If you’ve ever walked past a bakery and caught the smell of sweet, buttery pastry layered with caramelized nuts, you’ve already had a taste of what Danish kringles are all about. These pastries look fancy, but at their heart, they’re simply layers of flaky dough, filled with a nutty brown sugar mixture, topped with a glaze and a drizzle of salted caramel.
I first tried a kringle on a cold winter morning, and I’ll be honest—one bite in, I knew it was the kind of pastry that could win anyone over. It’s festive enough for the holidays but also comforting enough to enjoy with a cup of coffee on a lazy weekend. Let’s dive into how to make them at home.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Layers of flavor: The dough is buttery and crisp, the filling rich and nutty, and the toppings bring just the right balance of sweetness and saltiness.
- Make-ahead friendly: The dough can rest in the fridge for up to two days, or you can freeze it to bake another time.
- Versatile treat: Serve it for brunch, as a dessert centerpiece, or even wrap it up as a homemade holiday gift.
Tip: If you’ve never worked with laminated dough before, don’t worry. This recipe is forgiving—you don’t need bakery-level skills to pull it off.
Ingredients You’ll Need
For the dough:
- All-purpose flour, bread flour, sugar, instant yeast, salt
- Cold butter (this is what makes those flaky layers)
- Egg and milk for richness
- An extra egg white for sealing the pastry
For the filling:
- Pecans, brown sugar, and softened butter
For the glaze:
- Powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, and a little liquid (milk or water)
For the salted caramel:
- Butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, heavy cream, and sea salt
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Make the dough. Start by mixing your dry ingredients, then pulse with butter until crumbly. Add in the egg and milk mixture and gently bring it together into a dough. Don’t overwork it—less mixing means more flakiness. Wrap and chill for at least 6 hours (or up to 2 days). Tip: I like to make the dough the night before so it’s ready to roll and fold the next day.
- Roll and fold. On a floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangle, fold it like a letter, rotate, and repeat. Chill between folds to keep the butter cold. This step is what creates the layers.
- Prepare the filling. Mix pecans, brown sugar, and softened butter until spreadable.
- Assemble the kringle. Roll out the dough, spread the filling, fold it up, and shape it into an oval. Seal the edges well with egg white so the filling doesn’t leak out while baking.
- Rest and rise. Let the shaped kringles rest under a cloth until slightly puffy. This step gives them that tender bite.
- Bake. Brush with egg wash and bake until golden brown. Rotate halfway through for even baking.
- Finish with glaze and caramel. Once cooled, spread a simple vanilla glaze on top, then drizzle with homemade salted caramel.
Tips for Success
- Keep it cold. Cold butter and resting time are your friends here. They make sure your pastry bakes up with those delicate, flaky layers.
- Don’t skimp on the filling. That nutty, buttery brown sugar mixture is the heart of the kringle.
- Caramel caution. When making caramel, stir constantly and carefully. It goes from perfect to burnt quickly, so stay close to the stove.
How to Serve and Store
These kringles are best enjoyed fresh the day they’re baked, but they’ll keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2–3 days. If you want to make them ahead, you can freeze the shaped, unbaked pastry and bake it straight from the freezer—just add a few minutes to the baking time.
Serve with coffee for breakfast, with tea in the afternoon, or as a festive dessert at your next gathering.