Easy Danish Recipe with Pears and Cranberries in Puff Pastry

All the flavors of fall are wrapped in this Easy Danish Recipe. The pear and cranberry filling is braided into puff pastry and baked until flaky and golden brown. Prepare it the night before then, pop it in the oven to give any weekend breakfast a holiday feel.

Hi, I’m Sandy from Everyday Southwest. I so happy that Anjanette asked me to guest post on Momma Young at Home to share my fast and easy danish recipe with you. I don’t know about you, but for some reason when I think about weekend breakfasts, I get this image in my head of the perfect mom (Carol Brady) standing in the kitchen with high heels, a string of pearls (Mrs Cleaver) and a tray of warm baked goodies all ready to eat when the family comes down the stairs (Cops and Robbersons). I just don’t know how in the world that image stuck in my head, I don’t know a single real mom like that. Especially me!


In fact, my family can usually tell it’s the weekend because there is fruit to put on top of the cereal. I guess I am in as big a rush in the mornings as everyone else and I don’t spend as much time preparing for breakfast as I do for the other meals of the day. But, I have promised myself this year’s holiday breakfasts will be different. No more frozen waffles or poppin’ fresh biscuits… at least on the actual holiday, anyway.

To get ready for the holiday rush, I have been trying out new ideas and recipes to see what works, what I can make ahead of time and what my family loves. That’s how I put together this easy danish recipe with pears and cranberries wrapped in puff pastry. I know Anjanette has a freezer meal recipe as her “go to” recipes when things get busy and this recipe with frozen puff pastry fits right in.

Here are some tips to get this yummy danish on the table fast—

Be sure to thaw the puff pastry overnight in the refrigerator, not on the counter. It will be ready for you and it will not be soggy!

Make the filling ahead of time. The recipe does have apples and pears that will brown so, make sure you sauté the filling before putting it in the fridge so the pears won’t turn brown.

Prepare and cut the puff pastry the night before and put it on the parchment lined baking sheet in the fridge. Be sure to cover it well with plastic wrap!

Before breakfast, remove the filling and pastry from the fridge and bring it to room temperature. The pastry should still be cold but, it should be warm enough to bend into shape.

EASY DANISH RECIPE WITH PEARS AND CRANBERRIES IN PUFF PASTRY

Author: Sandy Hoopes

INGREDIENTS

Dough

• 1 package frozen bought puff pastry
• granulated sugar for dusting.
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 teaspoons water
• Sanding sugar or coarse sugar for finishing

Filling

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 4 firm pears peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 2 tart apples peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• pinch of cloves (optional)
• ⅛ cup sugar
• ⅛ cup brown sugar
• 2/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon water (if necessary)
• sanding sugar (or coarse sugar) for sprinkling

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Remove puff pastry from freezer and thaw in the refrigerator overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare a baking sheet with lightly greased parchment paper.
3. Melt the butter in a large skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat. 
4. Add the sliced pears, cranberries, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice to the pan. 
5. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the pears are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated.
6.  Pour into a large bowl and chill while preparing the dough.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare a baking sheet with lightly greased parchment paper.
8. Remove the puff pastry from its wrapper and spread out on a cutting board or counter. 
9. Dust both sides of the pastry with granulated sugar. 
10. Roll the dough slightly with a rolling pin just enough to smooth out the creases in the dough.
11. Turn the dough so that the two "creases" in the puff pastry line up going away from you and you see the dough separated into thirds. 
12. On one of the outside thirds of the dough, make horizontal cuts that are parallel to each other and 1 inch apart. 
13. Repeat on the other, outer third section of the dough. The center of the dough should be uncut.
14. Arrange the pear-cranberry mixture in the center of the puff pastry. Leave one inch at the top and bottom of the pastry empty. 
15. Cut off the top and bottom strips from each side of the pastry leaving one inch of dough in the center third section. Fold the top inch of dough from the center section over the pears and repeat with the bottom inch of dough. 
16. Fold the cut strips over the pear filling one at a time at a slight diagonal. Alternate between the left and the right so that your pastry will look like it is braided. Tuck the excess dough of each strip under the pastry. Place on the parchment lined baking sheet.
17. If the dough has become warm, return the braided pastry to the refrigerator to chill before baking.
18. Before baking, beat the egg and the water together with a fork and brush over the pastry. Sprinkle with sanding sugar or coarse sugar.
19. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 and bake for 15 to 25 minutes more or until the pastry is golden brown and cooked through.

I hope you love this recipe! Be sure to let Anjanette know what you think, you can leave a comment for her hear on this post or follow her on Facebook. If you have any questions, you can always find me at home on Everyday Southwest.