Quick homemade puff pastry for strudel
Sep 16, 2025
This simple and versatile quick puff pastry for strudel is better than any store-bought one. All you need is flour, a piece of lard, a little butter, and patience while rolling. The reward will be a strudel that smells like childhood and is so crunchy that it will put a smile on your face with the first bite.
Why make homemade puff pastry for strudel?
✓ fresh and without unnecessary additives
✓ universal – suitable for apple strudel and savory strudels
✓ you can prepare it in advance and keep it in the fridge
✓ leaves gently and crunches beautifully
✓ no complicated dough measurements or difficult butter mixing – even a beginner can do it
Homemade puff pastry for strudel: Recipe
Serving: 1 larger strudel – 8 servings
Ingredients
– 300 g plain flour
– a pinch of salt
– 150 ml of cold water
– 15 g lard
– 80 g butter (melted and cooled) for brushing the dough
Procedure
1) Put the flour and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Add cold water and lard, then knead into a smooth dough. Cover with a cloth and let rest for 20 minutes.
2) Roll out the dough into a larger rectangle. Brush the surface with some of the butter and fold it into thirds.
3) Repeat the rolling, patting and folding process two more times.
4) Finally, roll out the dough to a thickness of 2 to 3 mm. It is now ready to hold the apple filling or other favorite filling.
Work quickly, cold dough is easier to work with. If you don't want to bake right away, wrap the dough neatly in cling film and leave in the fridge for up to 2 days. Before rolling, let the dough come out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes.
Variations / Seasonal twists
– For a sweet strudel, add a teaspoon of sugar to the dough.
– You can add a pinch of pepper or herbs to the savory strudel.
Common mistakes and how to fix them
– The dough is sticky → sprinkle with flour and work on a floured rolling pin.
– Does not form sheets → follow all three butter folds.
– It is stiff → next time add a little more water, it depends on the flour.
Storage
The dough should be used within 48 hours. If you need to store it for longer, freeze it after the first folding. That is, fold it into a neat package and freeze it. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator and then process it as usual, i.e. spread butter twice and fold it.
Educational window: Strudel, strudel or strudel?
Only strudel is grammatically correct, the variant strudel is more colloquial.
Závin is the Czech name for pastries made from yeasted, stretched or puff pastry - it can be poppy seed, cottage cheese, cherry or apple.
Strudel is a specific Viennese apple strudel made from puff pastry. So, every strudel is a strudel, but not every strudel is a strudel.
Related recipes: Classic apple strudel · apple strudel with caramel and sea salt Homemade caramel step by step
