Danish Pastry Dough

Name: Danish Pastry Dough
Prep time: 1 h 30 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Ingredients: 2 cups butter, softened; 2/3 cup all purpose flour; 8 cups flour; 4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast; 2 1/2 cups milk; 1/2 cup sugar; 2 teaspoons salt; 2 eggs, slightly beaten; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

52 comments
April 28, 2014
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Danish pastry dough is a combination of puff pastry, with many thin layers and a yeast dough. It’s flaky, buttery and very soft too. It can be used to create so many different variations of pastries, like croissants, and filled with myriads of cheese, jam, fruit, chocolate, nut fillings, all of them shaped into all sorts of pastries and breads.

Danish pastry bread is absolutely amazing and it’s so good, I don’t mind making it from scratch, because it’s totally worth it. It’s a mixture of soft yeast dough with buttery and flaky puff pastry. In my mind, it’a a match made in heaven. Puff pastry is wonderful in it’s own way, but danish dough is not as greasy and is so tender and flaky.

It’s not as intimidating as it sounds to make your own danish dough from scratch. With a little bit of time, your patience will be rewarded. What can you make from danish pastry dough? The possibilities are endless. One of my favorites is a Strawberry Cheesecake Danish Braid, Danish Cheese Pastries (use the same recipe, using the danish dough instead of puff pastry) Almond Bear Claws, which I will share very soon, and much, much more.

Recipe from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

Butter Rectangle:

2 cups butter, softened

2/3 cup all purpose flour

Danish dough:

8 cups flour

4 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

2 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 eggs, slightly beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions:

Mix the softened butter with 2/3 cups flour until evenly combined. Divide the butter mixture in half.

Roll out each half of the butter mixture into a 6×12 inch rectangle, in between parchment paper or wax paper. Chill until firm.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix 3 cups of flour with the yeast. In a small saucepan, mix the milk, sugar and salt. Heat it up on medium heat until the milk reaches 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit. Add the milk mixture, the eggs and vanilla to the flour and yeast mixture. Mix until smooth. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 a cup at a time until you have a smooth dough, kneading for at least 5 minutes at the end. Divide the dough in half, cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place until it doubles in size, 30-60 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out each portion of dough into a 12×20 inch rectangle. Place the butter rectangle over half of the dough and fold the other half over it.

Pinch of edges of dough together and roll it out into a 12×20 inch rectangle.

At this point, fold the rectangle into thirds, like an envelope.

Repeat by rolling out the dough again into a 12×20 inch rectangle and then fold it into thirds again. Repeat with the other portion of dough and the remaining butter rectangle.

Wrap each square of dough loosely in plastic wrap and place into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. If at any point of the rolling process the butter becomes too warm and soft, place the dough into the refrigerator to chill.

After chilling for at least 30 minutes, the dough will rise slightly. Roll the dough again into a 12×20 inch rectangle, fold into thirds and repeat again. Chill for another 30 minutes or overnight before shaping the dough and baking it.