Apple Strudel Slices
Little Apple Strudel Slices take everything you love about a classic apple strudel and turn it into bite sized, individually wrapped slices, that are as easy to eat and they are to make. Let me tell you I’ve made real strudel starting from the dough and OOF it is a lot of work. These easy little shortcut recipe makes a simple dessert within reach of just about everyone.
So you want apple strudel. You don’t want to spend your afternoon stretching dough across a bedsheet on the kitchen table until you can read a newspaper through it? That’s wild! And oh so relatable! Apple rings, a couple of butter, phyllo strips, cinnamon sugar and a hot oven are about all you need to get you. They come out shattering-crisp on the outside with a soft cinnamon apple in the middle, which is the exact thing you wanted from strudel in the first place.
And if the reason you are here is that there are three apples in the fruit bowl going soft and you feel bad about it, welcome. That is how this recipe got made in my house too.
The Best Apples for Baking
This is the one decision that will make or break these. The apple has to hold its shape as a ring, because there is nothing holding it together but the phyllo.
Reach for these baking apples:
- Granny Smith: Tart, firm, never fails.
- Honeycrisp: Sturdy and sweet, worth the money when they are on sale.
- Envy: What I used here. Holds beautifully and does not brown fast while you work.
- Braeburn: Firm with a little spice to it.
- Pink Lady(also sold as Cripps Pink): Tart and very firm.
- Jonagold: Sweet-tart, holds up well.
What Happens If You Use the Wrong Apple?
I am going to be plain about this because it is the number one way these go sideways. Soft eating apples like Red Delicious, McIntosh, Cortland, and Empire are bred to be eaten out of hand, not baked. In the oven they collapse. Your neat apple ring turns to applesauce inside its phyllo wrapper, the ring loses its middle, and the whole thing slumps into a floppy little pile when you pick it up. Red Delicious in particular goes mealy and grainy and tastes like almost nothing once it is hot.
Here is the bottom line, if all you have is a soft eating apple that is a week past its prime, MAKE THEM ANYWAY. They will taste good. They will just be softer and you will want to eat them with a fork instead of your fingers. That is not a failure, that is Tuesday in my house.!
What You Need To Make Apple Strudel Slices
You are working with pantry spices and one box from the freezer aisle. Nothing here is fancy and nothing here is hard to find. If phyllo is not in your store, read the swaps below, because you have options.
- apples
- phyllo dough
- butter
- sugar
- cinnamon
- nutmeg
You’ll also need:
- a sharp knife
- an apple corer (OR a bottle cap will work in a pinch, just use it on sliced apples)
- pastry brush
- cutting board
My Best Tips For Using Phyllo Dough
Thaw the phyllo dough first when you’re making this recipe. This is not optional and it is not fast. Follow the box, because different brands want different things, but most want overnight in the refrigerator. I know it’s a pain in the butt but (LOL!) you’ll get the best results from any recipe using frozen phyllo dough.
Phyllo that is still frozen in the middle will crack into shards the second you unroll it, you don’t even have to ask me how I know, you know how I know! Do not try to speed this up in the microwave. I have not microwaved it because I don’t have one in my house BUT I’ve read about how it fuses into a solid brick of pastry and it cannot be saved.
Get everything else ready before you open the package. Everything. Phyllo starts drying out the moment air hits it and dry phyllo tears. Spices mixed, butter melted, oven on, pan lined, apples sliced. THEN you’re allowed open the box.
Got Leftovers?
I will be honest with you. Phyllo is at its absolute best in the first hour. These are a make-and-eat-now food.
That being said, leftovers keep at room temperature in a loosely covered container for up to two days. Loosely, because a sealed container traps moisture and that is what makes crisp pastry go limp. Do not refrigerate them. The fridge will soften them faster than the counter will.
You can try air frying them to bring them back to life. It can help crisp things up but oftentimes the results just aren’t great. Proceed with caution.
Apple Strudel Slices
Ingredients
- 2-3 large apples Envy apples were used in this recipe
- 8-12 sheets phyllo dough thawed
- 2 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
Instructions
- Your phyllo dough sheets must be thawed before beginning this recipe. Follow the thawing instructions on the box. Phyllo dough sheets dry out quickly once opened so prepare all other ingredients before opening the dough
- Preheat the oven to 375℉
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and set it aside
- Wash and dry the apples, leave the peel on the apple but core them
- Slice the cored apple into rings
- In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, set aside
- Melt the butter in a small saucepan or in microwave safe bowl
- Remove the phyllo dough sheets from the wrapping and place two sheets on your working surface. Brush on melted butter and layer another two sheets on top. Brush the top sheets with melted butter. You will have 4 phyllo sheets in total
- Using a pizza cutter or a knife, cut the phyllo sheet lengthwise into ½ inch strips, carefully separate the strips
- Pick up an apple slice and carefully wrap two strips around the slice and through the center. (It’s okay if the strips slightly rip, just press them down and keep wrapping!)
- Place the wrapped rings on a baking tray
- Once all apple slices are wrapped sprinkle them with half the cinnamon sugar
- Bake them in the preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until they're crispy and flaky
- Remove from the oven, sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture on top
