Welcome to our fourth Danish pastry recipe! We gave you spandauer, then tebirkes, then kanelsnegle, and now – frøsnapper! If we sound excited about it, that’s because we are. We love Danish pastry, or as it’s known in Danish, wienerbrød (Vienna bread), because it’s just so classic. Seemingly endless variations, and yet there’s always flaky, buttery dough and sweet, delicious filling to enjoy 🙂
Frøsnapper are sort of a random Danish pastry, and unless you’ve been to a bakery in Denmark, it’s unlikely that you’ve seen one. They’re basically a twisted version of tebirkes, with poppy and sesame seeds on top and a butter and sugar filling in the middle. The shape makes them almost extra crispy, if that makes sense. The word “frøsnapper” in Danish doesn’t even have any unique meaning, it literally just refers to this pastry. So, it’s definitely a random one, but delicious nonetheless, and a perfect addition to any celebratory brunch you may be hosting someday!
Another reason we love wienerbrød is because although the yeasted puff pastry is quite a difficult technique to master, it is so fun to make! You may fail many times – we certainly have and still do – but the end result will always be delicious. Read tips and tricks for the dough over on our spandauer recipe, or our base danish pastry dough recipe – these are incredibly useful and will help you make the perfect Danish pastry! The only difference with frøsnapper is the assembly, which is outlined in detail (and with pictures) in the recipe below. As with any recipe for wienerbrød, we would like to emphasize – be patient! Let your pastries rise, even if it takes many hours. This will help you avoid the dreaded butter leakage that comes from underproofed Danish pastry dough. We hope you try making them!
We now have two pastry dough recipe on our website: the 6 hour faster version and the original, overnight proofing version! Either one is delicious, and while laminating dough is a bit of a project, it’s a great activity for the weekend!
Frøsnapper (Danish Pastry Twists)
Ingredients
PASTRY DOUGH
- 1 portion wienerbrødsdej *or you can use the easier recipe below! You only need one portion, so choose one to use!!
- OR 1 portion "easier" wienerbrødsdej (danish pastry dough)
REMONCE (FILLING)
- 75 grams (5.5 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
- 50 grams (1/4 cup) sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
TOPPING
- 1 egg (for egg wash)
- Poppy seeds
- Sesame seeds
Instructions
- The night before baking, begin preparing the pastry dough by following the steps in our wienerbrødsdej recipe. Or if using the easier pastry dough recipe, you can begin the same day!
- The next day, follow the lamination instructions in the danish pastry dough recipe.
- While the dough is resting between folds, mix the ingredients for your filling (softened butter, sugar, vanilla extract). Mix together really well, until you have a smooth paste.
- Once you have completed all laminations according to the danish pastry dough recipe up to the shaping part and the dough has rested, roll out your dough until it is about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Trim the edges so you have an even rectangle.
- Cover half of your dough in your remonce filling.
- Then, fold the other half over the filling.
- Mark 12 rectangles in the pastry dough by scoring the top. This will help cut them out after topping.
- Egg wash the top of the pastry dough and top with an even mixture of sesame and poppy seeds.
- Cut into the 12 rectangular shapes.
- Twist each rectangle 1 to 1.5 revolutions to create the twisted shape. Place on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper (6 pastries on each sheet). Cover with plastic wrap.
- Now leave your shaped pastries to rise for at least 2 hours, perhaps longer.
- Look at the difference between the previous picture and the picture below! This is a very important step, because under-proofing these means major butter leakage (we are speaking from experience!). You’ll know the pastries are ready when they feel super light and airy (almost wobbly when you touch them) and have doubled in size. Another test is to poke the dough, and if it leaves an impression and doesn’t spring back immediately, it should be ready.
- Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 C).
- Egg wash the exposed areas with no seeds on them. Bake your pastries for about 15 minutes until golden brown and flaky. You can either bake both baking sheets at once if you adjust the oven racks, or bake each sheet one at a time in the center rack of the oven. Don't worry if some of the filling leaks out on these ones – that's just because the shape exposes the seam more than some other enclosed pastries! Enjoy 🙂
Thanks for sharing this special recipe! Great instructions! I fell in love with these special Danish pastries and I am looking forward to make my own when returning back home!
Thank you for your comment! Let us know how it goes when you make your own!
The name is from Orla Frøsnapper, a Danish childrens book, written by Ole Lund Kirkegaard. Great language. I read Orla Frøsnapper as good night story for my big daughter, but she was holding her belly from laugher from start to end and didn’t get sleepy at all, at all. It’s a book that really catches and that is probably why the baker wanted to honer the book. Frøsnapper, means someone eating frogs, which in the book refers to the bad guy Orla, who got the nickname because he once ate a frog. But frog and seeds are the same word in Danish: “frø” so there is some kind of playing on the words I believe.
I actually didn’t know this, but Orla Frøsnapper certainly rings a bell! I am sure we must have had that read to us as children too, but who knows. Sounds like a great story, maybe I’ll have to find a copy for myself 🙂 Yes, you are right about the play on words, frø does mean both frog and seeds. Very interesting – thanks for your comment!