Food and Recipes Desserts Strudel With Fried Apples Be the first to rate & review! Add some European flair to a Southern classic. By Ivy Odom Ivy Odom Ivy is an Editorial Producer for Dotdash Meredith and hosts an array of lifestyle videos. She also authors a bi-monthly recipe column for Southern Living. Ivy has over four years of experience as on-camera talent across multiple platforms, including TikTok, Snapchat, television, and other social channels, as well as extensive producing and editing experience for TikTok. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Published on August 24, 2023 Rate PRINT Share Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: Victor Protasio; Food Stylist: Ruth Blackburn; Prop Stylist: Christine Keely Active Time: 30 mins Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Servings: 8 When tasked with dreaming up a fall crowd-pleaser, I immediately thought of the food that makes me weak in the knees: fried apples. It’s a side I can never turn down, often sharing the table with chicken and dumplings, green beans, and a pegboard game at a popular interstate country store. But to give it the proper dessert treatment, I had to look beyond family-vacation pit stops to my first jaunt overseas—my ninth-grade choir trip to Austria. In Vienna, I swooned over a Sacher torte and savored my first real schnitzel, but it was the flaky strudel I loved most. Surrounded by scenery straight out of The Sound of Music, I was singing about girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes after just one bite. This version takes my love of Southern-style fried apples and wraps it in the sweet memories of my European adventure. So now when people ask me for my go-to fall dish, I simply remember my favorite things...and give them a slice of crisp apple strudel. Ingredients 2 lb. Honeycrisp apples (about 4 medium apples), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices (about 6 cups) 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar 1 Tbsp. bacon drippings 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp. kosher salt 1 tsp. all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface 1/2 (17.3-oz.) pkg. frozen puff pastry sheets (such as Pepperidge Farm), thawed 1 large egg 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar Vanilla ice cream (optional) Directions Cook apples: Cook apples, brown sugar, bacon drippings, cinnamon, and kosher salt in a large skillet over medium, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and apples soften, about 12 minutes. Add flour to mixture; toss to coat. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 minute. Remove from heat; let cool 20 minutes. Prepare puff pastry: Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Roll thawed puff pastry sheet into a 14- x 9-inch rectangle on a lightly floured work surface. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Whisk together egg and 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl; set aside. Cut pastry: Using scissors and starting at 1 long edge of pastry sheet, cut 2 1/2-inch-long slits, going from the edge toward the center in 1-inch intervals to yield 14 strips. Repeat process on opposite side. Spoon the cooled apple mixture evenly down the center of the pastry sheet. Lightly brush some of the egg-water mixture over the strips on both sides. Wrap filling: Position the pan so that 1 short edge is facing you. Starting at the short edge farthest from you, fold the top left strip over the apples at a slight angle, slightly toward you. Repeat with right strip, overlapping the left strip. Repeat with remaining strips, going from left to right to enclose the apple filling. Brush with remaining egg-water mixture, and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake strudel: Bake in preheated oven until pastry is crisp and golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes. Slice and serve with ice cream, if desired. Rate It Print