A while ago I came across a recipe from the Dutch Weight Watchers: the apple strudel. It’s incredibly light and even vegan, how could I resist trying it? The pastry is really easy to make and can be rolled out so thin that it resembles phyllo dough. Finally, I found a super-simple pastry recipe useful for many light dishes.
I also love apples which lend themselves well to many desserts but are essential for strudel. In the pictures here, I used wild ones from grandpa’s tree, how delicious they are, perfect for this very genuine light apple strudel.
The original recipe considered the strudel for 6 servings at 4 WW points each. Honestly, I made a very large strudel that I think is sufficient for 8 satisfying servings at only 3 points each: great, right? Let’s get to the recipe!
Here are some other apple recipes you can find:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 40 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: Fall, Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon flour (used to roll out the pastry)
- 1.8 oz vegan butter (divided into 25+25 grams)
- 1/4 cup lukewarm water
- 1 pinch salt
- 27 oz apples
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 0.5 oz powdered sugar (optional: points per serving do not vary)
- Points per serving = 3 WW points
Tools
You need a large linen or cotton towel washed without fabric softener or any other fragrances. Here are the other important utensils:
- Spatula
- Rolling Pin
- Tea Towel
Preparation
Melt 25 g of vegan butter in the microwave or a bain-marie and let it cool. Put flour and salt in a bowl and pour in the lukewarm water and the melted butter. Mix with a spatula to combine the ingredients well.
Place the dough on a work surface and knead it by hand for about 10 minutes until it becomes a shiny and smooth ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest at room temperature for about half an hour.
Wash, peel, and core the apples. Cut them into small pieces, placing them in a bowl as you go. Add brown sugar, raisins, and cinnamon, mix well, and set aside.
Lay a clean towel on a large surface and evenly sprinkle it with about a tablespoon of flour. Remove the pastry ball from the plastic wrap and place it in the center of the towel. With a rolling pin, kept lightly floured, roll the pastry out until very thin (it’s really easy, and the pastry is very sturdy and malleable). You should get a rectangle about 14 x 21 inches.
Rotate the towel on the work surface so it’s vertical. Distribute the apple filling over the pastry, leaving a border of about 1 inch on all sides. Fold the two long sides of the pastry over the filling and then the short side in front.
Using the towel, roll the strudel starting from the folded short side. While rolling, try to tighten it well, but be careful not to tear the pastry: apples can easily cut it!
Place the strudel on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, melt the remaining 25 g of vegan butter and brush half immediately and the rest halfway through baking.
Preheat the oven to 428°F if static or 392°F if fan, and when it reaches temperature, bake. The total baking time is 35-40 minutes, but halfway through, take out the tray and brush with the remaining butter.
At the end of baking, when the strudel is golden, remove it from the oven and let it cool. If you like, you can dust the strudel with powdered sugar.
You can enjoy the light apple strudel warm (it’s hard to wait for it to cool because of the intense and tempting aroma throughout the house) or cold, perhaps accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream or some Light Custard without Eggs.
This is a recipe that’s more complicated to explain than to make: try it, and you’ll let me know yourself.
Enjoy!
by Giovanna Buono
How long does it last?
Up to 3 days for sure because I’ve tried, beyond that I don’t know! I haven’t tried freezing it, but I think it can be done.
Can I use oil instead of butter?
I believe butter is necessary to make the pastry crisp, but if you prefer to avoid it, you can use oil. I haven’t tried it, but I’d start with 1-2 tablespoons of oil instead of butter and then adjust according to the pastry’s consistency. Be sure to recalculate the Weight Watchers points considering the oil used.
