can prepare everything on the night before and keep them in the fridge. Then Bake just before you take to church.
I am going to make the German strudel but I do have a in the recipe it cause for 2 tablespoons of whit sugar and on down the list it call for 2 tablespoon white sugar so do I put in sugar twice please let mary9day@ gmail.com
Hi Mary
You will need total 4 tbsp of white sugar. Half goes in with apples, and the other half goes with nut mixture. Hope that’s what you did. I revised the directions so that it will be more clear. Thanks for letting me know.
Sounds delicious! I need to make 15-20 for a church dinner, and I would like to assemble them, freeze them, and then bake the day of the event. Have you frozen an unbaked strudel, and then baked from frozen and had a good result? All suggestions welcome!
I have not tried from the frozen pre-assembled strudel, but I think it will work.
I would increase the baking time or let the strudel to thaw a little before you bake.
Hope you succeed. Let me know how it turns out if you try.
I was able to bake the frozen strudel straight from the freezer. I probably added about 10 minutes bake time – done when the juice bubbles clear. Saved me a lot of effort at the last minute!!
I love everything apple, but I love everything easy even more 🙂 So this strudel looks and sounds fantastic for me!
I totally agree with you, Ben. Thanks!