Studel Dough Recipe
from https://www.lilvienna.com/

Easy and old Austrian family recipe for paper-thin apple strudel dough from scratch. The recipe yields a flakey pastry with several layers of dough, which you can fill sweet (e.g. apple strudel) or savory. You only need a few ingredients!

Recipe for Apple Studel

Dough:
1/3 cup lukewarm water (80 g/80 ml)
1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon neutral tasting vegetable oil (15 g/17.5 ml)
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar (2.5 g/2.5 ml)
1/8 teaspoon fine salt
145 g / 5.1 oz bread flour (about 1 cup + 1 Tbsp) (see note)

In addition:
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil for brushing the bowl/dough
flour for dusting
large tablecloth
parchment paper (recommended)

To make the dough:
Mix water, oil, lemon juice, and salt in a big bowl. Acids like lemon juice or vinegar help relax the gluten and make the dough more elastic.

Stir in about half of the flour with a spoon until well combined. Stir this pancake-like batter for about 1 minute (helps developing gluten), then add the remaining flour, but set 1 tablespoon flour aside first, which you might need later. Work the flour in with the spoon, until a dough forms and you can work it with your hands. I recommend measuring all ingredients (please at least the flour) by weight since it is more accurate than measuring by volume.

Knead the dough until smooth for about 10 minutes, either in the bowl or on a working surface. The dough should be moist but not sticky. If it is too sticky to knead, add a little more flour. You shouldn't need more than 1 or 2 additional tablespoons. Slam the dough onto the counter a few times to enhance gluten development, also good for aggression/stress relief.

Shape the dough into a smooth ball. Add 1/2 teaspoon of oil to a small bowl, distribute it with your fingers and turn the dough around to cover it with oil.

Cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and let it sit for 1 hour at room temperature. You can also make the dough ahead and keep it in the fridge for up to 2 days. Temperate before using.

Stretching the dough:

Roll out the dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured counter. Flour the counter and the dough every now and then while rolling.

When the dough reaches about 13-15 inch in diameter, pick it up then use the back of your hands, particularly your knuckles, to stretch it while turning it around (remove all sharp jewelry first) – kind of like pizza dough.

When the dough gets bigger and thinner, and thus difficult to handle, put it down on a lightly floured tablecloth, straighten out the wrinkles in both the tablecloth and the dough. Continue stretching the dough on the tablecloth using your hands. Note: This works best if two people are working on opposite sides since the tablecloth can be slippery - but I’ve made it alone very often too, so no worries.

Gently stretch the dough paper-thin from the inside to the outside, working your way around the sheet of dough. Stretch it until it starts to look translucent. You should be able to read the titles of a newspaper placed under the dough (don’t do this though, the ink would probably come off).

When finished, the sheet of dough should have a rectangular shape, with the shorter edge fitting the baking sheet lengthwise plus an inch on each side overhang [about 18 inches]. FYI, often people cut off thicker edges but I never do since I enjoy the doughy parts in the strudel.

Filling and baking the strudel:

Add your filling of choice, most of the time the filling is placed only on one half of the strudel dough, like with apple strudel. Brush the other half with melted butter.

[I have seen recipes that place the apples only at one end and roll it so there are more outer layers of dough. Others spread the filling from one end to the other so there are apples in every layer.]

Fold in the sides of the dough over the filling to prevent the filling from oozing while rolling. Using the tablecloth underneath, roll the dough, starting at the end with the filling. Then gently roll the strudel onto a sheet of parchment paper with the seam-side down.

Transfer the dough to a baking sheet and brush with melted butter.

Put the baking sheet in the center of the preheated oven and bake it – for most strudels baking time is roughly 1/2 hour at 375 °F (190 °C).

When the crust turns golden, the strudel is ready. Take it out of the oven, let it cool slightly, cut it into pieces and serve dusted with confectioner’s sugar.