Vegan Apple Strudel

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This vegan apple strudel is made with a gooey cinnamon-apple filling nestled inside a flaky puff pastry braid. It’s surprisingly easy to make and absolutely delicious!

Is there anything better than a delicious dessert that’s also easy to make? Yes, there is: a delicious and easy dessert that looks fancy and fussy. You know, one of those dishes that will have your dinner guests oohing and aahing all over the place, thinking you’re a secret five-star pastry chef, but were you secretly knew that minimal skills were involved in making it?

Well this vegan apple strudel is just one of those dishes. It looks all involved with the braid and flaky layers, but it’s really easy to throw together, thanks to the super simple filling and the magic of accidentally vegan store-bought puff pastry! Even the braid is pretty basic — I’ll show you how it’s done below.

What You’ll Need

• Apples. You can really use any kind of apple here, but your best bet is to choose one that works well for baking. Check out this guide to the best baking apples.
• Sugar. Use organic sugar to keep the recipe vegan.
• Raisins. You can leave these out if they’re not your thing, or substitute another dried fruit, such as currants or cranberries.
• Slivered almonds. Feel free to leave these out as well, or substitute chopped walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts.
• Rum. You can omit this ingredient if you prefer to cook without alcohol.
• Lemon juice.
• Flour. We’re using regular old all-purpose wheat flour. I haven’t tried any other varieties of flour, but since it’s only used for thickening, I can’t see any reason that whole wheat, oat or even a gluten-free all purpose blend wouldn’t work.
• Vanilla extract.
• Cinnamon.
• Salt.
• Frozen puff pastry. Many store-bought puff pastry brands are vegan, but check the ingredients to be sure. I used Pepperidge Farm brand.
• Non-dairy milk. This is our vegan “egg” wash and it helps to brown the pastry. Use any variety that’s unsweetened and unflavored.
• Powdered sugar. This is totally optional, but also really nice to sprinkle on your vegan strudel. Make sure yours is organic.

How to Make Vegan Apple Strudel

The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll all the way down if you’d like to skip right to the recipe!

• Peel and thinly slice your apples, then add them to a mixing bowl with all of your other filling ingredients: sugar, raisins, almonds, rum, lemon juice, flour, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Stir everything up.
• Tip: As you peel and slice your apples, you may find that the slices you’ve already cut start to turn brown. To prevent this from happening, place them in a large bowl and cover them with cold water. Then just drain them when you’re ready to mix up the filling!

• Make sure your puff pastry is thawed (take it out of the freezer a bit before getting started). If it’s not, you can place it in a warm spot in the kitchen or microwave it in 20 second intervals until it’s workable.
• Now roll the puff pastry into a large rectangle of about 12 by 14 inches. I like to roll mine right on a sheet of parchment paper so I can easily transfer it to a baking sheet when it’s ready.
• Cut parallel strips along either (long) side of the rectangle, making them about 1-inch wide each and cutting about a third of the width of the rectangle.
• Spoon your filling down the middle of the puff pastry, leaving an inch or two at the top and bottom.
• Fold opposite strips inward over the filling, pinching them together to form a seal.

• Brush your puff pastry with non-dairy milk and sprinkle it with some sugar. Place it on a baking sheet and pop it into the oven.
• Bake your vegan apple strudel until the crust is golden brown and crispy, and the filling is bubbly.

• Let your vegan strudel cool for a few minutes before serving. You can sprinkle it with some organic powdered sugar if you’d like!

Leftovers & Storage

Apple strudel is best served the day it’s made, but if you have leftovers you can store them in a sealed container or bag in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.