This German Apple Crumble Pizza recipe is a vegan and fruity take on one of Germany’s most popular bakery bread – the crisp Streuseltaler. It is a delectable pastry that is easy to make and is best served freshly baked straight from your oven! Enjoy the delicious yeasted dough generously topped with Streusel crumbs and fresh apple slices baked to golden crisp goodness.
What is Streuseltaler?
It is like small pizzas you know and love but with sweet fresh fruit and spiced crumble topping instead of veggies and cheese! It is a perfect snack to have with tea or coffee on a cozy afternoon instead of cake or to serve as a dessert after a savory, scrumptious meal or even for breakfast!
The term Streuseltaler is a combination of two German words – “Streusel” and “Taler”. Streusel is the baking term used when creating a crumby topping made of flour, butter, and sugar. It is often baked on top of muffins, cakes, or bread. Taler or Thaler are large silver coins of considerable size and weight issued by German states during the 16th century.
Simply put, German Streuseltaler is a pastry in the shape of a sizable coin topped with crumbly Streusel and traditionally, a sugar glaze. It is a sweet treat with a soft and chewy yeast dough base while the crisp apple crumble topping provides crunch in every bite! You can make this decadent pastry in a round shape like traditional recipes call for, or even create an oval flatbread shape as I did – it will be delicious in every shape, just like traditional classic pizza!
Customize to your heart’s content!
You can enjoy them the traditional way simply with the Streusel and sugar glaze. Or have fun with using different toppings to bump up the flavors as I did! It is one of the things I love about making this – it’s highly customizable! You can use jams, chocolates, vanilla cream, and whatever fresh fruits are available depending on the season! Plums, pears, raspberries, strawberries, currants are some of the common options. If you love my Vegan Blueberry Crumble Cheesecake or my Cherry Crumble Cheesecake with poppy seeds, feel free to use blueberries or cherries in this recipe!
Anyway, I personally love using apples as they go so well with baked pastries and crisp Streusel topping! Double pat on the back as apple and cinnamon is one of the ultimate baked pastry flavor combos, especially in fall and winter! Plus, apples contain heart-healthy fibers and lots of vitamins and antioxidants. Luckily for all of us, they are available all-year-round so we can bake delicious apple treats at any time!
Ingredient notes and possible alternatives to use when making German Apple Crumble Pizza
Yeast Dough
- Flour – I highly recommend using all-purpose, light wheat, or spelt flour for a soft and airy texture. Heavier flours such as whole wheat will result in a firmer pastry. If you are looking for a soft pastry with a slight chewiness, then I rather suggest using a mix of light and whole grain flour.
- Sugar – any type of organic sugar will do.
- Dry yeast – if you are planning to use fresh yeast, make sure to stir in warm water until completely dissolved first. Then wait for 3 to 5 minutes or until it starts foaming. You can check out the recipe for my vegan chocolate brioche buns for details.
- Vegan butter – if you do not have this, you can use vegan margarine as a replacement.
- Soy milk – this is perfect for vegan baking! Alternatively, you can use almond milk, oat milk, or cashew milk.
Apple Topping
- Apples – use the freshest apples you can get your hands into! Especially, a combination of tart and sweet apples like granny smith and honey crisps will give it that extra pizazz!
- Lemon juice – I drizzled my apple slices with lemon juice to prevent them from browning.
Crumble Topping
- Flour – I usually use all-purpose or spelt flour but you can also use a mix of fine rolled oats and flour if you prefer a more traditional apple crisp topping.
- Brown sugar – because of the molasses, it adds a richer taste to the Streusel which reminds of caramel. However, you can use white granulated sugar, raw cane, or coconut sugar too.
- Vegan butter – has to be cold and cut into small pieces to create a crumbly mixture instead of a smooth dough. Substitutes are solid coconut oil or cold margarine.
- Cinnamon – adds a sweet-spicy and woody flavor that blends perfectly with apples! You can also try using other spices like clove, cardamom, and nutmeg.
Replacing dairy milk, butter, and eggs with vegan ingredients is quite easy! And if I may say so myself, this version is equally as delightful as the traditional one!
Make a successful German Apple Crumble Pizza with these helpful tips:
- Since different flour has different liquid absorption levels, you might need to make a few adjustments with the amount of soy milk or flour until you get the right dough consistency.
- Place your kneaded yeast dough in a warm spot. The temperature affects the rising process of the dough. If you place it in a cold spot, the yeast will remain dormant and the bread will take longer to rise. On the other hand, exposing it to too warm temperatures will make the dough rise too quickly and will collapse.
- If you are making the Streusel on baking day, it’s best to mix the ingredient only once you are ready to use it. You have to keep it cold or the butter will melt and it will lose its crumbliness. If you want to do it early, refrigerate it until ready to use.
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper and make sure to leave enough space in between each piece.
How will you know if your yeast dough is sufficiently kneaded?
To get a light, airy, soft, and chewy yeast bread, you have to make sure that you knead the dough properly. To check if your dough is ready, you can do either of the two: the poke test or the windowpane test.
- Poke test – press a finger into the dough, if it doesn’t spring back in shape, then it needs more kneading. If it pops back in shape, it is good to go!
- Window-pane test – pinch a portion of the dough away slowly, it if tears, then it’s not yet ready and you need to knead some more. If you pull it and it stretches and creates a thin membrane in the middle, then your kneading work is done.
How to make German Streuseltaler
As always I recommend checking out this step-by-step guide first, then you’ll find the full recipe with exact measurements in the recipe card below.
Step 1: Making the Yeast Dough
To make the yeasted dough start by whisking together the flour, salt, sugar, and dry yeast in a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. In a pot melt the vegan butter, then stir in the soy milk until combined. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool down to 104°F (40°C). Then pour it into the flour mixture and mix using a wooden spoon or the dough hooks of your stand mixer until it comes together. When kneading the dough by hand, transfer it onto a work surface and knead for about 5-8 minutes until a smooth dough forms or let your stand mixer do the work.
Finally, form the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover it with a damp tea towel and leave to rise at a warm spot until the dough has doubled in size.
Step 2: Making the Crumble Topping
While waiting, make the crumble topping. For the Streusel, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and cold vegan butter pieces using your hands until crumbles form. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use so it won’t soften.
Step 3: Prep your Apples
A few minutes before the dough is done rising, cut the apples into thin slices, and remove the core. Then place them in a bowl and drizzle with lemon juice so they won’t get brown. Set aside and preheat your oven while you assemble the apple crumble pizzas.
Step 4: Assembling German Streuseltaler
Once the dough has doubled in size, divide it into 8 pieces (or less/more, depending on your preferred sizes). On a floured surface, roll out each piece into a round or oval-shaped flatbread. Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, leaving enough space between each pastry. Then arrange the apples on top of each flattened dough, towards the middle. Top with the streusel and sprinkle with a little cinnamon and brown sugar.
Finally, bake your vegan apple crisp pastry pizzas for about 15- 20 minutes, and please do not over-bake or they’ll get dry. That’s it!
How to enjoy your Apple Crumble Pizza best?
Once done with baking, let your apple crisp pastry pizzas cool a bit before serving. They are delicious as they are. But if you want to make it extra special, enjoy them with creamy vanilla custard, your favorite dairy-free yogurt, peanut butter, vegan caramel sauce or even vegan Nutella. Instant German Streuseltaler creamy buns!
Can I make this ahead of time?
If you want to have a relaxed baking day, you can prepare the individual components of the recipe in advance and store them separately in the refrigerator. You can make the yeast dough one day before and refrigerate it overnight so it rises slowly. The same goes for the apple topping: you can prepare your apple crisp streusel topping ahead of time and keep it refrigerated. Furthermore, you can slice the apples and brush them with lemon juice so they do not brown. Then place them in a Ziploc bag and refrigerate. All you need to do once you are ready to make your apple crumble pizza is to assemble and bake!
How to store your Apple Crumble Pastry?
To fully enjoy the flavors and texture, serve this German Streuseltaler the same day you made it. If you have leftovers, put them in an airtight container and store them in your fridge for 3 to 4 days. When ready to serve, gently reheat in the oven.
More Vegan Apple recipes to try:
I have so many simple yet delicious vegan apple dessert recipes that you should try! I’m sure you’ll find something on this list to suit your tastes!
- Vegan Apple Cake with Cinnamon Streusel
- Vegan Mini Apple Pies
- Apple Pie Roll-Ups
- Apple Hand Pies
- Moist Apple Blondies
- Best Vegan Apple Pie
- Vegan Frangipane Apple Tart
If you try this Apple Crumble Pizza, please leave me a comment and a rating on how you liked this recipe! And if you take a picture of your delicious German Streuseltaler and share it on Instagram, please tag me @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka, because I love to see your photos! Happy baking! 🙂
German Apple Crumble Pizza
Author:You do not have a fitting cake pan at hand right now? Try my Cake Pan Conversion Calculator!
Ingredients
Yeast Dough
- 2 ½ cups (300 g) all-purpose or spelt flour see notes*
- ¼ cup (50 g) sugar e.g. raw cane, white or brown sugar*
- pinch of salt
- 2 tsp dry yeast (7 g) or sub 21 g fresh yeast
- ¼ cup (60 g) vegan butter or sub margarine
- ⅔ cup (160 ml) soy milk *see notes
Crumble Topping
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose or spelt flour see notes*
- ¼ cup (50 g) brown sugar or raw cane, coconut, or white sugar*
- ⅓ cup (75 g) vegan butter cut into pieces + cold, or sub coconut oil or margarine
- pinch of cinnamon to taste
Apple Topping
- 3 (350 g) apples sliced (3.5 oz)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
*Note: For best results, I recommend measuring the ingredients in grams. Simply click on the word metric right above the ingredient list to see the converted measurement. Also, make sure to check out the tips + step-by-step pictures above!
Yeasted Dough
- Whisk the flour, salt, sugar, and dry yeast together in a large bowl (you can also use the bowl of a stand mixer).
- Melt the vegan butter in a pot then add soy milk and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and allow the mixture to cool down to 104°F (40°C). (Note: the yeast will deactivate if exposed to high heat).
- Pour it into the flour mixture and mix using a wooden spoon until it comes together. Then transfer everything onto a work surface and knead for about 5-8 minutes until a smooth dough forms (you can also use a stand mixer with dough hooks attached).
- Finally, form the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover it with a damp tea towel and leave to rise at a warm spot for about 45-60 minutes, or until the dough has doubled in size.
Crumble Topping (Streusel)
- While waiting, make the crumble topping. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and cold vegan butter pieces using your hands. Mix them together until crumbles form. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use so it won’t soften.
Apple Topping
- De-core the apples and cut them into thin slices. Place them in a bowl and drizzle with lemon juice so they won’t get brown. Set aside and preheat the oven to 392°F (200°C).
Assemble
- Once the dough has risen, tip onto a work surface and divide it into 8 pieces (or less/more, depending on your preferred sizes). Sprinkle flour lightly in the surface and roll out each piece into a round or oval-shaped flatbread. Place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, leaving enough space between each piece.
- Arrange the apples on top of each flattened dough, towards the middle. Add the streusel on top and sprinkle with a little cinnamon and brown sugar (this will also create a browner color). Bake for about 15-20 minutes (do not over-bake or they’ll get dry. It’s okay if they look a bit pale.)
- Enjoy as they are or serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzle with vegan caramel sauce!
Notes
- Yeast: If using fresh yeast, check out the instructions in this recipe: vegan chocolate brioche buns.
- Flour: For the best soft texture, I recommend using all-purpose or light wheat or spelt flour. If using a heavier flour, such as whole wheat flour, they’ll be harder. So I’d rather recommend using a mix of light and whole grain flour.
- Sugar: Feel free to use any sugar you like.
- Soy milk works best for vegan baking. However, if you have soy intolerance, substitute another dairy-free milk (read further information in the blog post above).
- Kneading the dough makes any bread, bun, and pastry light, airy, soft, and chewy. It's an important step, otherwise, the result may be flat and tough.
- Please read my blog post for make-ahead + storage instructions, and further helpful tips on this recipe.
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Ich habe es meiner Familie gebacken und alle fanden es so toll, dass ich jedem ein Stück einpacken sollte! Es ist gar nicht zu trocken oder zu matschig, süß und total saftig durch die Äpfel und den Zimt dazu kann ich nur empfehlen!
Das freut mich riesig! Ich danke dir, liebe Marlene! 🙂
Awesome recipe, easy and quick to make. Brings back childhood memories, added some blueberries for a little zing.
Yay, that’s great! Many thanks.
I am so glad you love the recipe! 🙂
Much love, Bianca <3
Super leckeres Rezept, nicht zu süß hat allen sehr gut geschmeckt!
Das freut mich wirklich sehr! 🙂
Vielen Dank für dein positives Feedback! <3
LG, Bianca