Apple Strudel is one of those iconic desserts you may not want to mess with. It does do well though, wrapped in a whole wheat pastry with honey and spices. The dough needs to sit overnight to soften the bran, so that you can roll it very thin without breaking it.
Start the day before you make strudel. Otherwise, use this white flour dough recipe.
Makes 1 strudel, about 10 pieces.
Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- Dough:
- 1 2/3 c. white whole wheat flour, or finely ground whole wheat flour
- 1 egg
- 1 T. walnut oil or other neutral oil
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/3 c. warm water
- Filling I:
- 5-6 apples, 2 1/2 lb.
- 1/2 lemon
- Sweetener to taste, such as Stevia, barley malt or agave syrup
- Raisins (optional)
- Filling II:
- 1/2 c. whole wheat bread crumbs
- 1/3 c. ground almonds
- 1-2 T. honey or agave syrup
- 2 T. butter
- Additionally:
- 1/2 c. unsalted butter, or one stick, melted
- Corn starch
- Stevia Powder or other powdered sweetener
Preparation:
Make the Strudel Dough
Mix the dough ingredients until a ball forms, then knead for 10 minutes (use a stand mixer if you have one). Adjust water if necessary to make a stiff dough. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Make the Fillings
Filling One: Peel, core and chop apples, mix with spices, juice from 1/2 lemon and sweetener, if you like. Set aside.
Filling Two: Use a frying pan to brown bread crumbs and almond meal in butter and honey for several minutes.
Roll Out and Fill Dough
Use a pastry cloth or linen towel lightly dusted with rice flour or white flour (no bran) to roll out your dough. You may stretch the dough very gently to get the desired thinness, but it will still be about twice as thick as the white flour version and you will not be able to read a newspaper through it. Take your time. Try for a rectangle about 12 inches by 18 inches.
Brush surface of dough with melted butter. Place the breadcrumbs over 1/3 of the long edge, leaving a one inch border.
Place the apple filling on the other 2/3 of the dough. Use the cloth under the dough to rock the filling into a compact mass, then fold one of the long sides over it, to the middle. Butter any exposed dough. Fold in the ends like an envelope or burrito. Fold the last edge over the first edge and use butter and light pressure to seal.
Using the cloth, transfer the strudel seam-side down to the pan. Use a non-stick jelly roll pan or parchment paper on a jelly roll pan to bake. Brush dough with melted butter. Repeat several times during baking. Bake at 325°F for 60-70 minutes, or until done.
Dust with a mixture of 2 teaspoons cornstarch and 1 packet of Stevia or use similar product or malted milk powder or regular powdered sugar.
