There is no doubt that Miss G and I miss our Canadian mama and munchkin friends terribly despite being very happy here in the desert. Two of those pairs include Tairalyn of Little Miss Mama and her little lady, Sofia Marie, and Hillary of Hillary with two Ls (please) and her petit monsieur, Grady. Gracen sees both of her little friends via Instagram photos and videos, and I stalk both mamas via all of their social media outlets to make sure I don’t miss out on a single thing. Last month, when Tairalyn posted about a naughty recipe full of white flour, butter, Velveeta, and cream cheese, a crazy fun idea came together. You see, the three of us mamas all love to cook and bake. The only difference is that our approaches vary quite widely. Hillary loves to play with ingredients and try to find healthy(ish) alternatives to traditional ingredients, but despite her daily green juices and veggie-packed dinners, she’s a butter lover at heart. Tairalyn, on the other hand, unapologetically cooks up indulgent recipes in their full sugary, buttery glory, and spares nothing when it comes to taste.
…And then there’s me. Yes, lame-o ‘I bet I could make that sugar-free and wholewheat and butter-less, and, and, and…’ me. I once attempted to make a banana healthier. Enough said.
Given our very different approaches, we challenged one another to a friendly bake-off of sorts: 1 recipe. 3 interpretations. Posted on the last Friday of each month. Booyah. Sounds fun, right?
This month we tackled Paula Deen’s diabetes-inducing apple strudel. Let me tell you, a whole lot had to happen to this recipe in order to meet my ‘Gracen friendly’ level of healthfulness. My added challenge, besides having never made or tasted a proper apple strudel in my life? When I bake, my little sous chef bakes along side me. It’s just the way it goes. That being said, after reading that you should be able to read a novel page through the rolled dough when finished, I ended up tackling the dough while she was have her quiet play time. And thank goodness I did – it was no easy task!
My sous chef joined me as soon as quiet play time was over, and together we whipped up this healthified filling, which was actually really easy.
Then it was time to scoop the filling out onto our paper thin dough. Grae headed up this task.
I was putting a few things away in the kitchen as she worked, and when I returned, I found this – my sous chef eating on the job – a true sign of the deliciousness involved.
After this, it was time to roll everything up into a log. Truthfully, there are no pictures because it was a huge disaster. I was fresh out of parchment paper, and despite the fact that I floured my surface, this dough was STUCK. Rolling it up was so tricky that I honestly contemplated smushing everything up into a ball and chucking it in the garbage at one point. Buuut, I persevered, eventually got it rolled, and popped it into the oven.
30 minutes later, we had this yummy looking dessert on our hands.
Truthfully, I don’t know that apple strudel is my thing. But, that’s not to say that this wasn’t good. It was sweet, satisfying, and the crunch of the almonds paired perfectly with the light and fluffy whipped cream. And while I can guarantee that our homemade, wholewheat dough doesn’t flake the way Paula Deen’s store bought stuff does, it was thin and crispy which I liked.
Wholewheat Sugarless Apple Strudel {a healthified version of Paul Deen’s Apple Strudel)
DOUGH (adapted from Joe Pastry’s apple strudel dough recipe)
- 3 1/2 cups of wholewheat flour
- pinch of sea salt
- 2 organic eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, in liquid form
- 3/4 cup milk, room temperature
In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt.
In a clear glass measuring cup, whisk together the eggs and oil. Add milk until you have a total of 1 1/4 cups of liquid.
Whisk the wet mixture into the dry mixture until a messy dough comes together and then knead it for about 3 minutes until a smooth and elastic dough is formed.
Shape the dough into a ball and rest it at room temperature for one hour.
FILLING
- boiling water
- 1/3 cup organic golden raisins
- 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
- 2 Modi apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons of ground toasted flax seed
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, in liquid form
- 1/4 lemon, juiced
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
- 3/4 cup raw almonds, chopped and toasted
- 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, in liquid form
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment.
Put raisins in a small glass bowl and cover completely with boiling water. Set aside.
Toast almonds in the oven until fragrant and beginning to golden. Set aside.
Combine the apples, pure maple syrup, ground flax, honey, oil, lemon juice and zest, cinnamon, and almonds in a large bowl.
Cover your surface in parchment paper and roll out dough in a rectangle shape that is as thin as you can make it. Brush with melted coconut oil.
Place the apple mixture at one end of the dough and carefully roll the strudel into a log shape (don’t worry – this part can be tricky, but it doesn’t have to be perfect!) Transfer onto a baking sheet and brush the top with melted coconut oil and sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown.
Serve with freshly whipped cream sweetened with just a touch of pure maple syrup.
Health conscious but not quite as crazy as me? Hillary’s guilt-adjacent version is for you! Ready for something sweet, sticky, and glorious? Tairalyn’s guilty pleasure version is just what you need! Whichever you pick, enjoy!!
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