Quick and Easy Dessert: Apple Strudel

I want to preface this post by saying I am NOT a baker. However, last week we watched a chef on Food Network create an Apple Strudel. Alexander was literally drooling and I decided it didn't look too hard and filed it away as a "someday treat". Someday came sooner than I expected tonight. After Alexander had gone to class, I decided I wanted to make him a surprise. I looked through my kitchen and found that I had fillo dough in the freezer and fresh green apples. It was perfect for a strudel!



I decided no recipe was necessary, so I just made it up as I went along using what I remembered from the show last week. I pulled out the dough and let it thaw on the counter for an hour. I then thinly chopped 2 green apples and mixed them with brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Once the dough was thawed, I lined a cooking tray with wax paper (though I would have used parchment paper if I had it). I then took a piece of fillo dough and laid it out and brushed it with melted butter. I then took another piece of dough and repeated it until I had 10 sheets of layered dough with butter between them all. I then took half of the apple mixture and spread it in a across one section of the dough and then rolled the dough up. I brushed butter on the top and sprinkled slivered almonds and white sugar over the top. I copied these steps exactly for the second strudel, but I added in dried cranberries.

I popped them in the over at 375 degrees for about 20-30 minutes (I'm sorry, I didn't time them, so this is a guess). They came out looking beautiful! Honestly though, the one with the cranberries was WAY better tasting. :)