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.
In a mixing bowl add the flour and salt, mix well. Make a well in the center and add the warm water, only ½ Tablespoon 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 ⅔s of the stretched out dough, spread the remaining melted butter over ⅓ 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.
Notes
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.