Almond Bear Claws
These bear claws are absolutely melt-in-your-mouth delicious! It's impossible to resist the delicate pastry, rich almond filling and pretty fanned tops sprinkled with sugar and almonds. I made yummy treats like this when I worked in a bakery years ago.
These bear claws are absolutely melt-in-your-mouth delicious! It's impossible to resist the delicate pastry, rich almond filling and pretty fanned tops sprinkled with sugar and almonds. I made yummy treats like this when I worked in a bakery years ago.
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
- 1 egg white
- 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- ingredients
- 5 cups all-purpose flour divided
- makes: 18 servings
- 1-1/2 cups cold butter cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1-1/4 cups half-and-half cream
- 1/2 cup almond paste cubed
- coarse or granulated sugar
- Carbohydrate 38.1304912632592 g
- Cholesterol 20.68 mg
- Fat 2.58286129675228 g
- Fiber 1.24014540013807 g
- Protein 4.81598472659783 g
- Saturated Fat 0.372481629703129 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (60g)
- Sodium 1226.71366019752 mg
- Sugar 36.8903458631211 g
- Trans Fat 0.276054185326225 g
- Calories 196 calories
Step-by-step
- In a bowl, toss butter with 3 cups flour until well coated; refrigerate. In a large bowl, combine yeast and remaining flour.
- In a saucepan, heat cream, sugar and salt to 120°-130°. Add to yeast mixture with 1 egg. Beat until smooth. Stir in butter mixture just until moistened.
- Place dough onto a well floured surface; roll into a 21-in. x 12-in. rectangle. Starting at a short side, fold dough in thirds, forming a 12-in. x 7-in. rectangle. Give dough a quarter turn; roll into a 21-in. x 12-in. rectangle. Fold into thirds, starting with a short side. Repeat, flouring surface as needed. (Do not chill dough between each rolling and folding.) Cover and chill for 4 to 24 hours or until firm.
- For filling, in a small bowl, beat egg white until foamy. Gradually add confectioners' sugar and almond paste; beat until smooth. Cut dough in half widthwise. Roll each portion into a 12-in. square; cut each square into three 12-in. x 4-in. strips. Spread about 2 tablespoons filling down center of each strip. Fold long edges together; seal edges and ends. Cut into three pieces.
- Place on greased baking sheets with folded edge facing away from you. With scissors, cut strips four times to within 1/2 in. of folded edge; separate slightly. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Lightly beat water and remaining egg; brush over dough. Sprinkle with sugar and almonds. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.
Cold butter is the structural engine of any laminated dough, dictating whether the finished pastry shatters into delicate layers or bakes into a dense, greasy loaf. When solid fat pieces measuring one-half inch are tossed in flour and subsequently rolled and folded multiple times without intermittent chilling, distinct pockets of moisture are created that convert to steam in a 375-degree oven, forcing the dough apart into crisp, airy strata. Maintaining that structural integrity requires keeping the ambient temperature of the kitchen cool and working with swift, deliberate movements so the butter never smears into a solid paste during the initial 21-by-12-inch rolling cycles. If the butter begins to soften and leak onto the counter, immediately transfer the unchilled dough sheet to the refrigerator for fifteen minutes to re-solidify the fat before continuing the lamination process. Once the dough has chilled for the required four to twenty-four hours to relax the gluten network, the almond paste filling provides a dense, sweet counterweight to the flaky exterior through a simple emulsion of egg white and confectioners' sugar beaten until completely smooth. Baking these pastries until golden brown takes approximately fifteen minutes, yielding a deep caramelization on the exterior while keeping the interior crumb tender. Stale pastries can easily be restored on the second day by splitting them horizontally and crisping them in a toaster oven for two minutes.
