A classic Apple Strudel – veganized! And the best part? You’ll only need three ingredients! Quick and easy to make and super delicious and soft. It’s a traditional Austrian dessert!
Only three ingredients? Now if you think this dessert tastes flat and bland – you’re wrong! It’s perfectly sweet from the apples and a bit savory from the pastry dough. It’s probably my favorite dessert ever!
It’s exactly how my mother made it for me when I was little (and she still does when I come visit) and now I’m carrying on this tradition. Its deliciousness comes from its simplicity. Some people may add raisins, additional sugar, almond slices… but I think this just distracts from the delicious taste of the apples.
Vegan Puff Pastry
Depending on where you live, vegan puff pastry might not be the easiest ingredient to get. Here in Austria, we are lucky that most of the puff pastries are accidentally vegan – some brands even embrace it and include the vegan label on the packaging, which makes it even easier to spot the vegan ones. In the US, Pepperidge Farm’s puff pastry dough should be vegan. I’d always recommend checking the ingredients though – just to be sure.
Apples
For the filling, I didn’t add any additional sweeteners – just the apples and cinnamon. So it’s essential that you use the right kind of apples, as they will make or break this recipe! I prefer to use red, sweet apples e.g. Pink Lady apples are my favorite, but Red Delicious or Royal Gala would work too!
Making Apple Strudel
The Apple Strudel is really easy to make.
- Slice the apples,
- mix with cinnamon,
- put the apple-cinnamon-mix on the puff pastry dough,
- fold and close the edges,
- bake.
Easy as that!
- 1 package vegan puff pastry dough*
- 2 red, sweet apples e.g. Pink Lady, Red Delicious or Royal Gala
- 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- powdered sugar for dusting the top (optional)
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F/180°C.
- Take the vegan pastry dough out of the fridge to thaw.
- Peel two apples, get rid of the seeds preferably with an apple corer.
- Slice the apples with a mandoline slicer or cut by hand in very thin slices.
- Add the cinnamon on the apple slices and mix well by hand. Don't worry about the apple slices breaking.
- Put the apple-cinnamon-mixture on the pastry dough and fold it in. Close the edges.
- Put the apple strudel in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.
- Let it cool off or eat it warm. Either way -> delicious.
- You can dust it with confectioner's sugar.
Recipe Video
*Dimensions of the puff pastry: 16x9 inches or 42x24 cm. Pepperidge Farm's puff pastry dough should be vegan (but check the ingredients to make sure!).
Did you make this 3-ingredient Apple Strudel? I’d love to hear how it turned out for you! Leave me a comment or post a picture on instagram, use the hashtag #elephantasticvegan and tag me via @elephantasticvegan to make sure I’ll see it ^.^ I love to see all your lovely creations! Thanks! <3
I love that you post traditional recipes from Austria, this way you help other vegans try different country cuisines :)
Thank you, Jette, for your lovely comment! I really like sharing veganized versions of typical austrian dishes because that’s how I grew up and what I am still eating besides all the other delicious highlights from other cuisines.
Tried the recipe, unfortunately 2 tablespoons of cinnamon was WAY too much :(
oh no! I’m so sorry it didn’t work out. I’m pretty much a cinnamon tiger so maybe that’s it or it was too concentrated on some parts of the strudel?
Are you sure its not 2 teaspoons instead of 2 tablespoons? My apple slices looked a lot darker :D
That must be it! Thank you so much Jette for telling me. I’ve fixed it in the recipe. So sorry about the mistake ._.
Yay! :)
What brand of vegan pastry do you use? We have been looking for one because of our 2.5 year olds life threatening food allergies.
Oh! I’m so sorry to hear that Kacey. What is he or she allergic to exactly? I’m using pretty cheap pastry doughs from austria (clever, backetteria). They have the vegan label but it says that they could contain traces of milk. There are also some recipes on the internet to make your own vegan pastry dough, this is probably the best choice to make sure there aren’t any allergenic ingredients in the product.
Hi Jette,
I made these today and they were fabulous! But, are you sure about the temperature and the length of time for baking? Because it took 30 minutes for mine.
Thanks, Jette
Nancy
Hi Nancy,
thank you so much for your feedback! I really appreciate it. I’ll pay extra attention to the baking time & temperature next time (I’ve been meaning to make it again soon anyways) and will update the recipe then. Thank you again <3
Hi Nancy! Me again!
I just made the Apple Strudel again and it look me only 14 minutes in the oven. However my oven was perfectly pre-heated because I was making another dessert before! So maybe that was it. Also I used the “Air Circulation”-Setting on my oven – maybe this makes baking a bit faster :)
Thank you, Bianca…. I’m sure it’s my old oven… I made it again last night and it took 28 minutes. You’re very sweet to take the time to do that again and to answer me.
Glad to hear that you made it again! It’s one of my favorite desserts – because it’s so easy and quick to make. I think it’s the dessert I make the most often :) (I’m actually just munching on a slice)
Thank you for your follow-up comment! Good to know that baking times can vary that much – depending on the oven. I’ll keep that in mind.
Hi Bianca do you use the whole of puff pastry on this recipe? Thanks a bunch?
Hi Linda! Yes I used one whole store-bought puff pastry for this apple strudel. The measurements were approx. 15″x 9.5″ (40 x 24 cm). I hope this helps!
What kind of apples do you use?
I’ve used Pink Lady apples. But Red Delicious or Royal Gala would be a good choice too. :)
Wow! Great Recipe. I will definitely try it and give you a feedback. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Yeay! :)
I am Austrian too and can’t wait to make this! I haven’t lived in Austria in a minute (it’s been yeeeears) and always love eating sweets! I’ll be making this asap! I am currently in Bulgaria and have seen the type of though everywhere! I just hope I’ll be able to figure out which one is vegan. I believe I read that you use the one from clever. There’s a bills right around where I am at so ill just ask someone at the shop about it. I’ll definitely post it on Instagram whenever I make it!!
So glad you enjoyed the strudel, Nina! I saw it on IG :) I’ve tried making puff pastry from scratch once. NEVER AGAIN. Hahaha. This is something I will buy forever. But there are so many accidentally vegan-friendly puff pastry products, it’s not problem :)