Try this grain and gluten free version of a classic Apple Strudel made without the oven and suitable for vegan and paleo diets as well.
One night my husband and I were browsing around an organic supermarket in southern California. The fresh food display was filled with all sorts of handmade treats: raw grain free pizza, hummus wraps, gluten free coconut macaroons and an amazing looking raw apple strudel. We sample it: delicious. The crust almost melts in your mouth and the apple filling really testes like the real thing.
As my husband is about to order a piece to take home, I pull his sleeve and whisper: “Wait, I can make this at home. Let’s go prepare one together”!
I personally love creating my own dishes much more than eating out or buying them already made. You get to express your creativity, make sure you only use the best ingredients, and feel safe from gluten contamination and potential allergens that in big, industrial kitchens are always hard to keep under control
After I gave a quick look at the ingredients, I came up with my own idea for a home made raw apple strudel recipe that was also free from gluten and grains. I shopped around the isles, buying all that I needed and headed back home to enjoy a fun cooking night with my husband.
This is really how this recipe was born, and this raw apple strudel is so easy and quick to make that I recommend you try it too, maybe on a night you just want to relax with a friend or the person you love, having fun in the kitchen without getting too serious.
This recipe is pretty much suitable for everybody since it’s raw, grain, gluten and dairy free… and, if you can’t tolerate nuts, I put a seed replacement in there so can you have an allergy free alternative.
Ingredients
- For the Raw Apple Strudel Filling
- 3 organic Pink Lady Apples
- 3 organic dried Figs
- 3 tbsp organic Raisins
- 3 tbsp Coconut Flakes
- 2 tbsp Coconut Sugar (optional0
- 1/2 fresh squeezed Lemon
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- For the Walnut Crust
- 1/2 cup Walnuts (for a nut-free version use 1/2 Pumpkin Seeds and 1/2 Sunflower Seeds instead)
- 3 dried Figs
- 3 tbsp soaked Mulberries
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 pinch Himalayan Salt
- For the Garnishing
- 6 Walnut halves
- 1 dried Fig
- 1 tbsp Coconut Flakes
Instructions
- Peel, core and cut the apples in half. Place them in a food processor together with all the other ingredients and and pulse a few times until coarsely grated.
- Set the filling aside and start preparing the crust.
- Mix all the ingredients in a food processor and and process until you get to a dough kind of consistency.
- Cover 2 small flat bottom bowls with Saran wrap; spread a layer of walnut dough on the bottom and press it down well with a spoon creating a crust.
- Top the crust with some apple strudel filling, create one more middle layer of walnut crust and top it with the remaining apple filling. Press well with a spoon.
- Decorate each raw apple strudel with the remaining walnuts, coconut flakes and thin slices of dried fig like you see in the photos.
- Cover and refrigerate your Raw Apple Strudels overnight before serving.
So what do you think? Isn’t this a great quick and easy recipe to use those time you want to have sun fun in the kitchen? No oven not major cooking skills required, just a simple food processor and the desire to make something good that’s also good for you, without gluten, grains and refined sugar!
Enjoy your Raw Apple Strudel and I will catch you next time with some more tips on allergy free living!
Ambra
PS: For more dessert recipes that are all gluten, dairy and sugar free, check out my “Healthy Italian Desserts Made Simple“, where I collected all of my best recreations of Italian classics (and some other international sweets) made the healthy way!
