Apple. Strudel. Yum.

New recipe. Thank you, Cooking Light Magazine.

I am confident in my baking abilities. This, I was not so confident in. I mean, I knew it would taste great (come on, who doesn't taste everything before it goes into the oven?), but upon putting it in the oven I was a little, ok a lot, concerned about what it would look like upon removal. Not to worry, my friends, it looked and tasted unbelievable! And now I know how to avoid any mess next time, and am passing that knowledge onto you!

Here's what you'll need:

2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt 6 medium Granny Smith Apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1 sheet Frozen puff pastry dough, thawed (I didn't have this, used pie crust instead, see below)
1/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts
2 Tablespoons White Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400 Degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Melt butter in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Stir in brown sugar, juice, cinnamon, salt and apples. Cover, reduce heat, and cook 10 minutes or until apples are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove apples from pan and cool.












3. Roll pastry to a 15 x 12 inch rectangle. (My local supermarket did not have puff pastry dough. This was a last minute recipe decision, so I didn't have time to investigate other stores. I went with a Pillsbury Double Pie Crust, pressed the two crusts together, and rolled it out very thin. The result was great! So choose whichever you'd like.) Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and place dough on paper.
4. Combine nuts and white sugar in a food processor. Pulse until finely ground.
5. If using Pie Crust: Spoon apple mixture into center of dough, length-wise. Fold edges over length-wise and press to seal, cutting off any excess dough. Fold and press together each end. If using Pastry Dough: Spoon apple mixture along 1 long edge of pastry. Roll up Jelly-roll style, pressing at seam and edges to seal.
6. Sprinkle top of Strudel with nut/sugar mixture, pressing gently into dough.
7. Bake at 400 Degrees for 25 minutes or until golden. Let stand 5 minutes. Slice and serve!

If you bake this ahead of time, it is just as delicious served cold as hot!

This was a HUGE hit with everyone (one person in particular grabbed the serving platter and a fork and had at the remains as the evening wound down, sorry I don't have a photographic account of that) and has definitely been added to my permanent recipe stash! Now to find a store that sells sheets of puff pastry dough so I can make this as intended...