These cherry toaster strudels take the boxed treat to an entirely new level with homemade filling and fresh-from-the-oven flavor. Indulge in flaky, golden puff pastry drizzled with vanilla icing and stuffed with homemade cherry filling.
When we think of pastries, we think of two things – breakfast and dessert. Recipes like apple cream cheese puff pastry or strawberry pastry, which combine sweet, fruity fillings with a golden, flaky crust, always hit the spot, whether served with coffee as a sweet breakfast, an afternoon snack, or a dessert.
Of course, when we think of sweet pastries and desserts, cherries are the first thing that springs to mind. We love making sweet, cherry-filled treats like these cherry cream cheese egg rolls for breakfast, brunch, or dessert. They’re a classic flavor that everyone always loves, so we always look good!
Now, we’ve combined our love of cherries and pastries to bring you these cherry toaster strudels. These homemade treats take the best of everything you love about the boxed version and cranks the knob to 11 with a homemade filling and freshly-baked flavor!
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Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Basic Ingredients: This recipe uses basic ingredients found in your kitchen or local grocery store.
- Beginner-Friendly: This is an easy recipe that requires only a few simple steps and a short preparation time. Even beginners can easily make it.
- Customizable: It’s easy to customize this recipe with different fillings to create a variety of delicious flavors.
- Versatile: These strudels are perfect for a sweet breakfast, brunch, afternoon snack, or dessert.
- Freezer-Friendly: These are freezer-friendly, making them perfect for baking extra and saving for later.
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 berries or diced fruits like apples, pears, peaches, pineapple, or almost any other fruit to create different versions of this recipe.
- Gluten-Free: If you have a loved one who can’t have gluten, use gluten-free puff pastry sheets.
- Cherries: While fresh cherries offer a more robust flavor, you can use frozen cherries if you prefer or if cherries aren’t in season.
How to Make Cherry Toaster Strudels
Step 1: Cook the filling ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, breaking up the cherries as you go, until thickened.
Step 2: Unroll the pastry sheets and gently roll them with a rolling pin to even them out. Cut each sheet into nine squares.
Step 3: Add the filling to the center of nine of the squares.
Step 4: Top the filling with the other nine pastry squares and crimp the edges with a fork.
Step 5: Whisk the egg and water and brush each pastry with the egg wash.
Step 6: Bake at 400°F until golden. Then, remove the pastries from the oven to cool completely.
Step 7: Mix the icing ingredients in a small bowl.
Step 8: Drizzle the icing over the pastries. Enjoy!
Tips
- Cook your filling on medium-low heat to prevent scorching. Don’t try to rush it with higher heat, or it will burn.
- Be sure you thoroughly crimp the edges of your strudels to ensure all that delicious filling stays inside where it belongs.
- It’s important to cool your strudels completely before adding the icing drizzle. This allows the icing to set in its decorative pattern, rather than simply spreading out over the pastries.
Cherry Toaster Strudels FAQ
They taste similar in that they both have a cherry filling and iced pastry. However, this homemade version is so much better, with a fresh filling and homemade flavor.
It’s essential to thoroughly crimp all four edges of your strudels to keep the filling securely in place. The entire surface of all four edges should be crimped with no spaces between tine marks.
Absolutely! While fresh fruit gives you the most robust flavor, you can still make incredibly tasty fillings with frozen fruit.
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Cherry Toaster Strudels
Ingredients
- 1 box frozen puff pastry sheets
Cherry Filling
- 2 cups fresh cherries, pitted
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Cherry Filling
- In a medium saucepan, over medium low heat, add cherries, sugar, water, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Stir to combine, and cook until filling thickens, breaking up the cherries a bit as you stir.
Pastry Sheets
- Sprinkle a little powdered sugar and flour down on a clean dry surface.
- Unroll pastry sheets and gently roll with rolling pin.
- Cut each pastry sheet into 9 squares.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of cherry filling in the center of each pastry square.
- Top with the remaining 9 squares.
- Using the tines of a fork, press down on the pastry to seal the edges closed.
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 golden.
- 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.
- Chill pastries, wrap them 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, microwave at 30-second intervals until heated through.
- Cook your filling on medium-low heat to prevent scorching. Don’t try to rush it with higher heat, or it will burn.
- Be sure you thoroughly crimp the edges of your strudels to ensure all that delicious filling stays inside where it belongs.
- It’s important to cool your strudels completely before adding the icing drizzle. This allows the icing to set in its decorative pattern, rather than simply spreading out over the pastries.
