Cranberries and apples a plentiful during the fall season. This wonderful cranberry and apple strudel is a perfect combination for the holidays. This stunning treat is sure to impress all.
When it comes to fall and the holiday season I love a great strudel. They can be eaten with breakfast or as a lovely dessert. Personally I love them with a cup of tea on a weekend morning. This became a perfect weekend tradition when it gets cooler outside. The puff pastry has a wonderfully flaky crust filled with apples and cranberries. This makes for a wonderful treat for a gathering with friends and family.
In this recipe
This is a great recipe to use up those fresh cranberries. Both fresh and frozen cranberries can be used for this recipe. If you choose to use frozen ones please let them thaw a bit before cooking. This will help with even baking. It will also decrease the amount of liquid that is in the strudel when it cooks. Due to their high water content there is a large amount of cornstarch used in this recipe.
Puff pastry strudel?
This recipe uses puff pastry instead of strudel pastry. There is a major difference between puff pastry and strudel pastry and that is the elasticity of the dough. Puff pastry is a laminated dough that does not have a lot of gluten development. Whereas strudel pastry is elastic and stretched and includes oil. Another difference between a traditional strudel and a puff pastry strudel is that a traditional strudel filling is rolled in the middle of the dough.
Make the cranberry and apple strudel filling
The first thing that you will want to do is core and slice the apples. You will want to use nice firm baking apples like Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Pink Lady, or Granny Smith. These apples will still hold their texture while baking. Toss them and the cranberries in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients. You will want to make sure that all of the cornstarch coats the apples and cranberries. If there is any water make sure it is poured out before pouring the filling onto the pastry.
Making the braid
The easiest way to make the braided dough is to first pour the mixture in a line down the middle of puff pastry. Then make the cuts for the strips. This allows you to make sure that the cuts do not go too far down the side of the strudel. By doing so it will also help prevent the juices from leaking out. The end of the braid will need to be tucked under to help prevent leakage. There might be some juice that leaks out depending on how much liquid is in the cranberries.
Looking for other cranberry recipes?
Cranberry and Apple Strudel
Equipment
- Sharp knife
- Large mixing bowl
- Lined sheet pan
- Potato peeler
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- 1 pound puff pastry
- 3 apples
- 1 cup cranberries fresh or frozen
- 1 cup brown sugar packed
- 1 tablespoon bourbon
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F or gas mark 6.
- Roll the puff pastry into a large rectangle roughly the size of the baking sheet pan. Place into the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Core and slice the apple into small pieces.
- In a large bowl combine the lemon juice, brown sugar, bourbon, cinnamon and mix evenly. Toss the apples and cranberries in the sugar mixture gently until evenly coated. Add the cornstarch and toss again.
- Remove the puff pastry from the refrigerator and pour the apple and cranberry mixture into a line in the center of the puff pastry in the direction of the longest side. Cut inch long strips on each side of the line of apples and cranberries. Starting from the top fold the top edge over the end of the apple mixture. Alternating sides overlap each of the strips in a braid-like fashion.
- Mix the egg and milk together. Brush the egg wash mixture over the top of the strudel. Bake for 35-45 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool before slicing.
Nutrition
This strudel looks like a flaky and tasty treat perfect for this time of the year.
This turned out so good, I really enjoyed the slightly tart bite of cranberry with the sweet apples. This would be a terrific dish for a work potluck!
This would be the perfect sweet treat to make to add to a holiday weekend brunch menu! 🙂 The combo of apples and cranberries is perfect this time of the year.
This strudel looks so easy! Thanks for the easy step by step instructions. Going to make this!!
I’ve never actually gotten the braiding right on a strudel, until now! Thanks for the great step by step. A usually tricky recipe was made so simple.
I am glad my braiding tip helped you out.
I am completely smitten by this recipe! It is the best recipe for the Holiday season! The flavors are perfect and you cannot beat the aroma!!! This just screams, “Christmas”!
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Thank you so much.
My mom’s friend would always make a strudel when we visited her when I was a child and I loved it. Now I will make my own with this recipe and I love the added cranberries.
This cranberry apple strudel was the perfect combination of sweet and tart. Your instructions made it so easy to prepare that I’m making it again for a weekend brunch in the coming days.
I love the combination of apples and cranberries. This strudel is perfect for all the holiday brunches I will be hosting. I know it will be a hit with the guests.
How festive! I love how you used puff pastry as a shortcut and when I serve this beautiful strudel on Christmas morning, no one will ever know how easy it really was!
Are those the best kinds of recipes, looks like you did a lot of work but it was really easy?
This is a perfect holiday breakfast for my family. It is easy and so delicious!
Thanks I love making this for my family as well.
I love the ease of this recipe. Sometimes I don’t like to complicate things and using a sheet of puff pastry is the solution, just like in this recipe. The filling is so delicious. This is an easy recipe to bring to parties and share.
Sometimes you just need something simple. I have taken this to many a holiday gathering this time of year.
Delicious! Takes me back to childhood when my grandma used to make strudel! Adding cranberries was new to me – I have always made strudel with raisins.
This pastry looks amazingly delicious and very yummy! It was perfectly baked which makes it so enticing and tempting! An amazing treat for everyone to love and enjoy!
What a lovely flavor combination — cranberry and apple go so incredibly well together! And the strudel is such a fun presentation. It’s truly perfect for a celebratory brunch or house guests!
I am so happy to come across your post, as this is the type of strudel my grandma used to make! I have learned strudel means different things in different areas. Happy to find a similar recipe!