Hello holiday goodness, we love you. Yes, these pastries are homemade – and yes, I’m about to teach you how to make them!

These delicious danishes are made with my homemade Cranberry Apple Butter and the dough from my Butter Croissant Recipe. The apple butter can be made well in advance, and the croissant dough takes a little bit of patience – but on these cold days, with a little determination, I’m confident that you can do it. After all, I managed to, and I… live the crazy life, if you recall my mentioning that from a recent post.

If you really feel like you don’t want to bother making them, however, and you DO want to try them – Give Anchor Coffee House a call to see when they’ll next be served. I have the joy of making them there sometimes, and they’re always delicious and fresh!

I’ve made these danishes three ways: 1) With Cranberry Apple Butter (as per this post), 2) With Sweet Apple Butter, and 3) with Sweet Apple Butter and Brie cheese… which, spoiler alert, I will be posting next week. 🙂 So stay tuned!

I find that the buttery, flaky layers of this savoury pastry paired with the sweet/tart flavour of the apple butter is a winning combination. I hope that you will enjoy it as much as I do!

Scroll down for the recipe!

Cranberry Apple Butter Danishes 
Makes 6

Ingredients:
1/2 batch Butter Croissant dough (prepared up to step 4 in my tutorial)
6 Tbsp-1/2 c. Cranberry Apple Butter
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. cold water
Sliced or slivered almonds, for sprinkling
Fresh rosemary and cranberries, to garnish (optional)

Directions:
(1) Remove the prepared, chilled croissant dough from the refrigerator, and roll out on a lightly floured work surface into a 9×9-inch square. Cut 6 equal-sized pieces.

Note: If you want a larger yield, use the full recipe of dough instead of half, and roll the dough into a 9″x18″ rectangle, to make 12. The rest of the recipe should be doubled accordingly, but you’ll still only need one egg, to glaze the batch when you’re done.

 

(2) The pieces will shrink back a little bit after you roll them, so before you form each danish, you should re-roll each piece, to make them a little wider. I would aim for about 4×4.5-inch rectangles, for the best results.

(3) Using a sharp knife, cut little slits about 1/2-inch wide all the way down each side of the mini-rectangle (about 10 each side), cutting in about 1-inch deep, and slanting them in opposite directions, as pictured below.

(4) Spread about 2-3 Tbsp. of the cranberry apple butter down the centre strip of each danish.

(5) Fold the top lip of the dough down (see photos), and begin “braiding” the cut pieces over each other, alternating sides, just until the apple butter is covered and the seams are concealed beneath the next strip of dough.

(6) When you get the end of the braid, before you fold in the last four strips, fold up the bottom piece to seal in the apple butter (see step-by-step photos below), and then wrap the top two pieces over that and underneath to hold it in place. Tuck the final two pieces of dough underneath to seal.

Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

(6) Lay the finished  danishes onto a large, ungreased baking sheet and cover loosely with a tea towel to rise. Allow to rest at least 1-3 hours, or until doubled in bulk.

Note: The rising time will vary, depending on the temperature of your house. 

(7) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and brush the risen danishes with your egg and water mixture, and then sprinkle with almonds. Bake 20-25 minutes, or until puffy and golden. Cool on wire racks. Decorate with fresh cranberries and rosemary, to serve.

They are as good as the look – actually, probably better.

Let me know what you think! Back soon,

–Naomi