Homemade Bear Claws with Honey Glaze (100th blog post!)

     

Merry Christmas Everyone! I'm going to chalk it up and say this is probably one of THE best Christmases I've had!

My boys are going through the Spider-Man phase, which makes shopping a lot easier for Santa, but watching how THANKFUL they were for all of their presents was the best gift I could ask for!

The second best gift? These Bear claws... Oh. Em. Gee.

I really don't think I imagined just how delicious they would be... They have a croissant-like dough, with almond paste filling and a honey glaze... are you sold yet? Good, because I don't know what else I could do to change your mind.

There will be lots of pictures in this blog so you can see the steps. I actually made the dough on Sunday, Monday I formed the Bear Claws and today just popped them in the oven. Taking a couple of days for each stepped really helped me NOT feel overwhelmed, but if you have a lot of time in the day, try these all at once...you wont regret it!

For the Pastry Dough:
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
3 sticks unsalted butter, chilled
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar

1. Add flour to the bowl of your food processor. Cut the butter into 1/4 inch slices and add to the flour. Pulse until the butter is about the size of kidney beans. 
2. In a large bowl, dissolve your yeast in the warm water. Let stand for 5 minutes (or until bubbly). Stir in the cream, salt, eggs and sugar. Turn your butter/flour mixture into the large bowl that holds the cream mixture and mix with a rubber spatula until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Using your hands, form a ball out of the dough and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours or up to 4 days. 
3. Turn the dough ball out onto a lightly floured surface. Dust the top with flour. Pound dough with a rolling pin.

Roll out the dough to form a 16x20-inch rectangle. Fold the rectangle into thirds.

(Can you see the large pieces of butter?)

Turn your folded dough and roll out, again, to a 16x20-inch rectangle. Fold again into thirds. Place your folded dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes while you get started on the filling. 

Cinnamon Filling:

1 egg white

1-8 oz can of Almond Paste (I used Solo brand)

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1. In a small bowl, beat all of the ingredients with an electric mixer until very smooth. Cover and place in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Assembly:

1 egg, beaten

Sliced Almonds

Turbinado Sugar

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the chilled dough to this time make a 16x18-inch rectangle. Cut lengthwise into 4 strips.

Remove filling from the fridge and spread 3 Tablespoons of filling down the center of each strip.

Roll each strip from the long side, jelly-roll style, and place seam side down. Roll lightly to seal the edges.

The rolls will take on a more rectangular shape. Cut each strip into 4-6" pieces, depending on how large you want your Claws to be, mine were 6-inches. Cut 3-5 slits for the "toes" and place the pieces on to a baking sheet covered with parchment, curving them slightly. By cutting them into 6-inch pieces, I got exactly 12 Bear Claws. Smaller ones will of course produce more.

Allow claws to rise in a warm place for 20 minutes or until puffy. At this point you can cover them with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed (if you decide to refrigerate them, let them stand at room temp until puffy).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush the bear claws with the beaten egg, place a sliced almond on each bear "toe" and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar. 

If making 4-inch claws, bake for 5-8 minutes and for the 6-inch claws bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden in color. Let cool slightly on wire racks.

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons Honey
2 Tablespoons milk

1. Stir together the ingredients until smooth, add more or less                                                                                                                                                            milk/sugar to your desired consistency (you want a slightly runny glaze).
2. Drizzle over slightly cooled pastries.

These pastries are best enjoyed warm but oh my WORD are they amazing any time! Oh, and by the way, this is my 100th blog post! I can't believe it, I am so thankful for the love and support my little blog has received! Thank you everyone :)

Recipe adapted from Sprinkle Bakes... Check out her blog AND book, not only is she an amazing bake-tress but her pictures are to die for!