Simplified Apfelstrudel: Baked Apple Pouches with Cinnamon and Raisins

Simplified Apfelstrudel: Baked Apple Pouches with Cinnamon and Raisins
From Live, Love, Eat! by Wolfgang Puck

7 Tbsp unsalted butter, plus 1/2 cup, melted unsalted butter
1 pound fuji apples, peeled, cored, halved, and thinly sliced
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup golden raisins
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cups coarse white bread crumbs
16 large egg roll skins
Confectioner's sugar, for garnish
Vanilla ice cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1. To make the coarse bread crumbs, toast slices of white bread in the oven until crisp, about 10 minutes. Break into pieces and place in a food processor. Pulse the processor until the bread resembles large bread crumbs.
2. In a saute pan, over medium heat, saute the bread crumbs in 1/4 cup of the melted butter until they are golden brown. Reserve the sauteed bread crumbs and the remaining melted butter separately.
3. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter; pour off 1/4 cup of melted butter adding it to the remaining melted butter and set it aside.
4. Add the apples, sugar, raisins, lemon juice, and cinnamon and sauté, stirring frequently, until the apples are tender, about 8 minutes.
5. While the apples are cooking, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and cut 8 pieces of kitchen string, about 6-8 inches long each, and set aside.
6. In the sauté pan, divide the apple filling into eight roughly equal portions.
7. Place an egg roll skin on a flat work surface with one of the points facing towards you. Place another skin on top, perfectly aligned with the first.
8. Sprinkle dough with breadcrumbs. Spoon one portion of apple filling into the center of the wrappers and gather the corners up around the filling to create a pouch. Tie the pouch around the top with a piece of kitchen string.
9. Don't worry if some of the wrapper isn't completely contained within the string. Don't tie the string too tight. Transfer the pouch to the baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the ingredients to make 8 pouches in all.
10. Brush the pouches with the reserved melted butter. Put the baking sheet in the oven and bake the pouches until their wrappers are golden and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes.
11. Transfer the pouches to individual serving plates and snip the strings off with kitchen shears. Dust each pouch with powdered sugar and and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Makes 8 pouches.