Make bakery-style buttery flaky Danish pastry pinwheels in your own kitchen with this step-by-step tutorial and video. Today, we top these pinwheels with cream cheese and jam.
Table of Content
We spoke all about Danish pastry previously and I shared some wonderful Danish creations with you already. These pinwheels are probably the easiest of all pastries. Of course, the most important thing about any danish is the dough. That is why every Danish recipe I share with you is detailed with a video and progress pictures. Those layers of butter multiplied between rolling and chilling several times.
About this Danish pastry
As I said above, we are using the Danish pastry dough as our base with cream cheese and jam as our choice for filling, as we did in our strawberry braid. And yet, you can certainly use pastry cream as we did in our raisin Danish pastry spirals or almond cream, and as we did in our blackberry braid.
It's a very forgiving dough that's easy to knead with a stand mixer or by hand. There are four main components to this danish pastry pinwheels :
- The dough - this is simple yeast-based dough with eggs, butter, and sugar. It can be soft and sticky to work with, so don't skip the chilling times.
- Butter block - yes, it is lots of butter, which we cream with a little flour and then laminate between the dough. The purpose of the flour in the butter is to help stabilize it. Most professionals often skip the flour, but I recommend you use it.
- Cream cheese - made with cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla.
- Jam - you can use whatever jam you want. Today, I used my berry jam.
The process and timeline for making these danish pinwheels are fairly simple as well. Here's my guide for you to use.
- Make and chill the dough - 10 + 15 mins
- Make and chill the butter block - 10 + 15 minutes
- Laminate the dough - 5 minutes
- First fold, then chill the dough - 30 minutes
- Second fold, then chill the dough - 30 minutes
- Third fold, then chill the dough -2 hours up to 48 hours
- Prepare cream cheese - 5 minutes
- Prepare apricot glaze - 5 minutes
- Shape the danish pinwheels - 10 minutes
- Proof the danish - 45 minutes
- Bake - 15 to 20 minutes
Ingredients and substitutes
- All-purpose flour - Yes, plain all-purpose flour works perfectly with Danish pastry dough. Don't use bread flour and definitely do not use self-raising flour.
- Sugar - Danish is a sweet dough, but you can definitely reduce the sugar by half if you prefer.
- Liquid - Danish is made with milk. Use full-fat milk, not skim or similar.
- Yeast - I am using instant dry yeast today, and yet you can certainly use other variety of yeast, including fresh yeast. You can read all about yeast and their substitutes here - baking with yeast a beginner's guide.
- Butter - The best butter to use is European butter. The reason for that is that good European butter has a high-fat content. High-fat means less moisture, which can cause the butter to melt and create steam in the pastry when baking.
Step by step instructions
Apricot glaze
- Heat the apricot jam and water on low heat until dissolved.
- Strain through a sieve - set aside until ready to use.
- If necessary, warm in the microwave for 10 seconds before using it.
Cream cheese spread
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl.
- Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
Danish dough
- Dry ingredients - Combine flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment
- Yeast mixture - In a measuring cup, combine milk, sugar, yeast, egg, and vanilla.
- Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture. Combine on medium-high until all flour is incorporated. Knead a minute more.
- Then, gradually add the room temperature butter, one tablespoon at a time.
- Once all the butter is in, knead for 3 minutes on medium (or 5 to 7 minutes by hand). The dough will be soft and slightly sticky.
- Remove from the mixer, shape into a ball. Place in an oil bowl and chill for 15 minutes.
Butter blocks
- Use a parchment paper to create a template 12 x 6-inches (see video) - set aside.
- In the same stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment (no need to wash), cream the butter and flour just until combined.
- Transfer the creamed butter to the prepared parchment paper template.
- Spread evenly with an off-set spatula. Use a rolling pin to guide the butter inside the template towards the corners (see video).
- Use a ruler to mark the butter at 6 inches so you can late use this as two 6 x 6-inch blocks (see video).
- Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Laminate the dough
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface.
- Roll to a long rectangle 7 x 18 -inches.
- Open the butter block and divide the butter into 2 at the mark you created. Now you should have 2 - 6 x 6-inch butter blocks.
- Place one butter block over the center. Then fold one side over.
- Then, place the second butter block on top and fold the other side over.
- Wrap the dough - chill for 15 minutes.
Folds / turns
- Roll the chilled pastry dough into a rectangle - with the short side facing you.
- Roll to a rectangle approximately 7 x 18-inches.
- First fold - Fold the dough lengthways into thirds like a business letter (see video).
- Wrap and place into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough lengthways again with the short side facing you - (see video) to about 7 x 18-inch long again.
- Second fold - Fold the dough into thirds again like a business letter (see video).
- Place in the fridge for 30 minutes if necessary.
- Then, roll the dough again lengthways with the short side facing you to about 7 x 18-inches long.
- Third fold - Fold the dough one last time into thirds again like a business letter (see video).
- Chill in the fridge for at least two hours or until well chilled. This can be chilled for up to 48 hours.
- Roll the dough to 6 x 12-inches rectangle. Divide into 2 (6 x6-inches)
- Place one in the fridge while you work on the second one.
Shape the pinwheels
- Roll the dough to about 12 x 12-inch square. Trim edges so you have straight sharp edges.
- Cut into 3 x 3-inch squares, (about 16). Mark at 3-inch from either side as shown in the video.
- Place the squares in the fridge to keep chilled.
- Cut the square three-quarters of the way towards the center. Fold every other point towards the center.
- Press to seal in the center.
- Place on a baking tray and cover the pinwheels with a clean kitchen cloth - let poof for 45 minutes.
Bake the pinwheels
- Preheat the oven at 190 C / 375 F.
- Brush the Danish with beaten egg.
- Pipe a generous dollop of the cream cheese filling in the center, topped with a generous squeeze of jam.
- Bake in the hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes until rich golden brown.
- Cool on the tray for 10 minutes.
- Then, glaze them with the prepared apricot glaze.
- Danish pastries are best enjoyed on the day they are baked. But, they also freeze well.
Today, I made the Danish pastry shaped like pinwheels but you can also do other shapes - like the Danish raisin spirals, Danish cylinders, and Danish braided pastry, etc
Frequently asked questions
Both puff pastry and Danish are laminated dough, but they are not the same. Puff pastry does not have yeast, sugar, or milk. The Danish dough is yeast-based with eggs, sugar and milk.
Both croissant dough and Danish pastry are laminated dough but they are not the same.
Danish is a sweet dough made with yeast, milk, and eggs. It is Crispy, tender, light, and flaky.
Danish is much heavier than croissants because it contains more butter along with other ingredients like eggs, which is not in croissants.
Croissant dough can be used for sweet and savory pastries, but Danish is a sweet pastry.
The purpose of the flour in the butter block is to stabilize it. It will take care of any excess moisture in the butter. I highly recommend using it.
The best way to bake laminated pastries is to place them in a hot oven so the layers open up and the butter between the layers is cooked off instantly leaving no time for it to melt. But, you also want them to continue cooking without becoming too dark on the outside. The ideal temperature for homemade danish I find is 190 C/ 375F for 20 to 25 minutes. Tent the pastries if they are becoming brown quickly.
Troubleshooting
My Danish pastry pinwheels are too dark brown
Some home ovens, especially the fan assisted oven, can cause pastries to become dark quickly. You can tent the Danish pinwheels with parchment paper or foil. For the next batch, brush the pastries with egg white instead of egg yolks.
My Danish pastry melted, all the butter has melted
If the pan has lots of melted butter, it means the oven temperature was too low or the oven was not properly preheated. Ensure your oven is preheated for at least 20 minutes before you put the danishes in.
My Danish pastry are too big
If you follow the above measurements you should get standard size pastries. Rolling the dough too thick means thicker layers but the pastry will also look bulky. Rolling too thin means the layers will be lost baking the layers thin and crisp.
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Printable Recipe
Danish Pastry Pinwheels
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Video
Ingredients
Full batch makes 32 Pinwheels
Danish dough
- 4 cups (500 g) All-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup (240 ml) Milk full-fat
- ¼ cup (50 g) Sugar
- 2 ¼ teaspoon (7 g) Instant dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1 Egg large
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (4.00 tablespoon) Butter unsalted
Butter block
- 1 ½ cup (340 g) Butter (3 sticks) unsalted, room temperature
- 4 tablespoon All-purpose flour
Cream cheese
- ½ cup (100 g) Cream cheese 35% or more
- 2 tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon Lemon zest
Apricot glaze
- ½ cup Apricot jam
- ¼ cup (60 ml) Water
Plus
- 1 Egg beaten
- ½ cup Jam I used homemade blackberry
Instructions
Apricot glaze
- Heat the apricot jam and water on low heat until dissolved.
- Strain through a sieve - set aside until ready to use.
- If necessary, warm in the microwave for 10 seconds before using it.
Cream cheese spread
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
Danish dough
- Dry ingredients - Combine flour and salt in a mixer bowl.
- Yeast mixture - In a measuring cup, combine milk, sugar, yeast, egg, and vanilla.
- Add the yeast mixture to the flour mixture.
- Combine on medium-high until all flour is incorporated. Knead a minute more.
- Then, gradually add the room temperature butter, one tablespoon at a time.
- Once all the butter is in, knead for 3 minutes on medium (or 5 to 7 minutes by hand). The dough will be soft and slightly sticky.
- Remove from the mixer, shape into a ball. Place in an oil bowl and chill for 15 minutes.
Butter blocks
- Use a parchment paper to create a template 12 x 6-inches (see video) - set aside.
- In the same stand mixer bowl with the paddle attachment (no need to wash), cream the butter and flour just until combined.
- Transfer the creamed butter to the prepared parchment paper template.
- Spread evenly with an off-set spatula. Use a rolling pin to guide the butter inside the template towards the corners (see video).
- Use a ruler to mark the butter at 6 inches so you can late use this as two 6 x 6-inch blocks (see video). Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Laminate the dough
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Roll to a long rectangle 7 x 18-inches.
- Open the butter block and divide the butter into 2 at the mark you created. Now you should have 2 - 6 x 6-inch butter blocks.
- Place one butter block over the center. Then fold one side over.
- Then, place the second butter block on top and fold the other side over.
- Wrap the dough - chill for 15 minutes.
Folds / turns
- Roll the chilled pastry dough into a rectangle - with the short side facing you.
- Roll to a rectangle approximately 7 x 18-inches.
- First fold - Fold the dough lengthways into thirds like a business letter (see video).
- Wrap and place into the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough lengthways again with the short side facing you - (see video) to about 7 x 18-inch long again.
- Second fold - Fold the dough into thirds again like a business letter (see video).
- Place in the fridge for 30 minutes if necessary.
- Then, roll the dough again lengthways with the short side facing you to about 7 x 18-inches long.
- Third fold - Fold the dough one last time into thirds again like a business letter (see video).
- Chill in the fridge for at least two hours or until well chilled. This can be chilled for up to 48 hours.
- Roll the dough into a 6 x 12-inches rectangle. Divide into two. (6 x 6-inches)
- Place one in the fridge while you work on the second one.
Shape the pinwheels
- Roll the dough to about 12 x 12-inch square. Trim edges so you have straight sharp edges.
- Cut into 3 x 3-inch squares, (about 16). Mark at 3-inch from either side as shown in the video.
- Place the squares in the fridge to keep chilled.
- Cut the square three-quarters of the way towards the center. Fold every other point towards the center.
- Press to seal in the center.
- Place on a baking tray and cover the pinwheels with a clean kitchen cloth - let poof for 45 minutes.
Bake the pinwheels
- Preheat the oven at 190 C / 375 F.
- Brush the Danish w with beaten egg.
- Pipe a generous dollop of the cream cheese filling in the center, topped with a generous squeeze of jam.
- Bake in the hot oven for 15 to 20 minutes until rich golden brown.
- Cool on the tray for 10 minutes.
- Then, glaze them with the prepared apricot glaze.
- Danish pastries are best enjoyed on the day they are baked. But, they also freeze well.
Recipe Notes
Tips for making homemade danish pastry
- Knead the dough soft, not firm consistency. This will make it easier to roll. So, avoid adding too much flour.
- Chill the dough well before lamination, this will help the butter in the dough chill and make it easier to roll.
- When laminating the dough, ensure the butter is cold but not hard. Seal the butter properly so it does not come out.
- While chilling the dough is important, overchilling can cause the butter to shatter into pieces when rolling.
- Fold the dough - for the purpose of home baking we have used the classic book fold. This is done three times for croissants and danish pastry. There are other types of folds that we will cover in future recipes.
- It is very important to chill the dough for at least 30 minutes between folds so the butter is cold but still spreadable not hard.
- When the dough is done, after folding three times, the dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 48 hours.
Alternatively, you can freeze it for up to 3 months. I divide my dough into 2 and use one portion at a time. - Don't roll the dough too thin. This will give you more pastries but the layers will be lost.
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
Bryan Gogal
USEFUL TIPS AND TOOLS
"Also, you will need a baking tray to move the dough in and out of the oven between folds."
Uh, Veena, you sure that's right?" (no wink emoji available).
Veena Azmanov
Ah.. yes, fridge not oven. Thanks, fixed it.
Bryan Gogal
Great recipe, VEENA. One thing - I know it's self evident - but nowhere in the instructions do I see the part of filling the Pinwheels with whatever you're using. You go from proof to egg wash to glaze. BTW, when making the glaze, using simple syrup instead of plain water works better. Doesn't water down the flavor of the jam.
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Bryan. I see I missed a line. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. Just fixed it. I find water is always for most people, while sugar syrup is another thing to do. Thanks
Rosemary
With Covid I'm starting to experiment with baking. Though I'm not much of a baker, but these look delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe...something to try beyond baking bread 🙂
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Rosemary. I hope you try this one - it's easier than you think