Apple Amaretto Strudel

Delicious and especially good with served warm with vanilla ice cream. Try as an alternative to apple pie! You can substitute your favorite liquor for the Amaretto and to enhance the flavor drizzle a little liquor over the strudel and ice cream before serving.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 cup  dried raisins
• 2  tablespoons Amaretto
• 4  ounces  day-old French bread or 4  ounces  other firm  white bread, coarsely chopped
• 3  tablespoons butter, divided
• 5  cups  finely chopped peeled mcintosh apples (about 1 1/4 pounds)
• 1  cup sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 8  sheets  frozen phyllo dough, thawed
•  cooking spray

Directions

1. Soak raisins in warmed Amaretto for 1 hour before beginning baking.
2. Preheat oven to 375°.
3. Place bread in a food processor, and pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs measure 1 1/4 cups.
4. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add breadcrumbs. Cook 4 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently. Combine breadcrumbs, apples, sugar, nutmeg, drained raisins, and cinnamon in a medium bowl; toss to combine.
5. Lightly coat each of 4 phyllo sheets with cooking spray, placing one on top of the other. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing gently to seal the sheets together; discard plastic wrap. Spoon 3 cups apple mixture along 1 long edge of stacked phyllo, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold short edges of phyllo to cover 2 inches of apple mixture on each end. Starting at long edge with 2-inch border, roll up jellyroll fashion. (Do not roll tightly, or strudel may split.) Place strudel, seam side down, on a jellyroll pan coated with cooking spray. Repeat the procedure with remaining phyllo dough, cooking spray, and apple mixture.
6. Melt 2 tablespoons butter, and brush over strudels. Bake at 375° 25 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack 20 minutes before serving.