Earlier this morning, I posted the recipe for the puff pastry. Now I’ll let you in on a secret: you can prepare this filling and use plain old puff pastry from the grocery store if you want. While I still think it tastes better homemade, certainly mom won’t mind.
You will need:
1/3 cup almond paste
2 3/4 cups ground almonds
1/2 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 egg whites
2 teaspoon almond extract
3 pounds puff pastry
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
3 tablespoons sliced almonds, for garnish
3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar for dusting
In a large bowl, beat almond paste with an electric mixer to break it apart. Add the almonds, sugar, and salt; continue to mix until the almond paste is no longer lumpy. Mix in the butter, egg whites, and almond extract on high speed until it’s as fluffy as you can get it. Set aside.
Using half of the dough at a time, roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle that is about 8 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick. Trim the edges of the dough so that your piece is a perfect rectangle. (Hint: Use a floured pizza cutter.) Cut the dough in half lengthwise to make two 4 inch wide strips.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
Fill a pastry bag halfway with the almond filling and pipe a stripe of filling down the center of each strip. Whisk together the egg and water. Brush onto one edge of each strip. Fold each strip over the filling and press gently to seal it. Brush each piece with egg wash and sprinkle sliced almonds over the top. Cut into 3 to 4 inch pieces, then cut 1/2 inch slits into the sealed edge to make the ”claws”. Place the bear claws at least two inches apart on baking sheets. Refrigerate and repeat with the second half of the dough.
Bake in the preheated oven until almonds are toasted and pastry is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool and dust with confectioners’ sugar right before serving.
Valorie Delp shares recipes and kitchen tips in the food blog, solves breastfeeding problems, shares parenting tips, and current research in the baby blog, and insight, resources and ideas as a regular guest blogger in the homeschooling blog. To read more articles by Valorie Delp, click here.
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