Danish Pastry Dough

Ever walk into a bakery and see their pastries? 

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the past 100 years, you have.

Ever buy some of their divine calorie laden danishes and bring it home only to be horribly disappointed in their lack of taste and dryness that only dunking them in coffee makes them edible?  

I have…

And more times than I like to admit, I buy them again… hoping that this time will be the time they taste as good as they look.

I often cruise by the bakery.. looking at their cherry and cheese danishes… mouth watering at the sight of their bear claws…

Pondering why can’t they taste like I want them too..

I can’t promise that this recipe will make you pump out some picture perfect goods…

But it will make them taste picture perfect..

That’s all that really matters in home cooking right? That it tastes like it should be in a magazine?

Reminds me of a insult I heard once…

 “She is so beautiful… she could model socks on the radio”

Like 95% of my recipes… we start off with some butter…

They remind me of soldiers… lining up in formation… ready for war…

Only these guys are going to war on your thighs.  

Slice them in half, length wise… saving one half aside for the dough

In between two sheets of wax paper roll out your butter… you want a pretty good size of a butter slab.

Set aside and start working on the dough….

In a mixing bowl add your flour, sugar, salt and yeast

With your hands or a spoon, mix well…

Remember that butter we put aside? Well we are going to mix this in… it helps make a even more flaky crust…

 

I use my hands, because a pastry cutter is to hard to use… ( flash backs of my childhood and having to make pie crusts) smoosh all together till butter is the size of pea’s…

In that we add… eggs

Milk and water

And with a dough hook mix until dough is smooth

Will look like this.. let it rest 10 minutes…

While you have one project going, start dinner (pasta dough starting here)…. I  find that it really helps me to have 20 irons in the fire so I can fall behind and start up the unnecessary screaming at the passerby’s…

Wrap up your second project and pat out your dough in a rectangle…

Roll it out in a bigger rectangle… make sure it is more even than mine…

Butter slab that was set aside… cut it in half..

Lay it in the middle of your dough… attempt to smear it more evenly… give up and fold over one side of the dough..

Place second half of butter on dough like so….. and fold over

"Hi"

Butter peeking out…. Cover him up… we want all the dough covering the butter…

Like so…

Now… roll out again..

 

Fold… and roll out the second time.. place in fridge for 20 minutes to let the dough relax and the butter to harden back up… repeat the whole roll out, fold, roll out fold cycle again. 

I like to divide dough up into three equal “ sheets” like the puff pastry you get in the store… wrap them each in wax paper and then into a plastic sealed bag into the freezer… this way if I only need one sheet ( most of the time two) there isn’t a ice pick and a mallet involved.

Just place in fridge over night to thaw.

So what do you do with this dough??? 

 Mexican pastry's

 Spinach stuffed pastry's

  

And Jam pastry's

Recipes coming soon...

Print Recipe

      

 Danish Pastry dough

    2 cups salted butter, at cool room temperature

    5 1/2 Flour

    1/3 cup granulated sugar

    4 teaspoons instant yeast

    2 1/2 teaspoons salt  

    1 cup cold milk

    1/2 cup lukewarm water

    2 large eggs

Begin by cutting 1/4" butter off the end of each of the 4 sticks in the pound; you'll have about 4 tablespoons butter. Set them (and the remaining butter) aside. You'll be using the 4 tablespoons butter immediately, but won't need the remaining butter until after you've made the dough.

2) In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Add the 4 tablespoons cold butter, working it in with your fingers until no large lumps remain. This step coats the flour a bit with fat, making the pastry a tiny bit more tender.

3) Add the milk, water, and eggs. Mix and knead to make a cohesive, but quite sticky dough.

4) Scrape the dough into a ball, and transfer it to a floured work surface. Cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the butter.

5) Cut each stick of butter in half lengthwise, to make 8 long rectangles. On a piece of floured parchment or plastic wrap, line up 4 of the butter pieces side by side, to form a rectangle. Sprinkle lightly with flour, and cover with another piece of parchment or plastic wrap.

6) Gently pound and roll the butter until it's about 6" x 9". The pieces may or may not meld together. If they do, great, they'll be easier to work with. If not, though, that's OK; don't stress about it.

7) Repeat with the remaining 4 pieces of butter. You should now have two butter rectangles, about 6" x 9" each.

8) Roll the dough into a rectangle about 12" wide and 24" long. Don't worry about being ultra-precise; this is just a guide, though you should try to get fairly close.

9) Place one of the butter pieces onto the center third of the dough. Fold one side over the butter to cover it. Place the other butter piece atop the folded-over dough, and fold the remaining dough up over it. You now have a rectangular "packet" of dough-enclosed butter. Pinch the open ends and side closed as best you can.

10) Turn the dough 90°, so a 12" side is closest to you. Roll the dough into a 10" x 24" rectangle (approximately). Fold each side into the center; then fold one side over the other to make a rectangular packet about 6" x 10".

11) Dust the surface of the dough with flour, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

12) Remove the dough from the fridge, and again roll it into a rectangle about 10" x 24". Fold it into a packet as you did in step #10; it'll be about 7" x 12". Roll one final time, fold into a packet, and flour the dough lightly. Wrap loosely (but completely) in plastic, and chill it for 2 hours, or up to 16 hours. Or in fridge up to three months.

Gooey Cinnamon Rolls

Last night for the first time in weeks I went to bed with no dirty dishes… 

I know you’re thinking “ what a pig!”

And you are right…

There is usually a dozen glasses and some plates that made it to the sink after dinner dishes were attempted to be washed…  I give up and go to bed.. leaving them for the morning… so then after breakfast… once again the pile has tripled and it is a chore.

After everyone went to bed I had some quiet time and attacked the kitchen..

What was the point of airing my dirty laundry??

Now I have time to blog… aside from my coffee cup there is nothing to wash…

Making me want to cook something…

Cinnamon rolls came to mind…

And I remembered how I never shared this insanely easy, perfect every time recipe…

Makes the cinnabon rolls pale in comparison

In warm water proof yeast with some sugar ( to feed it)

In mixing bowl add half of your flour and all the salt..

Melt your milk.. ( melt milk?? I might need some more coffee) and butter.. let it cool somewhat… I like to melt the butter and then add the milk… it brings the temperature down enough not to kill your yeast, yet warm enough to help it grow…

Add milk/butter mixture along with an egg to the flour salt mix

Mix till almost combined..

Add your yeast that should be proofed by now..

Add the rest of your flour

Mix till dough is smooth and silky.. form a ball in bowl and cover till doubled in size

Have your oldest daughter start making something completely different in the middle of your own project..

After dough is doubled shape into a rectangle and roll out to about 1/4 inch thick

Smear some very softened butter all over…

Sprinkle some brown sugar… over that sprinkle some cinnamon

Start at widest side, gently roll up… careful not to stretch the dough..

Here I have two prepared pans ( you can make them all at once or save half for a later craving. Cut into 12 equal pieces …

With the later batch I placed, pan and all into a plastic bag and placed in freezer ( just pull out of freezer the night before and let rise in fridge for 12 hours and then bake)

While the rolls are in the oven I just dump some confectioners’ sugar in a bowl and add heavy whipping cream till I feel it is enough…. Feel free to use your own icing here…

Bake until golden brown

Top with icing and serve…

Print Recipe 

Gooey Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:
1 packet (or 2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
½ cup warm water
½ tsp granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
½ cup whole milk
1 tsp kosher salt
1 large egg
4 cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
Glaze:
1 - 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
3 tbsp whole milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Method:
Dough:
In a small glass bowl, combine yeast and warm water. Sprinkle with a pinch of sugar to "feed" the yeast. Stir to combine and let sit for about 10 minutes. The yeast should become foamy and bubbly. This means it's active.
Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add melted butter, milk, salt, egg and 2 cups of flour.
Mix on a medium speed to combine.
Add the yeast mixture and continue to mix, slowly adding the remaining 2 cups of flour. Mix for about 3 minutes, until a dough forms around the hook.
Remove dough to a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for about 5 minutes.
Form the dough into a ball and place in a well-greased bowl.
Cover the bowl with a damp towel, and set the bowl in a warm, dry place for 1 hour, or until the dough almost doubles in size.
Remove the dough from the bowl onto a floured work surface and punch it down, releasing the air bubbles.
Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 9 x13" rectangle.
Once the dough is rolled out, use a pastry brush to cover the dough rectangle with melted butter.
Evenly spread the brown sugar across the dough and sprinkle with pecans.
Dust with cinnamon.
Starting from the edge of dough closest to you, roll from the bottom up, like a jelly roll.
Trim the ends, and then slice the roll into 2-2 ½-inch pieces with a very sharp knife, yielding 8-12 rolls.
Place each piece into a greased 9x13" baking dish.
Cover the pan once again with a damp towel and return it the warm, dry place for another 30 minutes, or until the dough is risen.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake cinnamon buns for 30 minutes, or until light-golden brown.
Meanwhile, construct the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk all ingredients until smooth.
Add more powdered sugar (for a thicker glaze), or milk (for a thinner glaze).
Pour the glaze over the hot cinnamon buns, and serve hot.