Easy Apple Danish

Frog Prince was out of town all week… so to welcome him home, I whipped up an easy Apple Danish. 

I’ve been putting off making a Danish for who knows how long.  I don’t know if I was fearing hours in the kitchen, or a hard-to-work with dough in order to get the texture just right, but there was something keeping me from diving in to make a Danish. 

I’m pretty sure it had something to do with the pastry dough itself. 

Most recipes call for crescent roll or puff pastry dough – neither of which we have on hand in a cook-from-scratch kitchen.  I do have a DIY crescent roll dough that we love, but it takes time to rise.  And, I didn’t want to take 3 hours to make a pastry for breakfast. 

Somehow, I landed on a dough recipe from Willow Bird Baking.  A dough recipe that didn’t require rise time, and get this – can be made the night before.  Brilliant.  

I don’t know why I let the dough scare me off from making a Danish – the whole thing went into the oven in 20 minutes, and was way too easy.  And, did I mention tasty?

Easy Apple Danish – Dough Adapted from Willow Bird Baking

Dough Ingredients

• 1 C flour {I used Eagle Mills with UltraGrain}
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 C butter
• 1.5 oz. cream cheese
• 1/4 C milk + 1 tsp. milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Filling Ingredients

• 1 recipe Apple Maple Sauté
• 1 T sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Glaze Ingredients

• 1/2 C powdered sugar
• 2 tsp. milk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• Or, cream cheese frosting {recipe found here}

Directions

If you have a food processor, you’ll want to use this to make the dough.  If not, grab a medium-sized bowl and a pastry cutter or a fork. 

In the bowl combine 1 C flour (Note – I do not recommend using 100% whole wheat here, as the bread will not be light & fluffy; try a 50/50 mix, or something like Eagle Mills). 

Then, cut in the butter.  You can either do this by pulsing your food processor 4-5 times until butter is cut in.  Otherwise, use a fork or pastry cutter to do so by hand.  If you take that approach, dice up the butter into small slices or cubes. 

Cut in the cream cheese too.  Follow the same method as above. 

Then, pour in 1/4 C + 1 tsp. milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla into the dough.  Pulse a few more times until the dough is moist.  If by hand, use the fork to stir the wet ingredients in; the dough will become clumpy. 

Using your hand, form the dough into a ball and place it on a lightly floured surface or a pastry mat. 

Divide the dough into 6 parts and shape each into a small circle; about 3-4 inches in diameter.  Don’t worry if they look a little “rough around the edges”… they will cook up just fine. 

Shape the circles such that the edges are slightly raised, and the center is slightly depressed.  Place these onto a greased, parchment covered, or baking mat lined cookie sheet. 

Combine the cinnamon and sugar together in a small bowl.  Sprinkle the mixture over the crust. 

Spoon 1-2 T of maple apples into the center of each Danish. 

Sprinkle with additional cinnamon and sugar. 

Bake in an oven heated to 425 for 15 minutes.  Reduce the heat to 350 and bake for an additional 3-4 minutes. 

Meanwhile, make the glaze by mixing together 1/2 C powdered sugar, 2 tsp. milk and at most 1/2 tsp. vanilla.  Any more (like we accidentally did) and you have a dark glaze and a very vanilla-tasting one!  Cream Cheese Frosting is a yummy alternative here.

When the Danishes are done, remove from the oven and allow them to cool for 1-2 minutes.  Plate and drizzle with glaze. 

Makes 6 Danishes (double the batch to make 12). 

Enjoy!

**The dough can be made ahead of time and shaped into Danishes so that in the morning all you need to do is fill them an bake them.