This is such an Easy Apple Danish to make. Using frozen puff pastry and then a home made apple filling topped off with a sweet glaze. Perfect for an easy dessert or even weekend brunching.
*Originally published on February 10th, 2021. Updated on February 3rd, 2022 to include more information, links and recipe tips.
Have you ever made a Danish using Puff Pastry? Well, you’re in for a real treat because this brunch or dessert comes together so quickly, is impressive to look at an it tastes amazing! And if you’re a fan of Apple Turnovers, this easy puff pastry danish needs to go on your baking list soon!
What Makes This recipe great
- Easy – This recipe used store bought Puff Pastry for convenience and ease.
- Inexpensive – The ingredients are easy to find and aren’t costly.
- Delicious – You know it’s going to be great with those flaky layers of store bought Puff Pastry and filled with a homemade apple pie filling. The apple filling is mouth watering, the pasty light and crispy and the glaze, sweet. Danish perfection!
Don’t miss Delicious Apple Desserts for Fall. More than a dozen great desserts from pie to cheesecake, muffins and more!
Ingredients to Make The Easy Apple Danish
- Apples
- 1 Sheet of puffpastry
- Butter
- Sugar
- Egg
- Powdered Sugar
- Milk
Remember, the full recipe and ingredient list is at the end of the post in the recipe card.
Instructions To Make The Apple Danish
- Make the filling
- Peel and slice the apples into thickish slices, about 1 inch. Set a medium sized skillet over the stove top on medium heat.
- Add the butter and stir it until it melts.
- Then add the sugar and give a good stir. Add the apples to the butter mixture and cook down for about 10 minutes or until they are pretty soft. You may need to cook them a little longer depending on the thickness of your apples.
- Assemble the pastry braid
- Lay the pastry sheet on a sheet of parchment paper. Pile the apples down the center like shown here. Make sure to leave about an inch of pastry at the top and bottom.
- Start the shaping of the pastry by cutting the top corners off and then making a small oval cut at the top.
- Next, cut around six equal strips on each side. Make cut outs at the bottom of the danish like shown below.
- Fold the pastry strips over each other. Gently press down the edges so they stay shut.
- Brush the pastry with the egg wash.
- Sprinkle over a little sugar and bake for around 20 minutes or until golden and puffed.
How To Serve This Easy Apple Danish
This Danish would be great alongside a weekend brunch or a dessert any day of the week. Here’s a few things you could serve it with to make the danish even more delicious.
- Whipped cream
- Custard
- Ice cream
FAQ’s
A few other common flavours you could make would be raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, pear or peach. You could also make a chocolate version like this Nutella Puff Pastry Braid.
A strudel is a pastry made from multiple layers of thick dough which is rolled up and filled with with fruit. A danish is light and sweet also filled with fruit or even cheese.
Yes, you can. I find puff pastry the best, but you can use filo pastry, crescent rolls or even pie crust.
You can add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the apples while they are cooking for a more cinnamon flavour. If you like to make a cream cheese layer, check out my Lemon Danish recipe to see how to add that (it’s delicious), or you could also add sliced almonds or walnuts on top of the apple filling.
Yes, Danish pastries can be frozen but not for too long. I have only frozen them successfully for up to two weeks
Yes, you can prepare this up to 8 hours before baking. Just cover it and refrigerate it until baking. Don’t brush with the egg wash until just before baking.
Recipe Notes
- Apples going dry – if the apples are going dry in pan and sticking, just add a little bit of water and this will help them from sticking. Also the heat could be too high, so lower the stove temperature and you should get a more even cooking temperature.
- Use cold puff pastry – cold pastry is easier to work with when cutting and braiding. Make sure you keep it in the fridge until you are just about to use it.
- Check baking time – Also, this cooked to perfection for me in exactly 20 minutes. Depending on your oven, it could be a few minutes more or less. It is done when the pastry is golden and puffed like shown here.
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Get the recipe!
Easy Apple Danish
Ingredients
- 6 Apples like Granny Smith
- 1 Sheet puff pastry thawed
- 1/4 Cup sugar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1 egg whisked
For the glaze:
- 1/4 Cup powdered sugar
- 2 Tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line with parchment paper a large baking tray. Set aside.
- Peel and core the apples and cut into about 1/2 inch slices. In a large skillet set over medium heat, add the butter until it melts. Stir in the 1/4 cup of sugar until you have a syrupy like consistency. Stir for just a couple of minutes. Add the apple slices and stir well. Leave the apples to cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and leave to slightly cool.
- Lay out your pastry on the parchment paper on the baking tray. Spread the apple mixture in the middle third leaving about a one inch border at the top and bottom. Cut the top two corners diagonally and then continue to cut strips on each side. You will get anywhere between 6 to 8 strips. Cut away excess pastry at the bottom. Once you have all your strips cut you can start folding them over. Starting at the top left, fold the strip down on a diagonal and then the right side. Continue doing this until you have folded over all the strips. Seal the top and bottom by pulling together the pastry at the ends to meet. Gently press together. Brush with the egg wash and then sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and leave to cool to room temperature.
- Make the glaze by combining the powdered sugar and milk. Whisk until combined. Drizzle over the cooled Danish. Serve at room temperature or even cold. Will keep for a few days.
*A note on times provided: appliances vary, any prep and/or cook times provided are estimates only.
Notes
- Apples going dry – if the apples are going dry in pan and sticking, just add a little bit of water and this will help them from sticking. Also the heat could be too high, so lower the stove temperature and you should get a more even cooking temperature.
- Use cold puff pastry – cold pastry is easier to work with when cutting and braiding. Make sure you keep it in the fridge until you are just about to use it.
- Check baking time – Also, this cooked to perfection for me in exactly 20 minutes. Depending on your oven, it could be a few minutes more or less. It is done when the pastry is golden and puffed like shown here.
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