Puff Pastry Cinnamon Twists
Puff pastry cinnamon twists are a buttery sweet treat that combines crisp and flaky puff pastry with a twist of cinnamon sugar. They’re super easy to make with store-bought or leftover puff pastry in your freezer.
No puff pastry in your freezer, you say? No worries. I’ve got you covered!
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Ingredients
If you buy puff pastry for this recipe, make sure to buy a brand that is made with butter. I can recommend Dufour for good results and taste.
If you are making yours from scratch, know that butters are not all the same (reference: my chocolate chip cookies). In recipes where the butter plays a starring role, please use a European style butter. The higher fat content really makes a difference.
Variations and substitutions
Try making puff pastry cheese twists. Instead of cinnamon sugar, grate some Parmesan and add a bit of paprika. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the butter, then twist and bake as in the basic recipe.
The recipe inspiration
These puff pastry cinnamon twists were made for the reddit 52 week baking challenge (Week 35: Laminated Dough). The recipe was only slightly adapted from the Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. If you are new to pie and pastry, I highly recommend this book!
Recipe tips and tricks
Classic puff pastry vs quick or “rough” puff pastry
Classic puff pastry is made by pounding a bunch of butter into a square and wrapping it in dough. You then roll out a series of folds and turns to get layers and layers of butter and dough that puff up when baked. While bashing the butter can be therapeutic, with classic puff you really have to make sure that the butter doesn’t get warm.
With quick puff pastry (or rough puff, if you’re a fan of the Great British Bake-Off), large chunks of butter are incorporated into flour like a pie crust. Then the dough is rolled and folded like the classic. Rough puff doesn’t puff as much as classic puff pastry, but it is so much easier to make, especially in a warm kitchen.
Working with pastry
Just like with pie crusts, one of the most important rules when working with puff pastry is to keep it cold. If your dough starts to warm, put it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes.
Tip from the wise quacker: in summertime, consider rolling out your pastry dough on a floured cutting board. It means you can cut strips without worrying about scratching your countertop or pop your dough into the fridge if it’s getting warm.
Rolling and filling
Panel 1: When rolling puff pastry, be careful not to roll over the edge of the dough, smashing the layers together. So start in the middle of the dough and roll away from yourself. If you are rolling out a rectangle, rotate 90 degrees (a quarter turn) and roll again.
Panel 2: Repeat until the dough is the about an eighth to quarter inch thick. My slightly more than half pound of dough rolled into a rectangle 7.5 by 13 inches.
Use a pastry brush to brush the melted butter evenly on the dough (Panel #3 above). Sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar and use your hands to press it gently down into the butter (Panel #4).
Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut three-quarter inch strips (Panel #5). Or, you can buy a multiple wheel pastry cutter if you want things perfectly even. You should have about 16 strips. Holding the strip steady in one hand and use the other to turn it into twists. Press the ends of the twists down onto lined baking sheet so they don’t unroll when baking (Panel #6).
What to do with extra cinnamon sugar
Any extra cinnamon sugar can be stored in an air-tight container indefinitely on your countertop. Use it for cinnamon toast or to sprinkle on peanut butter waffles. Make pie crust cookies. Or use it in a classic raisin and nut rugelach.
Recipe FAQs
No, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. But you’ll get more consistent results if you weigh your ingredients, especially for baking.
You could, although you’d get better results if you freeze the dough for up to 3 to 6 months) and then do the rolling, twisting, and baking when you want to snack on them.
Salted butter will last for a longer time than unsalted butter, but both should be stored in the freezer. Unsalted butter can be stored in the freezer in its original packaging for a few months before it starts to taste off.
Related pastry recipes
Check out some other Ugly Duckling Bakery pastry recipes like:
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-heart 💜💜💜💜💜 rating in the recipe card below. Let me know how much you loved it, or any problems you had, in the comments section further down.
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-heart 💜💜💜💜💜 rating in the recipe card below. Let me know how much you loved it, or any problems you had, in the comments section further down.
Recipe
Puff Pastry Cinnamon Twists
Equipment
- Food processor
Ingredients
Puff pastry (Makes about 1 pound)
- ¾ cup (5.8 ounce or 164 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for rolling
- ¼ cup (1.1 ounce or 31 grams) cake flour
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (16 tablespoons or 8 ounces or 227 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
- ⅓ cup (2.4 ounces or 68 grams) cold water
Cinnamon twists
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces or 113 grams) butter, melted
- ½ cup (3.5 ounces or 100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- pinch salt
Instructions
Puff pastry
- Add the flours and salt to the food processor and blitz until mixed.¾ cup (5.8 ounce or 164 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour, ¼ cup (1.1 ounce or 31 grams) cake flour, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Add the cubes of cold butter and pulse about 10 times.2 sticks (16 tablespoons or 8 ounces or 227 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch cubes
- Add the cold water and blitz until the pastry just starts to come together.⅓ cup (2.4 ounces or 68 grams) cold water
- Dump the mixture out onto a clean cutting board or lightly floured countertop and mash it together with your hands just until it forms into a ball.
- Use a rolling pin to roll it into a thick rectangle with the long edges to the sides, and then fold it like a business letter. That is, fold the bottom third up over the middle third and then fold the top third over the folded bottom and middle thirds. This is fold #1. Make a note to yourself as a mark on a piece of paper or something like that. I've seen a colleague use their kid's abacus to keep track.
- Rotate the folded dough clockwise 90 degrees or one quarter turn. Repeat the steps above by rolling out the dough into a thick rectangle and folding it like a business letter. This is fold #2. Make another mark. Rotate the dough clockwise another 90 degrees.
- Repeat for fold #3 and #4.
- If making these cinnamon twists, cut the dough in half using a sharp knife. Wrap one half in plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Double wrap the other half in plastic wrap and place it in a small freezer bag for future puff pastry treats.
Puff pastry cinnamon twists
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Take the wrapped puff pastry out of the refrigerator a few minutes before you want to roll it out.
- Roll out the pastry into a rectangle about 7 to 8 inches on the short side and ⅛ inch thick.
- Use a pastry brush to brush the rectangle thickly but evenly with melted butter.1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces or 113 grams) butter, melted
- Combine the sugar, cinnamon, and salt and sprinkle it evenly over the rectangle. Use your hands to pat it gently into the butter.½ cup (3.5 ounces or 100 grams) granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, pinch salt
- Slice the rectangle into about ¾ inch strips that will be 7 to 8 inches long.
- Holding one end steady, twist the other end of the pastry as tightly as you can, and press the ends down onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat. This will help prevent the twist from unwinding while baking.
- Put the baking sheet into the freezer for about 30 minutes prior to baking. This will again help to prevent the twists from unraveling.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and slightly browned.
- Let cool on the baking sheet. These cinnamon twists can be stored in an air tight container at room temperature for about one week.
Notes
Nutrition
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Previous challenges
Week 1: New Year new recipe – blueberry galette
Week 2: seasonal – Smitten Kitchen’s grapefruit pound cake
Week 3: Great British Bake Off – Kate’s sticky toffee apple caramel cake
Week 4: Australia – sausage rolls
Week 5: bite sized – bite-sized cookies
Week 6: Chinese New Year – mushroom bao
Week 7: new tool – baguette baker
Week 8: chocolate – chocolate peanut butter bonbons
Week 9: timed bake – under 1 hour! chocolate chip scones
Week 10: allergy/diet restriction – macarons
Week 11: quick breads – kale bread
Week 12: signature bake – purple cow bread
Week 13: enriched breads (kale and cheese babka fail)
Week 14: childhood favorite –fudgy triple layer chocolate cake with chocolate ganache frosting
Week 15: decorating challenge – purple velvet cake
Week 16: crispy crunchy – bacon cheddar popcorn
Week 17: p52 of a favorite cookbook, or your favorite blog – chocolate peanut butter drip cake
Week 18: pâte à choux – bacon cheese puffs
Week 19: veggies turned sweet – red velvet beet waffles
Week 20: plating – mini chocolate chip cookies
Week 21: Birthday Party! – chocolate orange cake
Weed 22: Scandinavian – Swedish apple cake v sourdough apple cake
Week 23: Layers – Pecan apple oat bars (post is pending)
Week 24: Tarts – rainbow fruit tart
Week 25: Bagels and donuts – maple donut cake
Week 26: Surprise inside – surprise heart yeast bread (pending)
Week 27: Local favorite – Rainier cherry crisp
Week 28: Seasonal ingredients – blackberry lemon bread
Week 29: French dessert – peanut butter banana clafoutis (a classic with non-classic flavors!)
Week 30: Savory baking – Ooni pizza dough recipe
Week 31: Unusual ingredient – juniper lime drizzle cake
Week 32: Gelatin (homemade marshmallows) and 33: Picnic – peanut butter Rice Krispie treats
Week 34: Brunch – spinach and feta muffins
Next week: Friendship challenge