These Homemade Strawberry-Cream Cheese Toaster Strudel are easy to make and far tastier than the store bought kind.
“I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”-Al Franken, Stuart Smalley in Saturday Night Live.
I was at a pub with my bff from Phoenix.
I hadn’t actually seen him (yes, pretty much all my close friends are guys) in a little bit as for a while we had opposite schedules.
We were meeting some people that we had played hockey with, but we both arrived their first.
I was feeling a little extra cute that night as I had lost a bit of weight and was strutting myself around.
And I waited and waited and finally said to him…”did you not notice that I dropped a bunch of weight?”
He looked at me and said “oh yeah, I guess you are a little smaller.”
I was about to be deflated when the rest of the table showed up, all guys, as it was the hockey team.
Apparently I looked bummed and they all asked me what the matter.
I said that no one seemed to notice that I lost weight.
And they all just sort of smiled and laughed.
I asked as to what the joke was.
They then informed me that weight or not, there was something about me.
That guys noticed when I walked into a room.
I was waiting to be showered with compliments about my eyes, my hair, my butt…etc.
Yeah, no.
They told me that when I walked into a room guys took notice because I was usually always smiling and I had confidence.
Not stuck up confidence, just confidence in the fact that I had something to offer.
I told them, of course I have something to offer.
And then they all smiled and said that’s what makes you attractive.
Then I thought about it.
I’ve been able to have a boyfriend when I wanted no matter what size I was, perhaps they were on to something.
I probed more only to find out that they will take a girl with a little more cushion for the pushing over a girl they constantly have to reassure all the time that she is pretty or worthy of their time.
Men can smell desperation.
Men can smell low self-esteem. And ladies (and some gentlemen) a lot of you have it.
If you can’t love yourself, you certainly aren’t going to find someone to love you…well, maybe for a night or two. 😉
As Valentine’s Day approaches the sadness creeps in to a lot of people’s heart.
That they are alone.
Nobody loves me everybody hates me BS.
If you are the type of person saying that, it’s because you don’t like yourself all that much.
You can’t go wishing you were somebody else because you are just wasting the person you are.
And my bet is that you are pretty awesome. And if you’re not, come on over to Laid Back Land and we will teach you how to be. 😛
I mean you don’t want to become the next Heidi Montag and attempt to turn yourself into the human Barbie…and no one wants to look like they could tip over at any moment due to the extreme boob to waist ratio.
If you do have yourself a Valentine or just want to make yourself a little breakfast treat, then why not make some Homemade Strawberry-Cream Cheese Toaster Strudel.
Minus the toaster.
I really wanted to try these in the toaster.
But my very pretty, fully functional toaster gave me the stink eye at that.
It gave me the you know that strawberry jam is going to leak out and then you will have a huge mess to clean, most likely set off the fire alarm, and most likely ruin the toaster look.
Fine toaster, where is your sense of adventure?
I had considered going to Goodwill and looking for a cheap toaster to mess with.
But alas, this was just supposed to be a simple recipe and that seemed way too complicated.
Not a whole lot to these.
Store bought puff pastry (feel free to spend hours making your own), jam, and cream cheese frosting.
Yum.
My favorite of the Toaster Strudel variety is the strawberry with cream cheese.
But feel free to stuff yours with whatever.
And for the record, and to save my reputation (well what’s left of it)…I did add more icing to the top of the pastry after I took pictures.
I would hate to have you think that was all the icing I put on top of it. 😛
If Toaster Strudel isn’t your thing, you can always make Pop Tarts. 🙂
P.S. It’s a great day to buy my cookbook Holy Sweet!
Want More Breakfast Treats?
Bourbon Brown Sugar Caramel Peach Sweet Rolls
Salted Caramel Apple Sweet Rolls
Cinnamon Sugar Apple Babka Buns
Coconut Cream Pie Breakfast Buns
Homemade Strawberry-Cream Cheese Toaster Strudel
Ingredients
- 1 package (two sheets) puff pastry (you can find this in the frozen food section, usually near the Cool Whip)
- 2/3 cup (give or take) strawberry jam
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Spray a baking sheet with baking spray or butter.
- The puff pastry should already be divided into three parts lengthwise. Go with this. You will end up with 6 strudels that way.
- Using a stand mixer or beaters, beat together the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Set icing aside.
- Lightly flour your work surface. Don’t roll out the dough.
- Draw an imaginary line in the middle of the dough using your brain.
- Place some jam down the middle of the dough, but only up to the imaginary line.
- Since you are going to be folding the other half over, you just need it on the one side.
- Pipe or spoon a large TBSP of cream cheese icing into middle of jam area.
- At the imaginary line, fold the pastry over so that you have rectangle on rectangle action. Using a fork, firmly press down around the sides to try to prevent jam and cream cheese from leaking out. Though they really do like to try and escape.
- Place on baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes.
- Remove for oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Top with leftover cream cheese icing.
Kristina @ spabettie says
these look perfect. anything that combines puff pastry, creme cheese and jam is definitely invited to MY Valentines Day…
Victoria says
Ooo!! The strawberry-cream cheese toaster strudels have always been my favorite! These look amazing! 🙂
Sue says
You are killing me here. I caught up on your recent posts and now I can’t find anything good in my own house to eat!!!! Those look REALLY yummy.
Felice says
As much as I love your recipes, I also love the fact that you always make me stop and think about what you said. Seriously, I think that having male friends can be a heck of a lot easier than female friends. What you see if usually what you get. I have met a few women who really have never grown beyond their mean-girl attitude from high school.
HeartofGlass says
It’s probably best that you didn’t try a Goodwill toaster–I once tried a lovely old toaster of my mother’s and it smelled up my entire house with the stench of dust! I had to open all of the windows on a 10 degree day.
It’s so true–you can’t expect people to like you if you don’t like yourself. If you’re constantly looking at other people, expecting them to bolster your ego, you’re going to live a very unhappy life. Confidence has to come from within. Confidence is like the jelly inside of a toaster strudel tart! Essential to enjoyment!
Heather I. says
What a great reminder, you hit the nail right on the head. It makes the biggest difference when we stop worrying so much about what others think of us. Confidence is beautiful!
Your toaster strudels sound 10x better than any store bought version, for sure!
Maggie says
These look great! I bought a box of toaster strudel (the strawberry cream cheese ones) a few weeks ago for the first time in years. By the way, you’re probably aware, but your entire posts are still showing up in my google reader. Thought you might want to know since you’re trying to encourage people to visit your actual page!
Have a great weekend 🙂
Peabody says
I’m not sure if it is effecting Google or just RSS feed. Plus I haven’t talked to the webmaster in a few days so I don’t know if he actually got around to it like he planned. But thanks for the heads up.
reese says
Ha, the guys on your hockey team are onto something. It matters less what a girl looks like, as to how they project themselves. I’ve had downright gorgeous girlfriends who are insecure and can’t figure out why guys don’t want to date them longterm. And I’ve had less gorgeous girlfriends who are just so damned fun to be around that people crave being around them.
All about the self-esteem, girl!
PS – I love the heart on the strudel. xoxo
Desi says
Oh wow…I think i want to try these in strawberry, apple, & peach…maybe even lemon. It looks SO good!
Joanne says
You have this uncanny way of knowing what I need to hear even before I do. Although I was planning on just kind of “ignoring” V day by eating mass amounts of chocolate as if it were my job, I think I’m going to do something GOOD for myself. Because I deserve it.
Like, for example, eat a healthy breakfast of toaster strudel. Oh yeah.
Laura says
I don’t know you well enough to tell you that I love you ; ) however, I do love your recipes! Anyway, thanks for posting this. There have been dark Valentine’s Days in my past which included low self-esteem. Life is so much better with higher self-esteem and I have the added bonus of a life-long Valentine. = ) Have a great Valentine’s Day!
liz says
oh god those look amazing and pretty easy! i have only tried to use frozen puff pastry once, with disastrous results. i may have to try again…
Rosa says
A great post! That little something is what makes you different from all the others. Not everybody has that….. It comes from the soul. And Heidi Montag looks disgusting.
Cheers,
Rosa
Sara Tea says
These look freaking awesome. When I moved into my first apartment I went to the store at 3 am and bought a toaster oven so that I could properly make toaster strudel. haha!
Truthfully it’s so great to read about a woman loving herself and realizing it’s okay to smile and be confident. Confidence is not synonymous with arrogance, and recognizing confidence is the only way you can truly wear it 🙂
Paula says
oh, how cute with this heart!
Shelby says
You should be proud of your weight loss – it is a part of who you are too! 🙂 That said, it is true what your friends told you. Its the person inside that is attractive and if the package is pretty too, then you got a double whammy! To me, size doesn’t matter. I love what is real. Sometimes those of us who struggle with our weight forget that though!
Shelby says
P.S. I much prefer toaster strudels over pop tarts….however I’m not known to turn EITHER down!
Calista says
Love your attitude and the strudel! My husband and I are obsessed with your site. He keeps it on an open tab all the time 🙂
Betsy says
First, let me say Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley is one of my all-time fave SNL skits! Second, I think you read my mind. I was just looking at the box of puff pastry in my freezer a few days ago and thinking “why haven’t you tried making your own version of toaster strudel yet when you have been telling yourself to do it for over a year now?” because my daughter tries to live on the stuff. You beat me to it. Great post!!
Betsy says
Oh and BTW…Strawberry Cream Cheese is her favorite kind, too 🙂
Lynn says
That’s a definite plus about having guy friends – you can get the male perspective without the guesswork.
I love how easy the strudels are!
Amanda Joy says
My husband doesn’t like cream cheese (weird I know) but maybe I can get him to eat it if I make these:)
Erika says
Right on, Peabody! I think women notice weight more than men do. I, for one, am grateful that men don’t pay as much attention!
Luckily I had parents that instilled a sense of self-confidence in me from a very early age. So grateful for that.
Nicole says
These look so good! Do you use the puff pastry that you can get at the grocery store or do you splurge for expensive type like Dufour? If you’ve used both, do you notice much of a difference?
Mercedes says
Another excellent and thought-provoking post. Love it! Those pop tarts look downright sinful. I sure wish I had one right now.
Elizabeth says
Toaster strudels are so much better than poptarts! and I agree about the strawberry cream cheese being my favorite. and your hockey boys are totally right about people knowing whether you love yourself. You keep on loving yourself Peabody and I can’t wait to see who comes into your life!
Betsy says
Thank you so much for that story (and recipe of course!)
Thanks for reminding me not to get so nit-picky about how I look and just remember how awesome I am (and how awesome my baking skills are).
😀
Amy B says
the hockey guys are right…confidence is EVERYTHING. And humor, which you obviously have. Plus, you’re totally adorable, no matter what you weigh 🙂 and men love a girl who can cook!
Lauren at KeepItSweet says
So glad you commented on my blog because I have no idea how I haven’t seen yours before. Everything looks amazing!
Lisa @ The Cooking Bride says
OHHH! Heidi Montag! Hate her! Hate her stupid jackass husband even more!
I had to laugh when I pulled up your blog because right below the picture of the toaster strudel was an ad for reducing belly fat. We won’t even go there! Life is too short to worry about belly fat!
Laura says
I already loved your blog…but your recent posts have made med LOVE your blog. 🙂
Emily says
I just have to say I love this post. The best thing I ever did for myself was learn to love myself… and men really do notice when you love you. This is a golden piece of wisdom that has been struck upon here.
CW says
Your blog is about so much more than food to me.
Kimmy says
I’ve been following your blog for what has to be years now. I love your new lease on life and the confidence of the last two posts (really, all of your posts). Go on with your bad self creating all these amazing treats. Anyone who thinks any differently can go… well, you know. 🙂
I love a little toaster streudel action and I believe I have some (gasp) frozen puff pastry sheets in the freezer right now!