Apple Strudel

A few weeks ago, some friends and I went to Oktoberfest. After enjoying the festivities, which included carnival games and German dancing, we dug into some of the standard grub - brats and strudel. But, we were a little too late to snag an apple strudel, and got a delicious cheese strudel instead. But, cheese strudel doesn't say fall like apple strudel. So, I whipped up an apple strudel for a movie night the following week.

It was so easy because I cooked the apple pie filling on Sunday night and threw it on the puff pastry the following day and baked it on Tuesday.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp. butter
6-7 apples
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4. tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. all spice
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 sheet of thawed puff pastry
Powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, a paper bag or foil. 
2. Peel and core apples. Cut into slices.
3. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a large sauce pan. Add apples, 1/2 c. sugar and spices. Cook over medium high heat for about 15 minutes, until apples are soft and the water has evaporated into a thick syrup.
4. Let apple filling cool.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to a 12x14" rectangle. Line the middle third with cooled filling. Take a knife and cut the outer sides into 1 1/2" strips at a 45 degree angle, leaving 1-2 inches closest to the center un cut.
6. Fold sides over apple filling, alternating strips to create a braid.
7. Bake 35 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes and top with powdered sugar.