Delicious! I always get ‘ummm!’ reactions when I serve this. The Danish features an apple filling and browned butter glaze on top.
| Prep Time: | 1 hr |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 2 hrs 35 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 1 12-inch long braid |
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons instant yeast
- ¾ cup hot water
- 2 tablespoons butter at room temperature
- 2 ½ cups apples – peeled, cored, and chopped
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ⅔ cup confectioners’ sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 teaspoons milk
Instructions
- Combine 1 cup flour, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and instant yeast in a mixing bowl. Add the water and room temperature butter and beat for 1 minute. Stir in the remaining cup of flour and mix well. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Shape the dough into a ball and transfer to an oiled bowl, turning to coat the surface of the dough. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
- Meanwhile, make the filling. Place the chopped apples and 3 tablespoons butter in a medium saucepan. Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well; add the mixture to the saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook until the apples are tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow the filling to cool.
- Transfer the Danish dough to a floured surface and punch the dough down. Let the dough rest, covered, for 15 minutes. Roll the dough out into a 13 x 8-inch rectangle. Place the dough on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Turn the baking sheet so that you face the short side of the dough. Spread the apple filling down the center third of the dough. With a sharp paring knife, make cuts in the dough along the right side, starting each cut about 1/4 inch from the apple filling. Cut to the edge of the dough strip, with each cut angled to about 4 o’clock. Each strip of dough should be about 1-inch thick. Repeat on the left side of the dough, angling the cuts to 8 o’clock.
- Starting at the top, fold the dough strips across the apple filling, alternating left and right. The pastry will look like a long braid. Pinch the top and bottom ends of the braid to seal in the filling. Cover the pastry and let it rise at room temperature until the dough is puffy, 30 to 40 minutes.
- Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Bake the braid for 20 minutes, covering it with aluminum foil during the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent over-browning. Remove the pastry from the oven and allow it to cool.
- To make the glaze, heat the 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Swirl the pan occasionally and cook until the milk solids turn brown and give off a nutty fragrance, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a bowl to cool slightly. Stir in the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Mix in the milk a teaspoon at a time until the glaze is thin enough to drizzle. Decorate the Danish braid with the glaze.
- Instant yeast, or bread machine yeast, doesn’t require “proofing” and can be mixed directly with the flour. To substitute active dry yeast, pour 3/4 cups warm, not hot, water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) into a small bowl. Sprinkle the yeast onto the water and stir to dissolve. Set the bowl aside for 5 to 10 minutes. The yeast will resemble a creamy foam. Stir the dissolved yeast into the flour mixture and proceed with the recipe.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 336 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 58 g |
| Cholesterol | 27 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 4 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 442 mg |
| Sugars | 31 g |
| Fat | 11 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
The absolute best part of this recipe is by far the glaze *chefs kiss* It is FABULOUS. The whole thing is fabulous and my family had the whole thing gone in less than 24 hours. The only thing that surprised me with this is that I was expecting a different type of texture to the pastry, it’s not what I was expecting with a “danish”, it’s more of a cinnamon bun type texture (which is still so delicious) just not what I was expecting. Either way, this will not disappoint.
First time ever trying to bake anything and it came out fantastic really easy and great recipe.
What a delicious use of my apple tree. Definitely add walnuts or pecans. I added them to the filling and on top.
Apple danishes have been my favorite forever. As a kid in the 90s, before dance class, my parents would treat me to McDonald’s apple danish (which they no longer sell). If I see them at a bakery, I have to try it. So I had some honeycrisp apples I needed to use up, and Allrecipes is my go to. This recipe is fairly easy. I try to follow recipes as written when trying for the first time, unless the reviews consistently suggest a change (ie. not enough liquid or too much salt/sugar, etc). I would say that I followed this mostly exactly, except I think I used 4c of apples. Another reviewer is correct: this is a time-consuming pastry, but I was making chili and cornbread at the same time, so I had things to pass the time. Depending on your schedule and what you want to make it for, I’d suggest making it in the evening for the next day. I used my KitchenAid to knead the dough and I kept to the 10 min. The filling is delicious, but very basic, so I think you could really make it to your personal tastes. I don’t think 20 minutes is enough time to bake, so start with 20 and then maybe add 10. Presentation is everything, so if you decide to do the braiding, definitely take your time. I will be making this again and perhaps with other fruit or cheese!
Absolutely delish! This tastes better than from a bakery. Will make again, especially the apple filling which is very good for many things, would like to try over ice cream.
I made this for breakfast for our wedding anniversary and my husband and kids loved it!!! My 6 year old said she would eat it everyday for breakfast if she could. Really easy and delicious
So easy and a crowd pleaser! I’m not even a good baker. Everyone at the table loved this! Instead of icing because it was already sweet from the filling, I just brushed some warmed honey on top!
Easy recipe to follow and I really enjoyed the apples and the glaze but the dough didn’t do it for me. I felt like it would have been better for a stromboli. I will definitely make it again but with a different dough!
I see more Danish in my future! I’ve never made danish before and this turned out perfectly!!!
Super good! I made two of these this morning and they disappeared within moments. I did substitute my homemade apple pie filling for the filling but essentially the recipe was unchanged. Yum! Only issue was the paper stuck to the bottom of the bread. Still no complaints will be heard from this family!
I used my bread machine to make the dough, then used a layer of cream cheese and homemade raspberry jam for the filling with an almond icing. It is AMAZING. Very versatile recipe, I can see using this with a vanilla pudding and chocolate icing for an eclair-like danish! Will be on our breakfast rotation as a special treat, thank you for sharing it!!
follow the recipe as it is! be diligent with time. the bread is out of the world! too good! be patient too
Oh WOW!!! Ive never made anything like this before and it wasn’t pretty but it tasted amazing. I was scared it would fail but it was a great success. I will make this again and again. Thank you.
It was good! This maybe an unpopular opinion but the glaze was NOT good. Made the danish taste gross I think, maybe I need to try it with something different?. Without the glaze it’s good.
Wow, came out Delicious! Mmm Mmm good.
It’s not a true Danish, but this apple braid turned out very nice. For a cook who is terrified of yeast, this dough was easy to make, rose properly, and the finished bread had a nice texture and a good sweet flavor. The golden brown color of the finished braid was beautiful — I added an egg wash prior to baking to give the finished product a little shine. The filling was tasty and developed a nice caramel sauce for the apples as it cooked. I didn’t have nutmeg, so I put in a pinch of allspice instead. After making this, I’m encouraged to try more bread and pastry baking!
I’ve been making this recipe for years, and don’t know why I haven’t reviewed it before now! The brown sugar bread dough is AMAZING… I’ve modified this recipe to make apple cinnamon buns drizzled with the same browned butter glaze and they’re perfect every time!
Excellent! I couldn’t find mascarpone so used Philadelphia cream cheese. I added 1/2 tbsp of cinnamon, but otherwise followed recipe. It turned out great with leftovers for breakfast.
This was an easy recipe and tasty but next time I will try using puff pastry.
Added maple extract to glaze, love the recipe !
I loved this recipe. It turned out beautifully. I left the nutmeg out of the filling. For the glaze I just used softened butter and beat in the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla.