Apple Phyllo Dough

Apple Phyllo Strudel


by Stephanie Hansen on Oct.23, 2012, under Foodie

My husband is the dough baker in our house. He has mastered pizza, French bread and pie crust. I was one of those people too intimidated to try pie-crust. All that pea size butter chunks versus lard in the dough had me confused before I even started. When you have an apple tree in your yard and you end up with buckets of apples, and you don’t make pie dough – you are left with a few choices of how to use up the apples. As such, I experimented with all kinds of crisps and cobblers. I have made applesauce from scratch, apple dutch baby puffed pancakes, baked apples in the crock pot and still I had apples left.

This is about the time of year where my cup runneth over from food. Between my garden, friends gardens and my farm share I am furiously trying to use up the last of the summer crops before the first freeze. My three drawer freezer is so full I cant fit another thing in it. Pesto, tomato sauce, ratatouille, lamb stew, chili and beans are all making my freezer so full that to put anything into the freezer it’s a massive undertaking to arrange all the items just so everything fits back in.

So let me set the stage. I have apples coming out the ears and I am trying to “eat down” the freezer when I came across a roll of phyllo dough. I know phyllo dough and apples could possibly make a wonderful dessert without having to make pie crust right? Yes! I scrambled to my cookbooks and here is what I came up with. I have made it 3 times since. It is easy, delicious, and it makes use of all the fresh farmers’ market apples you can get by the bag right now.

You can cheat your way to pastry super stardom with this recipe.



PHYLLO APPLE STRUDEL

4-5 apples cut into a medium dice

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. cranberries

1/2 c. chopped walnuts

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1 teaspoon lemon zest (I have also used Bitter cube Jamaican bitters here for a unique flavor profile)

Approximately 1/4 c. dried fine bread crumbs

1/2 lb. phyllo (1/2 box frozen phyllo pastry)

1/2 c. melted butter


Thaw frozen phyllo dough. On a large cookie sheet prepare a sheet of parchment paper for your work surface. Peel and cube apples. Toss apples in bowl with next 6 ingredients and 1/4 cup bread crumbs.

Keep phyllo dough covered with moist clean towel once it is opened and thawed. The paper thin dough dries out quickly. On wax paper, place each individual phyllo pastry sheet one on top of the other and brush each sheet with melted butter. Sprinkle scant amount of bread crumbs on every other sheet (you’ll use approximately 12 sheets of phyllo dough.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spoon apple mixture on prepared phyllo dough and roll phyllo dough around apple mixture jelly roll fashion. Tuck in ends like rolling a burrito before you get to the end. Pinch ends to prevent leaking of apple mixture during baking. Place on cookie sheet seam side down. Brush roll with melted butter. Bake 30-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool approximately 30 minutes and serve with whip cream spiked with rum. Slice and serve warm or cold