This Strudel Dough Recipe is a basic dough recipe which you can use for any Strudel recipe, such as Apple Strudel!
The dough is made from scratch with just a few ingredients.
Wondering what a Strudel dough is and why it's any different to other doughs?
What is Strudel Dough and where is the Strudel originally from?
In a nutshell, Strudel is a stuffed pastry from Austria, which is also very popular in former Austrian countries (Hungary, Czech Rep. etc), Germany and Alsace (France).
A Strudel Dough is special because the dough is very thinly wrapped around a heavy filling.
Therefore, the ultimate challenge of a good authentic Strudel dough recipe is that it needs to be very thin and at the same time to be able to hold a heavy huge filing without breaking apart.
Also, the aim of a perfect Strudel dough is the flaky pastry with the various delicate layers.
That makes a perfect Strudel dough and for a perfect Strudel in general, you need a great filling.
A stuffed Strudel can be either sweet or savory.
That means that you can make a strudel dough recipe and stuff it with a savory filling and serve it as a weeknight dinner.
This is a common dinner idea in Austrian homes! (see below recipe for savory Strudel suggestions)
A sweet Strudel is usually stuffed with fruit or something that we call Topfen (Quark in Germany), which is a fresh plain cheese (kind of like Ricotta).
The most famous Sweet Strudel is the Apple Strudel, of course.
The Apple Strudel has always been the star of all Strudels, but thanks to the ingenious movie Inglorious Bastards, the apple strudel has dramatically gained in popularity over the years.
What is not a Strudel dough recipe?
Over the years another popular version of a Strudel pastry has become fashionable.
There is a certain belief making it's round that preparing a Strudel dough recipe from scratch is difficult and time-consuming.
It's not!
Therefore,
Whereas, a
So the belief has taken root that apparently a Strudel is originally prepared with puff pastry dough, which is completely wrong.
The two doughs are different in the way they are made.
Puff Pastry dough VS Strudel dough recipe VS Phyllo dough
What's the difference between Puff Pastry dough, Strudel dough, and Phyllo dough?
Puff Pastry dough
Puff Pastry dough is thought to be of French origin, although it was most probably inspired by the Arabic Phyllo dough.
Butter layers are folded into the dough, and while baking the butter and steam create layers.
Puff Pastry blows up and it's flaky soft, it's more sensible to the touch.
Strudel dough
The Strudel dough recipe consists of flour, water, egg and a lot of oil.
So in a way, it's prepared the same way as a noodle dough just that it calls for a lot of oil.
In fact, the dough is left standing covered in oil.
The oil and the egg make the dough super elastic so that you can roll and pull it out to a very thin layer.
The Strudel is only a Strudel with a strong crunchy thin layer wrapped around the Strudel filling.
Only the Strudel dough can take that much filling without breaking.
Phyllo dough
Phyllo dough is a Greek, Balkan and Middle Eastern crunchy thin dough.
It's prepared with water and flour, rolled out and brushed with oil or butter before being layered and baked.
So the difference is simple, it's the fat! In the Puff Pastry the butter is folded in, in the Strudel dough the oil is part of the dough from the beginning and the Phyllo dough is brushed with oil before being baked.
The technique and the ingredients make the difference between these doughs and that's why each has its purpose!
Now you know why you need to use a Strudel dough recipe to make a proper Strudel!
How to make Strudel Dough Pastry from scratch?
As I mentioned just above, Strudel dough just needs a few ingredients which you have in your pantry.
You will need flour, salt, water, oil, and an egg.
Strudel dough needs to be nurtured with a lot of oil.
The aim is a stretchable dough, and the oil's job is that.
So, to do that you prepare your dough as you always would, that means you add all the ingredients together and work it out into a smooth dough.
I have tried to make strudel dough by using a stand mixer, however, I noticed my Strudel dough would always come out better when I would make it by hand.
The reason for that can be your body warmth, which helps in activating the gluten in the wheat and this is especially important in the case of the Strudel dough recipe because Gluten makes things more stretchable and elastic.
Once you have prepared your smooth dough to cover it with a generous layer of oil and a warm bowl.
Let rest and in the meanwhile, you can concentrate on making the filling.
Then roll out the dough the thinnest possible!
TIP: For that reason I like to create small batches of my dough before rolling it out because then you can roll out each batch and stretch carefully the rolled out dough a little further with your fingers.
The thinner the Strudel dough is spread out the better as this will result in an equal delicious filling vs dough amount with each bite.
Then you just need to fill, close and bake the Strudel.
For the full detailed step by step instructions please see the recipe card below.
Of course, you are free to switch the filling.
This is a traditional apple Strudel filling from Austria.
Strudel Dough Recipe below:
Savory Strudel dough recipe ideas
- Strudel stuffed with a mix of Vegetables
- Topfen Strudel - Fresh Cream Cheese Strudel
- Potato Strudel
- Meat Strudel
- Sauerkraut Strudel
Sweet Strudel dough recipe ideas
- Strudel with pears instead of apples
- Zwetschkenstrudel aka Strudel stuffed with a Plum filling
- Pumpkin Strudel
- Cherry Strudel
How to serve Strudel?
For a savory Strudel serve with a salad. You can also have a soup as a starter and then a Strudel with a green Salad or beans Salad or sausage Salad.
For a sweet Strudel serve with Whipped Cream or with Vanilla Sauce (homemade is the best!).
More Austrian sweet delicacies to make at home!
- Kaiserschmarren - scratch pancakes with blueberries
- Marillenknödel - sweet dumplings stuffed with apricots
- Erdbeerenknödel - sweet dumplings stuffed with strawberries
- Buchteln stuffed with Hazelnut Paste and served with Vanilla sauce
Dear Reader, what are you planning to make with the Strudel Dough Recipe?
Let us know in the comments below!
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Strudel Dough Recipe
Ingredients
For the dough!
- 1 ½ cups All Purpose Flour
- pinch Salt
- ¼ cup Water
- 1 ½ Tablespoon Oil
- 1 Egg
Instructions
- Take the dough to a floured working surface and knead it well and smash it if you are in the mood. The more you knead the strudel dough, the better since the gluten gets activated with the water, force, and warmth. That will help the dough to stretch well. To test if your dough is ready, take it up into your hand and if it drops quickly it's good.
- Make a smooth ball. Add the remaining oil onto the surface of the dough and spread it evenly all around the ball of dough. Then keep the ball in one place and cover with a warm mixing bowl (I just place a nonmetal bowl into the micro for a few seconds to get warmish).
- Prepare your Strudel filling.
- To make individual mini Strudel grab your resting dough and turn it into 8 equal sized balls. For a full regular sized Strudel simply use one whole dough. Take one of the balls and keep the others aside to proceed.
- Preheat your oven to 200 Celsius/ 400 Fahrenheit.
- Roll out the dough to a square shape as thin as possible. Try to roll it out to the maximum possible and you can even stretch it a bit with your hands. It should be nearly transparent.
- Spread the filling over ⅔s of the stretched out dough, spread the remaining melted butter over ⅓ of the stretched out dough.
- To serve, sprinkle some powdered sugar over the Strudel and serve with freshly whipped cream, vanilla sauce or ice cream.
