The labor-intensive process of making these flaky Danish pastries is the ideal method to express your affection for others. At special brunches, I enjoy serving them. Before baking, the pastries can be frozen after making the puff pastry dough and almond filling.
| Prep Time: | 2 hrs |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 25 mins |
| Servings: | 24 |
| Yield: | 24 pastries |
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup almond paste
- 2 ¾ cups ground almonds
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 egg whites
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 teaspoons amaretto liqueur
- 3 pounds puff pastry
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- 3 tablespoons sliced almonds, for garnish
- 3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Instructions
- In a large bowl, beat almond paste with an electric mixer to break it apart. Add the almonds, sugar, and salt; continue to mix until the almond paste is no longer lumpy. Stir in the butter, egg whites, almond extract and amaretto liqueur on high speed until its as fluffy as you can get it. Set aside.
- Using half of the dough at a time, roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle that is about 8 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick. Trim the edges of the dough. Cut the dough in half lengthwise to make two 4 inch wide strips.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Fill a pastry bag halfway with the almond filling and pipe a stripe of filling down the center of each strip. Whisk together the egg and water. Brush onto one edge of each strip. Fold each strip over the filling and press gently to seal it. Brush each piece with egg wash and sprinkle sliced almonds over the top. Cut into 3 to 4 inch pieces, then cut 1/2 inch slits into the sealed edge to make the ”claws”. Place the bear claws at least two inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate and repeat with the second half of the dough.
- Bake in the preheated oven until almonds are toasted and pastry is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool and dust with confectioners’ sugar right before serving.
- This recipe makes enough filling for about six dozen bear claws. You can cut the recipe down, but I like to make a big batch for several reasons: the bear claws keep indefinitely in the freezer; the recipe is harder to make in small quantities (it’s more difficult to grind almonds in a food processor in small amounts); and the filling is delicious in coffee cakes and other baked goods.
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Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 419 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 36 g |
| Cholesterol | 10 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 10 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 157 mg |
| Sugars | 6 g |
| Fat | 26 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
These are delicious pastries but are nothing like any bear claws I ever had. These got really high marks so I don’t know if that is because they tasted so good or because they are great bear claws! I will never make them again. Husband would not eat them.
Delicious. Don’t have to make all at once. I made the paste and used when needed. Very sticky so I rx using damp hands and rolling out with your hands. Also immediately when done I drizzle honey over the top, then once cooled dust with powder sugar. Family lived them
These are so easy and turn out perfect! the only drawback is that the ingredients are very expensive; but now that I have a bottle of amaretto, it won’t be quite so bad next time. I didn’t pipe the filling, just used a spoon, which worked fine. my husband couldn’t believe I had made them, he thought I’d bought them. he wants me to do the same thing but with raspberry jam inside– should be good! I have now made them several times–definitely you want puff pastry, not phyllo! Phyllo is much harder to use– they taste just as good, but it’s hard to make them look professional. Also, I agree with other reviewers that they benefit from a sugar icing drizzled over, and they bake much faster than 20 minutes!
This is the second time making them, they are always a hit.
Very good recipe. I will definitely try it again. It baked faster than the 25 minutes. I used frozen puff pastry. I halved the recipe and it made about a dozen.
Awesome and so easy to make. Tastes great. I sound like Tony the Tiger, but it’s true.
I used Anna Olson’s puff pastry recipe. The pastry was amazing. Instead of piping the filling I rolled it into a long rope like play dough and layer it in the middle. A lot less clean up of pastry bags and tips. My family and friends were amazed!!
I added a bit more salt (because Instacart delivered gouda instead of gruyere). I thought it was really good (no leftovers) but I will try a couple more recipes before I decide on the perfect one for my family.
I actually use this recipe as a base to make almond pinwheels. I opt out of the liquer and add more butter instead. I spread the filling over a sheet of puff pastry, roll it up jelly-roll style, place it in the freezer for at least 30 minutes, then cut into 1/2 inch slices. I bake them at 375 for about 18-20 minutes. Once cool, I drizzle with an almond flavored glaze and sprinkle sliced almonds on top. They make an excellent delicate cookie-like pastry. Great recipe!
Puff Pastry just does not “make it” – not a real bearclaw, disappointed, but the filling is good – will continue to work on the correct pastry dough
Puff Pastry just does not “make it” – not a real bearclaw, disappointed, but the filling is good – will continue to work on the correct pastry dough
I followed the recipe as is and came our crispy, flaky and delicious. Definitely worth the time and effort. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Followed the directions to a tee except for baking temperature. I baked on convection at •375 for 15 on the lower bottom half (gas oven) then at •400 for 15. They were amazing!! Thank you
I made the almond paste too!
Drizzled (tsp butter, tsp water and powder sugar until made a syrup) on top when they are done, then dusting of powder sugar. Delicious.
Very easy and tastes great!
Surprised only 19 reviews – this is a great recipe and super simple, with very professional results. I serve these for breakfast on Christmas morning, for charity bakes… Freezes well. I freeze the filling in a piping bag, so takes up less freezer space. Assembling the bear claws take no time. One year I added orange zest, another year glace cherries, we love these. Definitely dust with confectioner’s sugar to get that professional look.
It was relatively fast and easy for me to make. I had almond flour (bob’s) and I just made my own almond paste (1-1 ratio almond flour and powdered sugar, a little bit of melted butter and a bit of egg whites, blend until thick dough paste) easy peasy! I only made what I needed and added more almond flour as per directions. Used store-bought puff pastry and omitted liquer. I agree it wasn’t sweet enough to be a bear claw (and I don’t like sweets) and the paste was too thick. Add more egg whites to a consistency you’ll like (It doesn’t really melt in the pastry while baking in the oven). I always keep a carton of egg whites because it’s faster, easier, and you can use it for macarons, swiss meringue BC, foamy cocktails… ETC!
I prefer to make a recipe exactly as written the first time. This was probably the most difficult, expensive snack I have ever made. The almond paste would not break down but jumped through the mixer blades in huge clumps. I decided to go ahead to the next step hoping the ground almonds and sugar would help to break down the paste. Wrong. I finally dug in with my hands and crumbled it manually. When it came time to spread using the pastry bag I didn’t have the strength to do more than a couple so I enlist hubby. Even he had to take a break. On the last dozen I finally grabbed a handful and manually rolled the almond filling and finished them off that way. Today I had one and I guarantee that for all the work and cost I won’t be making these again. They weren’t good enough to overcome the hours spent making them.
To IrishFancy, No, almond paste and marzipan are not the same thing and you cannot substitute one for the other. Marzipan has sugar and other ingredients added to it. You should be able to find almond paste in the baking aisle of your grocery store.
Delicious recipe! I drizzled glaze on the baked bear claws. Yummmmmmm!