The Easiest Butter-Pecan Kringle Ever
Kringle looks like it should be REALLY hard to make. And it usually is, which is why most folks buy their kringle from one of the Wisconsin bakeries that specialize in this tender, layered, buttery Danish Christmas pastry. But hold the phone! THIS version of kringle is super-easy; trust me, a 10-year-old could make this. And while it's not made in the traditional method, I believe you'll find it just as tender and tasty.
Read our blog about this kringle, with additional photos, at Bakers' Banter.
Base
- 1/2 cup butter, cut into pats
- 1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt*
- 1/4 cup cold water
- *Reduce salt to 1/4 teaspoon if you use salted butter.
Pastry topping
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt*
- 1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon butter rum, eggnog, or vanilla butternut flavor, optional but delicious
- *Reduce salt to 1/4 teaspoon if you use salted butter.
Pecans and caramel
- 12 ounces caramel, cut from a block (about 1 cup, packed); or about 3 dozen individual caramel candies*, unwrapped
- 2 cups pecan halves, toasted in a 350°F oven till golden brown
- *Use fresh, soft caramels. If using harder, supermarket-type caramels, add a couple of tablespoons milk or cream when melting, to keep them soft on the kringle; or substitute caramel sauce.
Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners' or glazing sugar
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream, half and half, or milk, enough to make a thick but pourable glaze
- 1/8 teaspoon butter rum, eggnog, or vanilla butternut flavor, optional but good
- pinch of salt
Directions
|
1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) a baking sheet that's at least 18" x 13"; or a 14" round pizza pan. |
|
2) To make the base: Combine the butter, flour, and salt, mixing till crumbly. Add the water, and stir to make a soft, sticky dough. |
|
3) Wet your hands, pick up the dough, and shape it into a 12" x 8" oval ring on the sheet pan; or a 10" ring in the pizza pan. This will be messy going, but just keep wetting your fingers and pushing it into a ring. |
|
4) Once you've made the ring, flatten the dough so it's about 1 1/2" wide; basically, it'll look like a train or NASCAR track. |
|
5) To make the pastry topping: Place the water, butter, and salt in a saucepan, and heat over medium heat till the butter is melted and the mixture is boiling. |
|
6) Transfer to a mixing bowl, and immediately add the flour, beating until the mixture is cohesive and starts to form a ball. |
|
7) Beat in the eggs one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Add the flavor at the end, if you're using it. |
|
8) Spread the pastry along the ring, covering it completely; you'll now have a much wider ring, though it won't be completely closed in the center; it should still look like a ring. |
|
9) Bake the kringle for 50 to 60 minutes, till it's a deep golden brown. If you haven't yet toasted your pecans, this is a good opportunity to do so; they'll need about 9 to 11 minutes in the oven. When they're golden, remove them from the oven and cool. When the kringle is done, remove it from the oven, and allow it to cool completely on the pan. |
|
10) To add the pecans and caramel: First, have the pecans all ready beside the pan of kringle; you'll be sprinkling them atop the caramel as soon as you pour it on. |
|
11) Place the caramel in a microwave-safe spouted cup, if you have one; it's not necessary, but makes it easier to pour. Melt the caramel till it's bubbly, remove it from the microwave, stir a few times to smooth out the bubbles, and immediately drizzle it over the kringle. If it stiffens up, reheat briefly in the microwave. |
|
12) Sprinkle pecans atop the caramel, pressing them in gently. Allow the kringle to cool completely. |
|
13) To make the glaze: Stir together the confectioners' sugar, salt, flavor (if you're using it), and enough milk or cream to make a pourable glaze. Drizzle it over the kringle. |
|
14) To serve, cut the kringle in 2" slices. Yield: one large (12" x 16" oval, or 14" round) kringle, about 2 dozen servings. |
Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 25 mins. to 35 mins.
- Baking time:
- 50 mins. to 55 mins.
- Total time:
- 1 hrs 15 mins. to 1 hrs 30 mins.
- Yield:
- one 13" kringle, about 2 dozen servings
-
-
- Recipe comments (8) »
Reviews
01/11/2010
Awesome Danish, got two thumbs up from Wisconsin born co-workers, will make it again. The step by step directions and photos on the Banter page are so helpful, I love seeing what my item should look like.
12/27/2009
I play in the Candlelight orchestra at Epcot, and I took this to the Christmas night potluck. I got a lot of good comments, and only one piece came home with me at a rather large spread. I had never made anything like this before, so I was intrigued by how things looked during the process, and the results were excellent. I couldn't find any blocks of caramel to melt down, so I just made my own caramel from a stick of butter, a pint of cream, and a cup of brown sugar. It poured over the top very nicely. Just don't do as I did and forget about your pecans toasting in the oven! About half had to be thrown out due to scorching. The recipe WAS easy; I was able to throw this together while working on three or four other things simultaneously for Christmas breakfast and on an empty stomach!
12/26/2009
I am an experienced baker, and this looked like an easy kringle to make. I made it for Christmas.it came out picture perfect! However it lacked taste.....the dough was bland and tasteless and the top was too sweet............this one is struck from my list of goodies!
12/24/2009
This recipe continually gets rave reviews. Nobody believes how easy it is to make. It has a great texture and flavor. I use it with my high school foods class and they really feel a sense of accomplishment with this recipe.
12/13/2009
Wonderful! I will make this again and again. Thank you for the bakers blog page with the additional photos. I knew exactly what to expect when making mine.
12/04/2009
Great coffe cake! I used my food processor,first to do the filling. I pulsed the dry ingredients with the butter till it formed small pieces, then added the cold water thru the feed tube.For the second part . after The butter-water-salt came to a boil, I mixed in the flour right into the stove pan and then transferred mix to the food processor(wiped out with a paper towel)and then slowly added the eggs one at a time .finally I added my flavoring . This seemed to work well for me.
12/03/2009
ik wil de recipe in nederland
11/03/2009
This was very yummy, but I do NOT recommend using the wrapped caramels. once the caramel set, we could hardly chew the kringle. This would be much better using a caramel sauce, like what's used for ice cream. Very good flavor from what we could eat around. I will try again with caramel sauce.
Thanks, Susan, I'll add that tip to the recipe. Now that I think of it, some wrapped caramels are REALLY hard; and their texture when wrapped will be the texture they eventually revert to. Glad you enjoyed it otherwise- PJH
Bookmark/share
this recipe