Homemade, Easy-to-Make, Apple Strudel

Crumbly and buttery crust, filled with sweet and soft baked apples and raisins.
Perfect easy and quick dessert for your holidays family dinner!

Do you need a last-minute dessert idea, to complete your holiday dinner menu?
This apple strudel might be the perfect solution: soft and sweet, baked apples and raisins, wrapped in crispy and buttery pastry. And it tastes amazing served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.
This recipe is super fast and easy, I used frozen puff pastry, just like with the croissant with Nutella and hazelnuts. With the dough already made, you cannot really get this recipe wrong. All you have to do is prepare the filling and bake. Only few ingredients, and that's it! So you have a lot of time to prepare all the other dishes for your holiday meal.
My best friend from Vienna, after I made this strudel, told me she toasts the breadcrumbs with butter before spreading them on the pastry. This gives a little more buttery-ness  to the dough. It seems like a great idea. And she is the expert - strudel after all is an Austrian dessert! So I definitely trust her and  I will try it next time! I will keep you updated.

Ingredients: serving 6-8

• 1 sheet of puff pastry,  thawed (I used Pepperidge Farm)
• 2 apples (I used machintosh apples)
• half cup (65 gr) of raisins
• 1/3 cup (40 gr) of plain breadcrumbs 
• 1/3 cup (60 gr) of sugar
• 1 lemon, zest
• 1/4 cup (30 gr) of pine nuts
• a couple of tablespoons of milk

Preparation time: about 1 hour
Directions: 
1. Thaw the puff pastry if you haven't done so. Preheat the oven to 375º F (190º C)
2. Peel the apples and cut in thin slices and small pieces. In a large bowl, combine the apples, raisins, pine nuts, sugar and lemon zest.

3. Open and stretch out a little the puff pastry onto parchment paper. Sprinkle the pastry with the breadcrumbs, and cover with the apple mixture.

4. Helping yourself with the parchment paper if needed, roll the pastry and seal using a few drops of milk. Remember to place the seam under the strudel. Using a sharp knife, make a few cuts on top. This is necessary so the strudel won't break open when baking.

5. Brush the top with milk, and bake for about 40 minutes, until golden on top.

Sprinkle with powder sugar if you'd like before serving. This is great both warm or at room temperature.

 Enjoy!