I love Danish pastries and I absolutely love cinnamon Danish pastry! It’s buttery pastry that is filled with a cinnamon sugar filling and topped with a vanilla glaze. It’s completely delicious! It can also be made a day before. I will usually make the dough the day before and bake this pastry the night before so I can enjoy it in the morning.
As with any pastry, this cinnamon Danish pastry recipe is a labor of love. It isn’t hard to make but does take some time, meaning a few hours where you will be pulling out the dough and working for 5 minute intervals, so it isn’t hard but none the less it takes time.
This cinnamon Danish Pastry is a traditional pastry recipe that involves lamination or the technique of folding the butter into the dough so you end up with a lot of delicious layers in your pastry dough. It isn’t hard to do but takes time because it requires refrigeration after each “turn” or each time you fold the dough into 3rds. However, the layers are so worth it and of course when you get to taste it you will be in love!
This recipe makes 2 cinnamon Danish pastries that are roughly 8 inches by 4 inches or they can be divided into individual pastries. This dough can be frozen if you want to save some of it for later. I will add instructions on how to do that in the recipe below. If I am making pastries I prefer to make a larger batch because of the time invested, however this recipe can also be cut in half if you don’t want enough pastries to feed 6-8 people or don’t want to freeze the dough for another day.
What is lamination?
As I said above, lamination is the technique we will use to fold the butter into the dough. It involves creating a butter square, which is just butter pressed together into a square between two sheets of parchment paper. I use a rolling pin to press it down and form the square. I don’t usually measure my butter squares but aim to have them about 8 x 8 inches in a square. The butter has to be softened slightly before you form the square, then it needs to be refrigerated again so it is completely cold when it gets introduced to your pastry dough. If the butter gets warm at an time during the folding process it will dissolve into your dough and the layer will disappear and you will get a buttery dough but no layers.
What is package stage?
This is when you first introduce your butter square into your pastry dough. They call it package stage because it looks like your are wrapping your butter up into a nice little package. You will place your butter square into the center of your rolled out dough so it looks like a diamond. You will then fold in the corners so all of the corner points of the dough meet together in the middle of the dough. I looks just like folding a package.
What is a turn?
The term turn, as I mentioned above has to do with the folding of the dough into the pastry dough. Once you place the butter square into dough package, you will roll out the dough with the butter inside into a large rectangle then you will fold that rectangle into thirds, like you are folding a towel. you will then wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place it back into the refrigerator so the butter can chill again. That process is called a turn. So this recipe does 3 turns, meaning you will repeat that process 3 times before we will place the filling, let the dough rise and bake the pastry.
What you need to make cinnamon Danish pastry:
Serves 8 – makes 2 ~8 x 4 inch rectangular Danish pastries
Butter square:
- 16 tablespoons salted butter
Pastry Dough:
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons salted butter – melted
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 3 1/2 cups flour
Filling:
- 8 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
Egg wash:
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk or cream
Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
- pinch salt
- splash of vanilla extract
Instructions for butter square:
- Soften butter slightly but you still want it a little firm then form into roughly a 8 x 8 inch and ~1/2 inch thick butter square.
- Placed in between 2 sheets of parchment paper them refrigerated until firm.
Instructions for pastry dough:
- In a mixing bowl, add warm water, dry active yeast and sugar.
- Stir and let sit for 2 minutes.
- Add salt and stir again.
- Add melted butter, egg and milk and stir.
- Slowly add flour, one cup at a time until a non-sticky dough forms.
- Knead for 3 minutes if using an electric mixer knead for 2 minutes.
- Cover and let dough rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- Roll dough out on a floured and non stick surface. Form dough into a square roughly 12 x 12 inches.
- Remove butter from the refrigerator and parchment paper then place butter square in the center of your dough, so it looks like a diamond in the middle of your dough square.
- Fold in the corners to form a box.
- Roll dough out to a rectangle roughly 14 by 16, then fold into 3 layers, each side folded in towards the center, like you would fold a towel.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Remove plastic wrap and roll out again into roughly a 14 X 16 inch rectangle. Fold into thirds again, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes again. This is turn two.
- Repeat the same steps of rolling out and folding one more time, this is your third turn.
- Refrigerate dough again for 10 minutes.
- Roll out dough into a 14 x 20 inch rectangle.
- Cut dough in half So it’s two squares that are about 8 x 10 inches each.
- place dough on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
- Mix together the softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon and place down the center of the pastry, don’t let it run off the sides because it can cause the dough to burn during the baking process.
- Slice the sides of the rectangle about 2 inches towards the center on each side and every inch of dough. Fold the dough strips over towards the middle over the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Lightly cover your dough with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Mix together the egg wash and brush it over the dough.
- Bake it for 20 minutes, keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.
- When dough looks golden, remove from oven.
- Allow to cool then mix together the glaze ingredients and drizzle over pastry.
- Enjoy!
- If you are freezing the dough, on the third turn after folding into thirds, wrap in plastic wrap and place in a zip lock bag and freeze dough.
- When you want to use the dough, let dough defrost in the refrigerator for a day or until dough is defrosted. Roll out and follow steps to make pastry.
Here are a few other recipes you may love:
Cinnamon Caramel Apple Tart
Chocolate Chip Scones with Vanilla Frosting
Lemon Raspberry Rolls
Overnight Orange Rolls
Butter Croissant Rolls
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Pumpkin Croissant Rolls
Cinnamon Danish Pastry
Ingredients
- Butter square:
- 16 tablespoons salted butter
- Pastry Dough:
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- Filling:
- 8 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
- Egg wash:
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk or cream
- Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons milk
- pinch salt
- splash of vanilla extract
Instructions
- Instructions for butter square:
- Soften butter slightly but you still want it a little firm then form into roughly a 8 x 8 inch and ~1/2 inch thick butter square. Placed in between 2 sheets of parchment paper them refrigerated until firm.
- In a mixing bowl, add warm water, dry active yeast and sugar.
- Stir and let sit for 2 minutes.
- Add salt and stir again.
- Add melted butter, egg and milk and stir.
- Slowly add flour, one cup at a time until a non-sticky dough forms.
- Knead for 3 minutes if using an electric mixer knead for 2 minutes.
- Cover and let dough rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- Roll dough out on a floured and non stick surface. Form dough into a square roughly 12 x 12 inches.
- Remove butter from the refrigerator and parchment paper then place butter square in the center of your dough, so it looks like a diamond in the middle of your dough square.
- Fold in the corners to form a box.
- Roll dough out to a rectangle roughly 14 by 16, then fold into 3 layers, each side folded in towards the center, like you would fold a towel.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Remove plastic wrap and roll out again into roughly a 14 X 16 inch rectangle. Fold into thirds again, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes again. This is turn two.
- Repeat the same steps of rolling out and folding one more time, this is your third turn.
- Refrigerate dough again for 10 minutes.
- Roll out dough into a 14 x 20 inch rectangle.
- Cut dough in half So it’s two squares that are about 8 x 10 inches each.
- place dough on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
- Mix together the softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon and place down the center of the pastry, don’t let it run off the sides because it can cause the dough to burn during the baking process.
- Slice the sides of the rectangle about 2 inches towards the center on each side and every inch of dough. Fold the dough strips over towards the middle over the cinnamon sugar mixture.
- Lightly cover your dough with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Mix together the egg wash and brush it over the dough.
- Bake it for 20 minutes, keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.
- When dough looks golden, remove from oven.
- Allow to cool then mix together the glaze ingredients and drizzle over pastry.
- Enjoy!
- If you are freezing the dough, on the third turn after folding into thirds, wrap in plastic wrap and place in a zip lock bag and freeze dough.
- When you want to use the dough, let dough defrost in the refrigerator for a day or until dough is defrosted. Roll out and follow steps to make pastry.