DANISH BARS RECIPES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Place 1 cup flour in medium bowl. Cut in 1/2 cup softened butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of coarse crumbs. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons water over mixture; toss with fork.
• Gather pastry into a ball; divide in half. Pat each half into 12x3-inch rectangle, about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• In 2-quart saucepan, heat 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup water to rolling boil; remove from heat. Quickly stir in almond extract and 1 cup flour. Stir vigorously over low heat about 1 minute or until mixture forms a ball; remove from heat. Add eggs; beat until smooth. Spread half of the topping over each rectangle.
• Bake about 1 hour or until topping is crisp and brown; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely.
• In medium bowl, mix all glaze ingredients except nuts until smooth and spreadable. Spread over top of pastry; sprinkle with nuts.

Steps:

• Remove puff pastry sheets from the freezer and packaging. Place on counter to thaw for 40 minutes. Meanwhile, let cream cheese and eggs come to room temperature. Line two cookie sheets with parchment. Set oven rack to the middle and upper third of the oven. Preheat oven to 400ºF. In the last 5 minutes of the pastry thawing time, make the cream cheese mixture. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, lemon juice, and extracts on medium-low speed until combined. Scrape bottom and sides of the bowl. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until completely smooth. Roll the puff pastry sheets lightly to smooth the fold lines. Use a pizza or pastry cutter to cut into four squares. Place 4 squares on each baking sheet. Whisk the egg, water, and salt together. Brush egg wash onto the border of each square. Fold in the corners of the squares. Dollop 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture in the middle of each pastry. Brush any exposed pastry dough with the egg wash. Bake for 18 minutes, rotating the sheets at around 10 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets onto wire racks Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving. The centers will deflate slightly as they cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.