Strudel Dough Recipe – How to make Strudel Dough Pastry

Name: Strudel Dough Recipe
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 70 min
Yield: 1 regular sized Strudel
Ingredients: 150 grams White Flour or 5.3oz; pinch Salt; 50 milliliter luke warm water 1.7oz; 1/2 Tablespoon Oil to prepare the dough mixture + 1 Tablespoon Oil to spread on the resting dough; 1 Egg

Last updated on February 17, 2019 By Helene Dsouza 41 Comments

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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.

Learn how to make the strudel dough recipe easily and learn how to make the dough flaky and thin to hold the heavy filling without that it tears!

I am a big Strudel fan. Now it’s out, everybody knows my weakness! 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, a many have been using puff pastry or phillo dough to prepare Strudel because these doughs can be easily bought ready made in supermarkets. Whereas, a ready made Strudel dough is less common in stores.

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 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 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 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:

Strudel Dough Recipe

Strudel dough recipe is a must in every Austrian home and in yours too if you love the flaky but firm consistency of a proper apple Strudel. Follow each step carefully if you make this for the first time. It's important that you add your egg and oil and these things make the dough stretchable. The whole purpose of a proper Strudel dough is its flexibility and the fact that when rolled out super thin to create the delicate but strong layer, it can be wrapped around the heavy filling whiteout breaking apart. See below the recipe for filling ideas and serving instructions.

5 from 11 votes

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Austrian

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings: regular sized Strudel

Calories: 296kcal

Author: Helene D'Souza

Ingredients

For the dough!

150 grams White Flour or 5.3oz
pinch Salt
50 milliliter luke warm water 1.7oz
1/2 Tablespoon Oil to prepare the dough mixture + 1 Tablespoon Oil to spread on the resting dough
1 Egg

Instructions

In a mixing bowl add the flour and salt, mix well. Make a well in the center and add the warm water, oil, and egg. Mix the ingredients well to a dough.
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 2/3s of the stretched out dough, spread the remaining melted butter over 1/3 of the stretched out dough.
Fold in the down part and the sides and gently roll in the strudel so that the closing is down.
Place the strudels onto an oven rack with oven paper and brush them equally with melted butter. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 200 Celsius (400 Fahrenheit) or until they turn golden brown on the outside.
To serve, sprinkle some powdered sugar over the Strudel and serve with freshly whipped cream, vanilla sauce or ice cream.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Strudel Dough Recipe

Amount Per Serving (359 g)

Calories 296 Calories from Fat 117

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 13g 20%

Saturated Fat 7.379g 37%

Trans Fat 0.006g

Polyunsaturated Fat 4.7g

Cholesterol 49mg 16%

Sodium 100mg 4%

Total Carbohydrates 42.26g 14%

Dietary Fiber 3.8g 15%

Sugars 42.26g

Protein 4.43g 9%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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
Poppy seed paste Stollen

Dear Reader, what are you planning to make with the Strudel Dough Recipe?

Let us know in the comments below!