Recipe Details
Community Pick Almond Danish Puff
Photograph by Jonathan Melendez
| Total Ready Time | Servings | Total Ingredients |
|------------------|----------|-------------------|
| 1 hour 20 minutes| 10 | 13 |
Ingredients
Base Pastry
½ cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons water
Puff Topping
½ cup unsalted butter
1 cup water
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
Creamy Almond Glaze
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
½ teaspoon almond extract
1–2 tablespoons warm water or whole milk
Sliced almonds, for garnish
Step-by-Step Baking Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350ºF (175ºC).
For the base pastry: Cut the softened butter into the flour using a pastry blender or two knives (used in a crisscross motion) until the mixture forms coarse crumbs.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of water over the crumb mixture and mix thoroughly with a fork.
Gather the mixture into a dough ball, then divide it in half.
Pat each half into a 12x3 inch rectangle, arranging the two rectangles 3 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
For the puff topping: Bring the remaining ½ cup butter and 1 cup water to a rolling boil in a 2-quart saucepan, then remove from heat.
Quickly stir in the almond extract and 1 cup of flour, then return to low heat and stir vigorously for 1 minute until the mixture pulls together into a smooth ball. Remove from heat again.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating until fully combined and smooth after each addition. Spread half of the topping evenly over each base pastry rectangle.
Bake for roughly 1 hour, until the topping is crisp and deep golden brown. Transfer the baked pastries to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make the glaze by mixing all ingredients (except sliced almonds) until smooth and spreadable. Adjust the amount of water/milk to reach your desired consistency.
Spread the glaze over the cooled Danish puffs and sprinkle with sliced almonds to finish.
Reader Reviews
Thank you for sharing this recipe! I make this fairly often, but I always struggled with my base pastry not sticking to the puff layer. After using your 2 tablespoons of water measurement for the base, it’s so much easier to shape, and it holds onto the topping perfectly after baking. My daughter-in-law even said, “I like this… and it isn’t even chocolate.”
When I first looked over the step list, I thought I’d be halfway through baking before I even finished prepping, but this actually comes together surprisingly quickly. On second thought… this treat is so good it’s probably too much of a sacrifice to share anyway ;-). I made this for the A/NZ #41 recipe tag.
These turned out amazing! I added an extra touch by sprinkling finely chopped pecans over the glaze, and it was perfect. I’ll definitely be making these again soon!
I absolutely loved this! Sarah, this might be the most delicious thing I’ve ever eaten—it’s over-the-top good! Edit to add: Out of the 350 recipes I reviewed in 2008, this was the very best. In fact, it’s my favorite out of all 650 recipes I’ve tested since joining Zaar!
This was my first time making this recipe. I swapped ¼ of the all-purpose flour for almond flour since I didn’t have almond extract on hand, and swapped almond extract for vanilla. I also didn’t have powdered sugar, so I used regular granulated sugar instead. It came out a little grainy, but that added a nice texture. These turned out really well, and the pastry was perfect for my first ever attempt at puff-style pastry.
View 19 additional reader reviews here
Reader-Tested Tweaks & Modifications
I’ve always topped this with halved maraschino cherries, and sometimes add chopped walnuts too. I use a different glaze recipe than the one here, and the photos show a much thicker layer of icing than I’ve ever used—we do a thin striped drizzle, not a full solid coat of icing.
I add ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract to the glaze, which gives it a deeper, richer flavor. I first found this recipe from Betty Crocker in my high school cooking class, and I’ve been enjoying and sharing it for almost 50 years now. May this great recipe live on forever!
After reading a review from “Pam in the Kitchen”, I decided to test cream cheese icing instead of the original glaze. I used 4oz of softened cream cheese, 2 tablespoons of softened butter, 1 cup of powdered sugar, and ~2 teaspoons of almond extract (adjust to taste). I made one batch with this icing and another with the original recipe glaze, then let my family vote. The cream cheese icing won unanimously. This already delicious dessert just got even better!
See full recipe description for additional details.