Easy Danish Pastry

Assorted Danish pastries on a white plate.

5 from 6 votes

Make your own delicious Danish pastries! This easy recipe yields flaky, layered pastries perfect for breakfast or snacking.

Prep Time25

Cook Time25

Additional Time6

Total Time6 50

Cuisine: GBBO Inspired

Calories: 4061kcal

Author: Laura

Equipment

Ingredients

16 1/2 TBSP 250 grams cold butter
4 1/5 cups 500 grams all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp 7 grams salt
1/3 cup 80 grams granulated sugar
1 TBSP 10 grams instant yeast
260 ml milk
1 egg

Instructions

place the butter on a piece of parchment paper then use a rolling pin to bash it out to a rectangle 12X6 inches, cover, and refrigerate
put the flour, sugar, salt in the bowl of a mixer
mix the milk and yeast together add egg and mix again
add the liquids to the flour and stir to combine
if the mix is really dry add another TBSP of milk and continue mixing
when it comes together as a dough let the machine knead it for 4-5 minutes
wrap in plastic wrap or place in a sealed proving box and put in the refrigerator for 2 hours
after 2 hours roll the dough out to about 24 by 12 inches on a lightly floured counter
lay the butter over the center, fold the edges in to meet, pinching them shut and covering the butter completely, fold in half, cover tightly refrigerate for 30 minutes
pull it out, turn a quarter turn from the last way you rolled, roll it out to a long rectangle, fold in half, refrigerate
repeat the roll, fold and refrigerate two more times
from here your dough is ready to use you can cover and refrigerate overnight for best results OR cover it tightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
when ready to use divide the dough in half, cover one half, and set aside
with the other half roll it out and cut desired shapes, fill, cover and proof for 1-2 hours, then egg wash them before baking in 350˚ oven for 20-30 minutes until lightly brown on top, and crispy on the bottom
to make the TWO styles that I created here's what I did:

For the Cranberry-Orange Rolls: toss 1/2 cup dried cranberries with the zest of an orange and set aside
Roll out 1/2 of the batch of dough into a rectangle about 13X10
sprinkle with the prepared cranberries, roll loosely from the long side, trim ends, mark in 1-inch increments, cut, place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for 1-2 hours until puffy, brush with an egg was and bake in a preheated oven for 22-25 minutes

For the Apple Pinwheels: Roll half of the batch of dough into a 16X12 inch rectangle, cut into 12 equal pieces
move to a parchment-lined baking sheet cut 4 diagonal lines from the corners, use a little water and fold one tip of each corner in to make the pinwheel, use the water to stick the dough down
brush with egg wash sprinkle with granulated sugar
place about 1 tsp of apple sauce in the center, put a couple of raisins in the apple sauce if desired (I thought they might soak up any liquid off the apple sauce) cover, prove for 1-2 hours until puffy, bake for 25-30 minutes until the top is browned and the bottoms are crispy

Nutrition