Danish Sugar Pretzels Kringler Food

DANISH SUGAR PRETZELS (KRINGLER)

Steps:

• Cover baking sheets with parchment or grease them.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a bowl, or in the work bowl of a food processor, combine flour, butter, baking, powder, egg, and heavy cream.
• Mix with hand mixer or process until dough forms.
• Chill 30 minutes.
• Using pieces of dough the size of a small walnut, roll into thin strips about 6 inches long.
• Turn into pretzel shapes and dip tops in pearl sugar or crushed sugar cubes.
• Place on prepared baking sheets with sugar side up.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until golden.

DANISH KRINGLE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cut 1 cup butter into flour until crumbly, leaving pea-sized chunks. Stir in sour cream, and mix well; dough will be very sticky. Form dough into a ball. Cover tightly, and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet. Prepare the filling by combining 1 cup butter, brown sugar, and 1 cup chopped walnuts.
• Divide dough into three equal parts; return two parts to the refrigerator to keep cold. Quickly form 1/3 of the dough into a rectangle, and flour lightly. On a heavily floured surface, roll out to approximately 12x17 inches. Position lengthwise on the work surface. Along the long edges of the dough rectangle, use a sharp knife to cut 4 inch long angled lines about 1/2 inch apart. Spoon 1/3 of the filling along the length of the rectangle's uncut center. Alternating from one side of the dough to the other, fold each 1/2 inch wide strip towards the center, crisscrossing the filling in a braid-like fashion. Lightly press together the ends of the strips to seal. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the remaining walnuts. Repeat with remaining ingredients to form 3 braided danishes. Arrange danishes on prepared baking sheet.
• Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown. Cool for approximately 30 minutes. While the danishes are cooling, prepare the icing: mix confectioners sugar and water until smooth. Drizzle in fine streams over warm danishes.

DANISH KNOTS (KRINGLER) LIGHT FLAKY BAKED WHIPPED CREAM COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift flour, sugar, and baking powder together in a bowl. Cut in butter until particles are the size of rice kernels. (I allow butter to slightly soften at room temperature while I gather my ingredients to make cutting it into the flour easier, but it should still be mostly firm).
• In a separate bowl, whip heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form. (Whip it until it is the consistency of whipped cream used for topping a slice of pie).
• Mix in cream with a fork and knead lightly with fingertips until mixture makes a ball.
• Roll a fourth of the dough at a time into a 6 by 4 inch rectangle. Sprinkle crushed loaf sugar over the dough, pressing in lightly. (I use granulated sugar instead of loaf sugar.) Cut into 6 by ¼ inch strips. Form into figure eights or loose knots to resemble pretzels. Place on ungreased parchment paper-lined cookie sheets. (Note: when making pretzel shapes, press the dough down where the strips overlap to make the same thickness as the sides of the cookie for even baking. Otherwise, the sides will cook too quickly leaving the thicker layered of dough still raw).
• Bake at 400F degrees about 12 minutes or until lightly golden. (Because oven temperatures vary, I bake mine for 16 minutes to achieve lightly golden color all over. Watch closely for they burn easily.) Store in an airtight cookie tin at room temperature.

FLAKY DANISH KRINGLE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream 6 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons flour. Spread into an 8x4-in. rectangle on a piece on waxed paper. Cover with waxed paper; refrigerate. , In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the cream, sugar, salt and egg; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Do not let rise. Roll into an 8-in. square. Remove top sheet of waxed paper from butter mixture; invert onto center of dough. Peel off waxed paper. Fold plain dough over butter layer. Fold widthwise into thirds. Roll out into a 12x6-in. rectangle. Fold into thirds. Repeat rolling and folding twice. Wrap in waxed paper; refrigerate for 30 minutes. , On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 24x5-in. rectangle. In a small bowl, beat almond paste and remaining butter; beat until smooth. Spread lengthwise down the center of dough. Fold dough over filling to cover; pinch to seal. Place on a greased baking sheet. Shape into a pretzel. Flatten lightly with a rolling pin. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350°., Brush egg white over dough. Sprinkle with cookie crumbs and almonds. Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Carefully remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.