Lucky Strudel with Apples, Almonds, and Fortune Cookies

A couple of years ago, the BF and I hosted an oneg at Temple in honor of our grandmothers who share a yahrtzeit.   My grandmother was a terrible cook so no need to share any of her recipes with the congregation, but I did make brownies.  She would have liked the idea of getting free brownies.  The BF, on the other hand, comes from a long line of good cooks, and he has very fond memories of his grandmother’s strudel, so in her honor I decided to give strudel a shot.

The first challenge was actually finding a recipe.  Most of the recipes I found online or in modern cookbooks called for the use of pie crust, puff pastry or phyllo dough for the pastry.  I wanted to make an authentic strudel so this would not do.  Real strudel is made from a simple dough that is extremely elastic and has to be stretched very thin.  The filling is then rolled in the sheet of dough with cookie or bread crumbs used to soak up extra liquid and to keep the layers separate.  The result is a flakey but not crunchy pastry.

Aftera few hours of searching, I found a recipe I liked for traditional strudel dough but then had  to figure out how to make it.  Mixing the dough is simple enough—it  was the stretching part that seemed daunting.  From the articles I’d read online, I had the idea that making proper strudel dough was a dying art that took years to master.  I was wrong.

It turns out that making the dough is pretty easy from start to finish. It just takes some patience, a large flat surface, and a piece of muslin for rolling the pastry.  Muslin is available from any fabric store, is inexpensive, and can be washed and used again and again.

You may have noticed that the photo at the top of this post is of fortune cookies. Well, there is a story there…  The first time I made strudel, I used ordinary cookie crumbs to coat the pastry before rolling.  The second time I made strudel, I realized that I’d forgotten to buy cookies and didn’t have any white bread in the house, so I couldn’t use buttered bread crumbs as suggested in some recipes.  After frantically searching the cupboards, the BF came up with a solution.  Why not use fortune cookies?  We had a bunch left over from Chinese take-out.  They were stale, but a few minutes in the toaster oven,  a whir in the mini chopper and problem solved. The crunchy and mildly citrus flavored fortune cookies worked out so well that now they are my first choice for cookie crumbs.  (Don’t forget to remove the fortunes.)

Strudel Dough

Makes 2 strudel (approximately 18 x 3 inches)

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1/4 cup or more for kneading1 cup very warm water4 tablespoons oilPinch salt1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, melted or 1 cup of neutral vegetable oil to make parve1/2 cup finely ground fortune cookies or plain vanilla cookie crumbs Heat oven to 375°  and line a large baking sheet with parchment or non-stick foil.Combine 2 cups flour, water, oil and salt. Mix well and let stand 10 minutes. Knead in remaining 1/4 cup flour until smooth and elastic (this may take 10 minutes or more). Place in oiled bowl, cover and let rest for at least a 1/2 hour or up to overnight.   This step is really important.  If you don’t let the gluten relax, you won’t be able to stretch the dough thin enough. After resting dough is soft and elastic.

Cover table or counter with muslin and sprinkle lightly with flour. Turn dough out onto tablecloth. Roll with a rolling pin until you have a 13×9-inch rectangle. Brush top with melted butter or oil  and let rest 10 minutes. Work your way around the table, stretching dough as thinly as possible with the backs or palms of hands. Be sure to remove rings, watches or bracelets.  They will tear the dough. If the dough starts to resist stretching, brush the dough with a bit of oil and let it rest for a few minutes.  The end result should be a square of dough approximately 3’ x 3’ and so thin that you can easily see through it. On floured muslin, start by using a rolling pin.

Stretch carefully to avoid tearing dough.

You should be able to see through the stretched dough.

 Let the dough dry 10 minutes and cut off the thick edges with kitchen shears or a very sharp knife. Let the dough hang over the edge of the table. Gravity works!

Brush or sprinkle melted butter or oil on the entire surface of the dough and then spread a thin layer of cookie crumbs.  Place an 18-inch strip of filling of choice at one long edge of strudel dough. Brush filling and dough with melted butter. Fold dough in from sides, brush folded-in sides with melted butter and use the cloth to roll the dough away from you into a cylinder. Crushed fortune cookies in a thin layer.

Spread filling along on edge.

Use the muslin to roll the strudel.

Cut strudels into 18-inch lengths, turning the ends under. Place on a greased baking sheet, brush tops of strudels with melted butter or oil  and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden. Trim and fold ends under.

Brush with butter or oil.

Dust with confectioners’ sugar when cool. Fresh from the oven.

The cookie crumbs are the key to flaky layers.

My favorite strudel filling inspired by the BF’s Bobe (Grandma)

4 tablespoons butter or neutral oil6 fuji apples peeled, cored and sliced thin1/2 cup raisins1/2 cup cubed membrillo (quince paste and entirely optional)1/4 cup sliced toasted almonds1/2 cup brown sugar1 tsp cinnamon1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmegPinch of salt

In a large sauté pan, cook apple slices in melted butter until tender.  Remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients.  Toss gently so that everything is evenly distributed.

This filling makes a pretty good pie too.

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