The Art of Homemade Toaster Strudels: A Recipe and Experimentation Process

Puff pastry isn't going to puff up as much as the real stuff, so I think it's gonna be more viable as a toaster strudel wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerated for 30 minutes to one hour. Lightly flouring your work surface is also essential, which involves now to make the pastry flaky, we must engage in the time-honored tradition of lamination. That is, we're gonna roll the dough out to a roughly 8 by 12 inch rectangle and fold it into thirds like a pamphlet rotating at 90 degrees and repeating the process two more times. You should end up with a more cohesive, workable piece of dough that is positively stacked with layers of butter wrap and refrigerated for another 30 minutes before rolling out and baking.

Dividing this in half for easier workability is also a good idea. You'll look closely; you can see a little flex of butter layered throughout the strata of the pastry. Now to roll it out and impress some dimples into the dough, that should make it more workable and prevent cracking. And try to get it down to about an eighth of an inch thick. This dough is fighting me a little, so I'm gonna place it in the fridge for about 15 minutes, allowing the gluten to relax and making things a little more pliable. Don't go any longer than 15 minutes, otherwise you're gonna be fighting hard butter instead of gluten.

Cutting off the edges into a neat rectangle and using a ruler to evenly divide it into six sub-rectangles, enough to make three pastries, one with each of our bespoke fillings is next. You can make these larger or smaller depending on your preference and general dexterity. Same procedure as before. Brushing down the edges with egg yolk, crimping with conviction, and trimming off the edges back into the fridge for 30 minutes are also essential steps. Then once nice and chilled, brushing down thoroughly with beaten egg is crucial.

These guys are headed to a preheated 400-degree Fahrenheit oven for 20 to 25 minutes until puffed and golden brown. Now if you ask me and you're asking me, those are some homemade Toaster Strudels. Let them cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before adding frosting. The general procedure here is just to add heavy cream to powdered sugar until you get a nice drizzle bowl frosting. But now I'm gonna make various flavors for our various fillings.

For the apple and add a teaspoon of vanilla paste and about a quarter butter knife's worth of cinnamon, which makes a vanilla cinnamon frosting, so good, you won't be able to stop dipping your pinky in it. Now, when the movie came out, they made Toaster Strudels with special edition pink frosting. Imitating that we're simply combining our strawberry run-off and powdered sugar. For the blueberry, I'm going with powdered sugar and lemon juice colored with a little bit of food coloring to make it well blue. Frost as appropriate per the pastry filling.

And there you have it; the way Toaster Strudels always looked in my mind's eye – golden brown pastry and a picture perfect squiggle of frosting. But how did they taste and function? Let's take a look at a cross section here. I was worried that I made the filling too thick, but it was just right, nice and gooey without flowing out or exploding out the side of the pastry, and it was almost flakier than the puff pastry dough, more like pie dough than puff.

While the apple and strawberry were delicious, my favorite remains as in childhood blueberry. But the fact is that these are not Toaster Strudels until they can be made in a toaster. So I made another batch this time, baking for about five minutes less until puffed and blonde, but not golden, allowing to cool completely and then freezing.

Because of the thickness, my adolescent microwave method actually works best; nuking for 30 seconds before toasting until golden brown. As you can see, it came out a little dark. I think that's because I initially over-baked him in the oven. I also think they would help to omit the egg wash if you plan on freezing and reheating these.

So there you have, it are three iterations of Toaster Strudel. The store-bought original remains near and dear to my heart, but at the time of this recording, there are still some left in the freezer. Meanwhile, the crew and I ate every single one of the homemade ones. So I think that qualifies these for a clean plate club equivalency.

Thank you again. To better help for sponsoring this episode, go to the link in the video description to get 10% off your first month. That link is betterhelp.com/babish.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- This episodeis sponsored by Better Help,an online therapy platform.Is something interferingwith your happinessor preventing you fromachieving your goals?If you're regular on my channel,then you know I've beenopen about my struggleswith depression and anxiety,and while therapycertainly helped with that,it also helped in more surprising ways,like setting goals that are alignedwith what I want to achieve.That's why I'm excited topartner with Better Helpto support their missionto make therapy moreaffordable and accessible.I know firsthand thatfinding a therapist you likethat fits your budget and hasavailability is no easy feat,even in a metropolitan area.Thankfully, better help's onlineand remote platform makes it easyto find and try new therapists,until you land on onethat you connect with.So if you're looking formental health supportor you just need someoneto talk to in 2024,check out the link in my description.It's betterhelp.com/babish toget 10% off your first month.Using that link supports this channeland better help can connectyou with a therapistto see if it can help you.- It's Gretchen Wiener's.- She's totally rich because her dadinvented Toaster Strudel.- I don't think my father, the inventorof Toaster Strudel would betoo pleased to hear about this.Regardless, I don't thinkyour grandfather, the inventorof Toaster Strudel would be too pleasedto hear you using that tone with me.- Hey, what's up guys? Welcomeback to Binging with Babish,where this week I'm using itsmere mention in mean girlsas an excuse to make my favoritebreakfast from childhoodToaster Strudels.Also, fun fact, this guyright here, that's Eddie Lou,a very talented actor,one of my closest friendsand my roommate from college.Anyway, let's get down to the businessof toasting our strudels.Starting of course with thestuff from the freezer aisle,I'm following the packagerecommendations, toasting oneto two cycles on a loadto medium setting grabbingwhile still a little too hotfrom my delicate human fingersand decorating with aflourish of loose runny icing.But the way I did it when Iwas a kid was to microwave itfor 30 seconds, sending itinstead through the toaster oven,which at least in my adolescent mind,made them come out flakier and toastier.And these are every bitas delicious as I remember them being.So to justify a homemadeversion, we're gonna haveto make them pretty damn good.Let's start with the most obvious move.Some store-bought puff pastry thawedand rolled out per package instructionsand cut into ToasterStrudel-sized rectangles.Then fulfilling the easiest candidate issome store-bought blueberry jam,applying an excessively reasonable stripin the center of each rectangle,brushing down the edgeswith a beaten egg and slowly drapinganother rectangle of dough over topto minimize air pockets,press firmly to adhere,and then we're gonna move thingsover to a parchment paperline, brim baking sheetand crimp very securely witha fork trimming off the edgesto neaten things up andto reemphasize the seal.Then these guys are headed into the fridgefor about 30 minutes before baking.As with virtually anypastry, we want things to beas cold as possible.Then we're brushing down their exteriorswith that beaten egg.And because I'm pretty surethese are gonna explodeas a test, I'm gonnapunch some little ventsin two of these pastries.We got a lot of liquidy fillingand when it gets hot, it'sgonna want somewhere to go.After about 15 minutesin a preheated 375 degree Fahrenheit oven,two of them exploded,one vented, one unvented.So the fault lies in thesecurity of my crimps.Remember kids, crimp withconviction once cooled,but still warm or frostingwith a simple mixtureof powdered sugar and heavy cream.And these are perfectly delicious,but they're more strudelthan Toaster Strudel.They've got big cavernouspockets of air between each layerand there's nothing convenientor grab and go about them,and most importantly,they certainly wouldn't fit in a toaster.So before we get intoform factor, let's startwith some homemade fillings.I got three honey crisp apples here.You can use any good baking apple.Then you can peel core and shop,or you can just shredit on the large holesof the box grader.We want a nice fine textureso you're not pullingout slices of apples.With every bite we're cooking these applesin about a tablespoon of meltedbutter, along with a juiceof one lemon, two ouncesof dark brown sugar and oneand a half ounces of honeyfor our sweetness, lettingthat cook together for about five minutesbefore adding two ounces offinely chopped candied ginger.Then for additional flavor bonus points,I'm gonna add a little splash of whiskeyplus a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt,half teaspoon of ground cinnamon,and three quarters of a teaspoonof ground cardamon lettingthat cook for anywherefrom 10 to 30 minutesuntil the apples are nice and softand most of the liquid has evaporated,a less juicy filling isgonna help prevent blowouts.Next up, I'm gonna make astrawberry basil filling.First, blanching a half dozen basil leavesfor about 10 seconds beforedumping in an ice bath.Then combining 14 ounces offinely chopped strawberries,our blanched basil, finely chopped,the juice of one lemon,two and a half ounces of granulated sugarand a quarter teaspoon ofkosher salt, bringing it upto a simmer and cooking for15 to 20 minutes until niceand thick and jammy.Now this filling is considerably gooierthan the apple stuff, so I'mgoing to lightly strain it,pressing about a halfcups worth of the liquidsthrough a fine mesh sieve,reserving for delicious use later on.Last up, my personal favorite, blueberry.I'm going with 10 ouncesof frozen wild blueberriesbecause they're nice and small.Two and a half ounces of granulated sugar,the requisite juice of one lemon.And to class things up alittle, I'm gonna add two ouncesof finely chopped driedapricots, plus a quarter teaspoonof salt and one teaspoon ofsumac bring up to a simmerand cooking for anywherefrom 10 to 20 minutesuntil things get thickand almost pasty a perfectfilling for our strudel.Now under the pastry,I'm gonna start with twoand three quarter ounces ofall-purpose flour in the bowlof stand mixer, adding ahalf teaspoon of kosher saltand one tablespoon ofgranulated sugar whiskinguntil combined and thencubing up 12 ouncesor three sticks of cold unsalted butter.Luckily, as we learned from themovie, butter is not a carb.Add that to the flour, afixed paddle attachment,and run the mixer on mediumlow speed for about two minutesuntil the butter is brokenup into pieces about the sizeof large blueberries.If you don't have a standmixer, you could also do thisby breaking up the butterbetween your fingers.Now we're gonna add six and a half ouncesof sour cream mixing on lowspeed for about one minuteuntil a shaggy dough formsturning it out onto a countertop.Adding a little bit moreflour feels too wet,adjusting the focus sothe audience can seewhat you're doing andgently folding togetheruntil no dry patches remain,this cheaters puff pastry isn't goingto puff up as much as the real stuff.So I think it's gonna be more viableas a Toaster Strudel wrappedtightly in plastic wrapand fridge for 30 minutesto one hour lightlyflour your work surface.And now to make the pastry flaky,we must engage in the timehonored tradition of lamination.That is we're gonna roll the doughout to a roughly 8 by 12 inch rectangleand fold it into thirdslike a pamphlet rotatingat 90 degrees and repeatingthe process two more times.You should end up with amore cohesive, workable pieceof dough that is positivelystacked with layersof butter wrap and fridgefor another 30 minutesbefore rolling out and baking.I'm gonna divide this inhalf for easier workability.You'll look closely.You can see a little flexof butter layered throughoutthe strata of the pastry.Now to roll it out and impresssome dimples into the dough,that should make it moreworkable and prevent crackingand try to get it down to aboutan eighth of an inch thick.This dough is fighting me a little,so I'm gonna place it in thefridge for about 15 minutes,allowing the gluten to relax and makingthings a little more pliable.Don't go any longer than 15 minutes,otherwise you're gonna be fightinghard butter instead of gluten.Now, just like last time,I'm cutting off the edgesinto a neat rectangleand using ruler to evenly divideit into six sub rectangles,enough to make threepastries, one with eachof our bespoke fillings.You can make these larger or smallerdepending on your preferenceand general dexterity.Same procedure as before.Brush down the edges with eggyolk crimp with convictionand trim off the edges backinto the fridge for 30 minutes.Then once nice and chilled,brush down thoroughly with beaten and egg.Then these guys are headed and doa preheated 400 degree Fahrenheitoven for 20 to 25 minutesuntil puffed and golden brown.Now if you ask me and you're asking me,those are some homemade Toaster Strudels.Let them cool in the panfor about 10 minutes before.Oh my God, I forgot the frosting.General procedure here isjust to add heavy creamto powdered sugar until you geta nice drizzle bowl frosting.But now I'm gonna make various flavorsfor our various fillings.For the apple and add ateaspoon of vanilla pasteand about a quarter butterknife's worth of cinnamonfor a vanilla cinnamon frosting,so good, you won't be able tostop dipping your pinky in it.Now, when the movie came out,they made Toaster Strudelswith special edition pink frosting.To imitate that we're simplycombining our strawberry runoffand powdered sugar.For the blueberry, I'mgoing with powdered sugarand lemon juice colored witha little bit of food coloringto make it well blue.Frost as appropriateper the pastry filling.And there you have it the wayToaster Strudels always lookedin my mind's eye.Golden brown pastryand a picture perfectsquiggle of frosting.But how did they taste and function?Let's take a look at a cross section here.I was worried that I madethe filling too thick,but it was just right, niceand gooey without flowing outor exploding out the side of the pastry,and it was almost flakierthan the puff pastry dough,more like pie dough than puff.And while the apple andstrawberry were delicious,my favorite remains asin childhood blueberry.But the fact is that theseare not Toaster Strudelsuntil they can be made in a toaster.So I made another batch this time, bakingfor about five minutes lessuntil puffed and blonde,but not golden, allowingto cool completely and then freezing.Now because of the thickness,my adolescent microwavemethod actually works best.Nuking for 30 seconds beforetoasting until golden brown.As you can see, it came out a little dark.I think that's because I initiallyover baked him in the oven.I also think they would helpto omit the egg wash if you planon freezing and reheating these.So there you have, it are three iterationsof Toaster Strudel.The store-bought original remainsnear and dear to my heart,but at the time of this recording,there are still some left in the freezer.Meanwhile, the crew and I ateevery single one of the homemade ones.So I think that qualifies thesefor a clean plate club equivalency.Thank you again.To better help forsponsoring this episode.Go to the link in the video descriptionto get 10% off your first month.That link is betterhelp.com/babish.(upbeat music)(upbeat music)\n"