Strawberry Toaster Strudels with Cream Cheese Frosting

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These homemade Strawberry Toaster Strudels are an easy breakfast dessert! Made with fresh strawberries, puff pastry, and an easy easy cream cheese icing, for the perfect sweet, flakey and buttery bite.

Summer berries are in full swing and if you’re looking for ways to use up your strawberry harvest, you’ve come to the right place. Last week I decided to turn my freshly picked berries into strawberry sauce, but this week we’re making strawberry toaster strudels.

Sounds complicated? It’s not! Thanks to store-bought puff pastry it is super easy to make toaster strudels. We usually make these breakfast pastries on weekends as a fruit-filled treat for weekday mornings, or as a light summer dessert.

Once you’ve experienced a bite of buttery, flaky pastry crust bursting with bright strawberry filling, there’s no going back. There’s just no comparison to a golden and flaky strawberry toaster strudel that’s fresh from the oven, made from scratch.

What You’ll Need

Here’s an overview of what you’ll need. Scroll down to the recipe card for specific amounts.

• Puff pastry – I use frozen and thawed puff pastry dough.
• Strawberries – Fresh strawberries are the basis for the fruit filling in these homemade toaster strudels. If you’d rather not make the filling from scratch, you can opt to use store bought strawberry jam or preserves instead.
• Sugar – Granulated sugar is added to the strawberries as they cook.
• Cornstarch – Thickens the fruit filling. Tapioca starch is a good alternative.
• Egg – You’ll need a single egg to make an egg wash.
• Milk – To whisk together with the egg for the wash.
• Cream cheese – For the cream cheese icing. Make sure to take the cream cheese out ahead of time so it has time to soften up.
• Powdered sugar – Also known as confectioner’s sugar, to sweeten and thicken up the frosting.

How to Make Strawberry Toaster Strudels

Before you begin, you’ll need to thaw the puff pastry sheets and chop the strawberries. The strudels themselves come together easily:

Make the strawberry filling. Bring the chopped strawberries to a boil in a saucepan with the sugar, stirring along the way. Let the strawberries cook for a few minutes before you add in the cornstarch to thicken. Don’t forget to stir! Once thickened, take the pan off the heat to cool completely.

Prep your baking tools. While the oven preheats, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Next, once your filling is cool, you’ll get started on your strudel.

Begin assembling the strudels. Make sure your puff pastry is fully thawed, then cut each sheet into 6 even rectangles, leaving you with 12 in total. Carefully place 6 of the pastry rectangles onto a baking sheet. Place 1 to 2 tablespoons of strawberry filling onto each rectangle. Leave a half-inch rim around the edges that you’ll brush with the egg whisked with milk. You can use your fingers or a brush for the egg wash.

Finish assembling. Cover the strawberry-covered pastry with the remaining pastry rectangles. Gently press the edges together to seal. I like to use a fork, since this gives the strudels nice aesthetic edges. Give the tops another brush with the egg wash. Lastly, move the baking sheet to the refrigerator to chill.

Bake. After a stint in the fridge, pop the strudels into the oven. They should reach a lovely golden brown after about 20 minutes. Once baked, let the strudels cool (I don’t know about you, but I have vivid childhood memories of burning the roof of my mouth after biting into a piping hot toaster strudel. Definitely older and wiser!).

Make the frosting. Beat together a simple frosting of softened cream cheese and powdered sugar, then transfer the icing to a piping bag. You can also use a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off. Give your strawberry strudels a drizzle with icing, then serve warm.

Tips for Success

This recipe for breakfast toaster strudels is easy as they come. Here are some tips to remember:

• Can I bake these in the toaster? I wouldn’t recommend it. Despite these technically being toaster strudels, they must be baked in the oven, or at least in a toaster oven. Things would get messy quickly if you were to try to bake the raw pastry dough in the stand-up toaster!
• Leave enough time for the pastry to defrost. This usually takes about 4 hours in the fridge, or 45 minutes at room temperature. Make sure that the pastry dough is completely thawed before unfolding it, to avoid tears.
• Keep the puff pastry cold. Work quickly once your puff pastry is out of the fridge, so it stays as cold as possible before baking. This also helps with sticking.

Variation Ideas

A homemade strawberry toaster strudel is classic and delicious, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for variations. You can definitely switch up or add to the filling to suit your favorite toaster strudel flavors:  

• Swap the strawberries in the filling with other fruits. Try blueberry pie filling, or use apple pie filling to make apple strudels (I like to borrow the fillings from my blueberry peach cobbler and old fashioned apple cobbler).
• Fill these with Nutella and peanut butter.
• Make pumpkin toaster strudels with pumpkin pie filling and pumpkin spice mixed into the cream cheese frosting.
• Make cinnamon brown sugar toaster strudels. Whisk together ½ cup brown sugar, plus a tablespoon (or two) of cinnamon and a tablespoon of flour as a quick filling, and sprinkle the tops with cinnamon sugar instead of (or in addition to) the icing.

Serving Suggestions

These strawberry toaster strudels are a wholesome, homemade breakfast pastry to serve on their own. Or you can round out a full morning spread with other easy breakfast ideas:

• Hard boiled eggs 
• Cheesy scrambled eggs
• Creamy millet porridge with fresh fruit
• Simple buttermilk pancakes 
• Creamy maple brown sugar oatmeal
• Skillet breakfast home fries 

Want to serve these for dessert? If you’re feeling extra indulgent, I recommend topping these with a dollop of maple vanilla whipped cream or a scoop of no churn strawberry ice cream. Breakfast as dessert? No regrets.

Storage and Reheating

To store leftover breakfast strudels, make sure they’re completely cool before transferring them to an airtight container, with parchment separating the layers. They’ll keep for up to 5 days in the fridge. I love to make a batch on a Sunday afternoon to have as a sweet on-the-go breakfast option during the week.

Reheating these toaster strudels is as easy as placing them back into the oven at 350ºF for about 5 minutes to warm through. Keep an eye on the pastries as they reheat, as not all ovens are the same! 

Don’t try to warm frosted toaster strudels in a stand-up toaster, since the frosting will melt.

Do These Freeze Well? 

Freezing is a great option for longer storage. To save space in the freezer, I recommend pre-freezing the toaster strudels in a single layer on a baking sheet. Once frozen, place them into a gallon freezer bag to store. They’ll keep fresh when frozen for up to 6 months, ready to reheat from frozen any time. Just add a couple extra minutes to the reheating time.

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More Fruity Breakfast Ideas

• Whatever You’ve Got Blueberry Coffee Cake
• Bourbon Apple Crisp French Toast Casserole
• Mini Apple Carrot Zucchini Bread
• Overnight Blueberry French Toast Bake
• Apple Harvest Bread