Homemade Toaster Strudels

These homemade toaster strudels are one of those recipes that look way more impressive than they actually are to make. They’re flaky, warm, filled with homemade fruit filling, and finished with a simple vanilla glaze—and they are SO good straight out of the oven.

I usually make mine with strawberry or blueberry filling, but this is really more of a baseline recipe that you can play around with. Use your favorite fruit, swap in a jam you already have, fill them with Nutella, or even make a pumpkin version in the fall.

One of my favorite things to do is make these festive for the holidays. Instead of cutting the puff pastry into rectangles, I use cookie cutters to turn them into different shapes and decorate them to match. Think Easter eggs for Easter, Christmas trees during the holidays, ghosts for Halloween—the possibilities are pretty much endless. My kids love them, and it's such an easy way to turn the exact same recipe into something special for whatever we're celebrating.

One tip before you start: if you're making the homemade fruit filling, make it the night before. It needs time to cook down, thicken, and chill, and it makes assembling these in the morning so much easier.

Ingredients

For the Homemade Fruit Filling

• 1 cup water

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 1–2 cups fruit of choice (strawberries and blueberries both work great)

• 1 tablespoon corn starch (or arrowroot powder for a healthier alternative)

• Small amount of water, for mixing with the arrowroot

For the Toaster Strudels

• Puff pastry sheets, thawed according to package directions

• Prepared fruit filling

• 1 egg

• Splash of milk

For the Vanilla Glaze

• Powdered sugar

• Heavy whipping cream

• Splash of vanilla extract

Make the Fruit Filling

1. Add 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to a saucepan and bring to a boil.

2. Add 1–2 cups of your fruit of choice. You want enough fruit to generously fill the liquid in the saucepan.

3. Continue cooking until the fruit becomes very soft and the mixture begins to reduce and thicken. The exact time depends on the fruit you're using. Strawberries take about 30 minutes in my experience, while blueberries take closer to 10 minutes.

4. Once the fruit is very soft and the mixture has started to thicken, add 1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot powder to a small cup with just enough water to dissolve it completely. Stir until smooth with no sticky clumps.

5. Reduce the fruit mixture to low heat and stir in the starch/arrowroot mixture.

6. Let it cook for another couple of minutes, just until the filling thickens into more of a jelly consistency. Remove it from the heat once it has thickened.

7. Allow the filling to cool, then transfer it to the refrigerator. I highly recommend making this the night before so it has plenty of time to cool and set.

Assemble the Toaster Strudels

1. Preheat your oven to 400°F.

2. Cut your puff pastry into evenly sized rectangles. Depending on the size and brand of your pastry sheets, you should end up with approximately 8–12 rectangles.

3. Arrange half of the rectangles on a baking sheet.

4. Spoon a generous dollop of your fruit filling into the center of each rectangle, leaving some space around the edges so you can seal them.

5. Place another puff pastry rectangle over each one.

6. Press the edges together with your fingers, then use the tines of a fork to crimp all the way around the edges and seal each strudel.

7. In a small bowl, whisk together 1 egg with a splash of milk to make an egg wash.

8. Brush the tops of the toaster strudels with the egg wash.

9. Bake at 400°F for about 20 minutes, or until the pastry has puffed and turned beautifully golden brown.

10. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool slightly before adding the glaze.

Make the Vanilla Glaze

I’ll be honest—I don't really measure this part.

Start with a few spoonfuls of powdered sugar, add a small splash of heavy whipping cream, and then add a splash of vanilla.

Mix everything together until smooth. Taste it and adjust as you go, adding a little more powdered sugar if you want it thicker or a little more cream if you want it thinner.

Drizzle the glaze generously over the warm toaster strudels and serve!

Make Them Festive

This is where you can have SO much fun with these, especially if you're making them with kids.

Instead of cutting your puff pastry into rectangles, use cookie cutters to make two matching pieces for each strudel, then fill and seal them exactly the same way.

For Easter, I love making egg-shaped toaster strudels and decorating the glaze like Easter eggs. For Christmas, make Christmas trees and decorate them with festive icing and sprinkles. For Halloween, cut out ghosts and use the glaze to give them little faces.

You can do hearts for Valentine's Day, pumpkins in the fall, stars for the Fourth of July, or really anything you have a cookie cutter for. Just change the shape, filling, and decorations to fit the occasion.

Make It Your Own

You definitely do not have to make the fruit filling from scratch. If you have a homemade jam you love—or even a favorite store-bought jam or jelly—skip that entire part of the recipe and use a big dollop of it instead.

You can also play around with different fillings like Nutella, raspberry jam, peach preserves, mixed berries, apple filling, or pumpkin pie filling. For fall, I love the idea of adding a little nutmeg to the glaze, too.

Basically, use this recipe as your starting point and make it your own.

Ali’s Note

If you're making the homemade fruit filling, make it the night before. The first time I made these in the morning, the filling hadn't had enough time to fully cook, cool, and thicken, which made it much harder to work with. Making it ahead saves you time in the morning and gives you a much better toaster strudel.

And don't stress about making every single one look perfect—especially when you're making the holiday shapes. That's part of the fun. A slightly wonky Christmas tree filled with homemade strawberry jam still tastes just as good.