A Danish pastry and a cuppa to start the day is a lovely thing. Layered pastry that has a crisp outside, layers of soft dough and tastes buttery and delicous. Easier than an authentic Danish dough but every bit as delicious, my easy Danish pastry recipe removes the need for a butter block and any confusion over when the dough and butter are the right temperature, so you can get back to just creating delicious treats.
I created this recipe years ago and it's been very popular on my sister blog. It gives similar results to a traditional dough and results and scrumptious, irresistible pastries.
This recipe focuses on the pastry only and doesn't delve into types of Danish pastries like custard Danishes or spandauer. It gives you all you need to know to create your own.
When you master this, try authentic croissants too - they're much like making authentic Danish pastry.
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❤️ Why you'll love it
- Buttery, soft, with flaky edges and light as air
- Bakery-style layers made easy
- No special tools and no butter block required
- Make-ahead and freezer friendly
- Versatile dough for individual pastries, braids and more
- Easy method, consistent results
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What is Danish pastry
Danish pastry is a laminated dough (meaning it has distinct layers of butter and dough) - it's a yeasted dough with many layers, similar to croissant dough. It's a sweet dough used for creating pastries with different fillings and flavours and often eaten in the morning.
Traditional Danish dough (Wienerbrød aka Vienna bread) uses a butter block locked inside layers of dough that is then rolled and folded numerous times so that you have many layers of each in one piece. My easy Danish pastry removes the butter block and replaces it with a simplified method. It still results in delicious light and flaky pastries but the layers won't be as distinct as a traditional dough.
Ingredients & substitutions
Danish pastry has just 7 very simple ingredients.
Jump to the recipe card for full quantities and instructions.
- Flour: Just plain flour / all-purpose flour.
- Yeast: I use instant dry yeast for this recipe. You can also use active dry yeast without any other changes. If you want to use fresh yeast, you'll need about 3x as much.
- Milk: Use whole milk for richness.
- Butter: Use unsalted butter.
- Egg: Just one whole egg and an added egg white for structure.
- Sugar: Just caster sugar or white granulated sugar.
- Salt: Just a pinch of salt will intensify flavours
How to make easy Danish pastry dough from scratch
Again, keep in mind, this is a simplified version of Danish dough and so is a different method without using a butter block.
While the method is very simple, you will still need to plan ahead (an overnight rest in the fridge will give you the best results) and you will need to be patient with resting times. That said, you can make this dough ahead of time and freeze it until ready to turn it into individual pastries. There is actually only about 30 minutes of hands on time.
Jump to the recipe card for full quantities and instructions.
Activate the yeast
You don't need to activate instant yeast for it to work however I always take this step as I can see in minutes if the yeast is good or expired. With active dry yeast you do need to do this step, don't skip it. Just mix the yeast, a little sugar and warm milk in a bowl and let it sit until you see it getting nice and puffy on top.
Add the remaining ingredients
Add the rest of the sugar, flour, eggs, and salt and mix until you get a rough sticky dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface (a dough scraper is so helpful here), turn the bowl upside down over the top and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Knead and shape
Now, adding only as much flour as you need to (resist the urge to add too much), gently knead the dough for a few seconds and shape it into a square or rectangle.
Roll out
Roll the Danish dough out into a large rectangle.
Add the butter
Now, with the long side closest to you, imagine the dough in thirds. Grate the butter over two thirds, leave one side bare. Press the butter down with your hands then fold the bare side over the middle section. Finally, fold the last butter side over the middle as well.
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First roll and fold
Roll the dough out into a large rectangle again, and again fold it in 3. At this point, you have two options: chill the dough overnight and continue the following day or rest the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes and continue on the same day.
Two more roll and folds
Now, roll the pastry dough out to a large rectangle and fold in 3 again, two more times. If you didn't already chill it overnight, do that now. If you did, chill it for 45 minutes before turning into Danishes or freeze the dough for another time.
That's it! You've just made Danish pastry dough. It's ready for you to use now and turn into individual Danish pastries or Danish braids.
Tips and tricks
- There is no "temperature" to worry about with this dough, unless the butter is clearly melting and making the dough greasy. If that's the case, you just need to chill it between rolls.
- Try not to add more flour than you need. As the dough is rolled and folded, the gluten is developed and it will become less sticky. If it's sticking to the worktop, dust underneath with a little flour. Likewise, if it's sticking to the rolling pin, dust the top with a little flour.
- The overnight chill is important as it both allows the dough relax and allows the fermentation to start which adds flavour.
How to use Danish pastry dough
- Individual pastries: Roll the dough into a rectangle about 30x40cm (12x16 inches) and cut it into 12 even squares. Fill and shape them as you like then let them rise for 45-60 minutes and bake. This will give you 12 bakery size Danish pastries.
- Braids: You can make two Danish braids from this recipe. Cut the dough in half and roll it out to a rectangle about 32.5x27.5cm (13×11 inches). With the long side closest to you, cut the left and right thirds into 1 inch horizontal strips whilst leaving the middle section intact. Add filling to the centre, the fold the strips over, alternating sides to encase the filling. Rise for 45-60 minutes then bake. You can see the braids tutorial with this almond Danish braid.
Always brush your Danish pastries with an egg wash before baking.
Making Danish pastry ahead of time
While it's not difficult to make and there is relatively little hands-on time, there is plenty of chilling and resting time that you can't avoid if you want perfect pastries. Here's a little guide to timing so you can plan your Danish pastry ahead of time.
Hands-on time: Prep the dough (10 minutes), fold in the butter (5 minutes), first roll and fold (5 minutes), second and third roll and folds (10 minutes). So, total hands-on time for the dough to be ready to use is 30-40 minutes.
Chilling & resting time: Rest the rough dough (30 minutes), chill overnight (8 hours min or up to 24 hours), chill after first fold (30 minutes), rest after 2nd & 3rd folds (60 minutes). So, total resting time is a minimum of 10 hours. You may need more depending on how warm it is in your house (you may need to chill between folds as well).
So, let's work out an action plan for having a batch of pastries ready to bake for a breakfast treat.
- 1-2 days ahead of time: Make the rough dough. Rest for 30 minutes then fold in the butter. First roll and fold. Chill overnight.
- Later that afternoon or the following morning: Roll and fold 2 more times. Rest 60 minutes. Roll and create pastries and chill overnight or let them proof then freeze.
- The following morning: Bake your pastries.
Baking Danishes
The baking time and temperature will vary depending on the size of the Danish pastries you create.
For me, I bake individual-sized Danishes at 190-200C / 375-400F for 20-22 minutes or until nice and golden brown. Large pastries, like a Danish braid I bake at 180C/350F for 25-30 minutes.
Storage
Danish dough can be stored in the fridge wrapped with plastic wrap for up to 48 hours but it will continue to ferment and develop that flavour (fermentation makes dough slightly more acidic over time - like a sourdough, for instance, has a long fermentation period).
To reduce or prevent fermentation, wrap the dough well in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Depending on the filling, you can also often freeze the pastries once filled, and proofed for up to 3 months. This is great if you have an event coming up and you want to have the pastries ready to bake in the morning. Let them thaw on a baking tray in the fridge overnight and bake the following morning. Don't leave them longer than that or they may overprove.
FAQs
Danish pastry dough is flaky because the cold butter layered through the dough melts and releases steam as it bakes. That steam lifts and separates the layers creating the signature dough-air-dough structure that gives Danish pastries their light, flaky texture.
Yes, you can freeze Danish pastry dough. You can freeze it after it's had its overnight rest or once your completely made Danish pastries have proofed.
No. Danish pastry is more bread-like than puff pastry. Puff pastry does not include yeast or eggs so it has a very different texture to Danish dough.
Danish dough and croissant dough are similar however Danish dough has egg added to the mix to make it richer and is sweeter than croissant dough. Both Danish pastry and croissant dough are part of a branch of pastry known as "viennoiserie".
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Easy Danish Pastry
Equipment
- Mixing bowl
- Rolling Pin
Ingredients
- ¾ cup whole milk (180ml)
- 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast (or active dry yeast) (1 sachet / 8g) (notes 2)
- ⅓ cup white granulated sugar (66g / ~2⅓oz)
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg white from a large egg
- 390 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (3 cups / ~13¾oz)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 226 g unsalted butter full fat - no light versions, coarsely grated and very cold (1 cup / 2 sticks / 8oz)
Instructions
- FOR THE DANISH DOUGH: Add the milk to a large microwave-safe bowl and heat in the microwave for 20-30 seconds until just tepid to the touch - not hot.
- Add 1 tablespoon of the measured sugar and all of the yeast and whisk together. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes until you see it looking puffy on top. If it doesn't start puffing up, your yeast might be expired so get some new yeast and start again.
- In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg and egg white to break them up.
- To the yeast bowl, add the flour, salt and eggs. Mix with a spoon as much as possible then you might need to get your hands in there to mix until it comes together into a fully combined yet rough and sticky dough.
- Dust a clean work surface with flour, scrape the dough out onto the flour, and turn the bowl upside down over the top. Let it rest for 30-40 minutes.
- Dust the top of the dough with a little flour then gently knead into a rough rectangle. Try to add only enough flour to stop it from sticking to your hands but not so much that you dry out the dough.
- Roll it out to roughly 40x25cm (16x10 inches).
- ADDING THE BUTTER: With the long side of dough closest to you and the two short sides to your left and right, imagine the dough in thirds.
- Measure out your cold butter as a block, then use a box grater to grate it directly onto ⅔ of the dough, leaving one third on the left or right bare.
- Press down on the butter to flatten it slightly
- Fold the bare piece of dough over the centre piece. Now fold the other side (butter covered) over the centre as well.
- Roll the dough out to 40x25cm (16x10 inches) again, then fold in thirds again. Only dust with flour if absolutely necessary to stop it sticking. Try to keep the edges straight just by tapping them in from time to time.
- Wrap well in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
- THE NEXT DAY: Roll the dough out to roughly 40x25cm (16x10 inches) again and fold in thirds. Only dust with flour if absolutely necessary to stop it sticking. Again, try to keep the edges as straight as possible.
- Repeat step 13.
- Chill the dough for at least 1 hour to relax it (you can chill it overnight again if you like).
- USING THE DOUGH: The dough is now ready to turn into Danish pastries.- Baking time and temp will depend on what you're creating with the dough but 180C/350F oven temp is a good all round temperature and cook until golden brown.- This batch will yield 12 individual breakfast-sized pastries similar to what you'd get in a bakery or 2 Danish braids.- Once you've shaped your Danishes, let them rest at room temperature for 45-60 minutes before baking. They should look a bit puffy but they won't double in size.- For larger pastries or on warmer days, I find a chill in the fridge for 30 minutes after they've risen and while you let your oven preheat helps them hold their shape better.- The dough can be frozen and will be perfect to use after thawing. You can use half a batch and freeze the rest if you like.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- Step 2 is activating the yeast. While not a requirement when using instant yeast, it's a great way to check that your yeast is actually good and not expired without wasting all the other ingredients. If using active dry yeast, you need to activate it anyway so this step covers both types.
- If you want to do all the rolling and folding in one day, you can but don't skip the chilling overnight once it's done. After step 12, chill the dough for 30 minutes to relax it a little, then go ahead and do the two final roll and folds. Now, wrap in plastic wrap and chill overnight.
- Nutrition values are based on making 12 pastries from 1 batch of dough.
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