These apple toaster strudels will have you throwing out that box in the freezer and never looking back. With golden, flaky puff pastry stuffed with a sweet apple filling, these are everything the prepackaged version wishes it could be. You’ll fall in love at first bite.
We always loved Toaster Strudels when we were growing up. We still love them, actually, but since we’re cooks, we decided to try making a better version. You guys, we did!
Our first experiment was these cherry toaster strudels. We don’t want to toot our own horns, but TOOT TOOT. We nailed it. The filling was perfectly sweet, the pastry was golden and flaky, and the drizzle was spot on.
Of course, if you’ve been following the site, you know we also love our apple treats like this apple cream cheese puff pastry recipe. We combined sweet apple filling with our signature cherry strudel vibe to create our apple toaster strudels. We guarantee everyone in your home is going to love them.
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Simple Ingredients: This recipe uses basic ingredients found in almost any kitchen.
- Easy: It only takes a few simple steps and about 30 minutes from start to finish to make this recipe.
- Classic Flavor: Every bite is loaded with sweet apple and buttery pastry flavors.
- Customizable: You can make so many varieties by changing up the fruit filling.
- Versatile: These make a great breakfast, brunch, afternoon snack, or dessert.
- Great for Meal Prep: These are freezer-friendly, so you can make up a double batch for future use.
Ingredients
You’ll find a complete list of ingredients and their exact amounts in the recipe card at the end of the post.
Variations
- Filling: Use your favorite diced fruits like peaches, pears, nectarines, and plums to make all kinds of delicious fillings.
- Berries: Berries are excellent for this recipe’s filling, as well.
- Apples: We used Granny Smith apples, but you can use your favorite apples for the filling. Each variety adds its own unique flavor.
- Icing: Add a little cinnamon for a cinnamon icing that’s so good.
How to Make Apple Toaster Strudels
Step 1: Cook the filling ingredients in a medium saucepan over low heat until thickened. Set aside.
Step 2: Lightly sprinkle a clean surface with flour and powdered sugar. Then, roll out the pastry sheets until even and the same size. Cut each sheet into nine squares.
Step 3: Top nine of the squares with 1 to 2 tablespoons of the apple filling.
Step 4: Top the filling with the remaining nine pasty squares and seal the edges by crimping them with a fork.
Step 5: Place the pastries on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and brush them with egg wash.
Step 6: Bake until golden. Then, remove them from the oven and set aside to cool completely.
Step 7: Mix the icing ingredients in a small bowl and drizzle over the strudels.
Step 8: Enjoy!
Tips
- Stir your filling constantly while it cooks to avoid scorching.
- Always cook your filling over low heat. Again, this avoids scorching. It also helps the filling thicken properly.
- Always use a sharp knife to dice your apples. It cuts much more easily, reducing the chances of injury by eliminating the need to add extra force to make your cuts.
- Be sure you thoroughly crimp your strudel edges. Even a small uncrimped space can cause the pastries to open as they bake, and all your filling to ooze out.
Apple Toaster Strudels FAQ
Granny Smith is always the classic for sweet desserts. However, some other great varieties work well for these strudels, like Bradeburn, Jonathan, Pacific Rose, Cortland, Honeycrisp, and Cosmic Crisp.
If your strudels aren’t golden, they’re either undercooked or you forgot to add your egg wash. Egg wash is the only way to get that golden color on your pastries.
Red Delicious and Gala apples aren’t usually used for filling. They won’t retain their texture, creating a super-soft filling. However, some people use them specifically to achieve that texture.
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Apple Toaster Strudels
Ingredients
- 1 box frozen puff pastry sheets
Apple Filling
- 2 green apples, cut into small pieces
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Apple Filling
- In a medium saucepan, over low heat, add apples, sugar, water, cornstarch, lemon juice, and cinnamon. Stir to combine, and cook until filling thickens.
Pastry Sheets
- Sprinkle a little powdered sugar and flour down on a clean dry surface.
- Unroll pastry sheets and gently roll with rolling pin so both sheets are the same size.
- Cut each pastry sheet into 9 squares.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of apple filling in the center of each pastry square.
- Top with the remaining 9 squares.
- Using the tines of a fork, press down on the dough to seal the edges.
Egg Wash
- In a small bowl, whisk egg and water together.
- Brush egg wash over each pastry.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes or until browned.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
Icing
- In a small bowl, mix icing ingredients together, drizzle over pastries, and enjoy.
Notes
- Refrigerate for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
- Wrap individual strudels in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months in an airtight, freezer-safe container or heavy-duty freezer bag.
- Defrost overnight if frozen, then enjoy at room temperature, or microwave at 30-second intervals until warm.
- Stir your filling constantly while it cooks to avoid scorching.
- Always cook your filling over low heat. Again, this avoids scorching. It also helps the filling thicken properly.
- Always use a sharp knife to dice your apples. It cuts much more easily, reducing the chances of injury by eliminating the need to add extra force to make your cuts.
- Be sure you thoroughly crimp your strudel edges. Even a small uncrimped space can cause the pastries to open as they bake, and all your filling to ooze out.
Holy cow, these are good. I can’t believe I ever bought anything like this out of a box!
AAAHHH! I made these last night for dessert and we finished them for breakfast. They’re our new favorite.
My kids are absolutely flipped out over these. I don’t see myself making anything else for weekend breakfast for a while. LOL.
I’m so excited to make these! The girls are coming over with the grandkids this weekend, and they’re going to love these.
I actually just finished making these for breakfast tomorrow morning. I might have to make more since I’ve eaten a couple.
These are way better to make than buying the store-bought version. Loved the sweet filling and icing. Baking more next week!
Oh, this takes me back! Making homemade versions of favorite childhood treats is the best. The flaky crust and warm apple filling look irresistible. Love that beautiful icing drizzle!
Better than any store-bought brand! I’ll never stray from these homemade toaster strudels. They are so delicious and fun to make. I cannot wait to try other fruit fillings!
What a wonderful way to use up all those apples sitting in the kitchen. The result is awesome!
Apple strudels are the best! I have tried many different ones but this approach works best. Delicious recipe.
I loved making these Apple toaster strudels! They were easy to repair, and the kids just love them, can’t wait to make them again!