Recipe Background
We have Denmark to thank for the original creation of the beloved Wisconsin Kringle. The golden-brown dough is made with lots of love and filled with sweet, walnut-infused goodness. Shaped into the most beautiful yet simple braid and drizzled with a sugary glaze, it's a feast for the eyes. But never fear–Wisconsin Kringle is never too beautiful to eat.
We have Denmark to thank for the original creation of the beloved Wisconsin Kringle. The golden-brown dough is made with lots of love and filled with sweet, walnut-infused goodness. Shaped into the most beautiful yet simple braid and drizzled with a sugary glaze, it's a feast for the eyes. But never fear–Wisconsin Kringle is never too beautiful to eat.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter cold, plus 1 cup butter, softened, divided
- 2 cups all-purpose flour sifted, plus more, to taste
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 cups brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups English walnuts chopped, divided
- 1 cup confectioners' sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
Directions
- In a large bowl, cut 1 cup of the cold butter into 2 cups of the flour until crumbly, forming pea-sized chunks.
- Stir in the sour cream and mix well. The dough should be very sticky.
- Form the dough into a ball.
- Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Lightly grease a baking sheet.
- Prepare the filling by combining the remaining softened butter with the brown sugar and 1 cup of the chopped walnuts.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator and divide it into 3 equal portions. Return 2 portions to the refrigerator to keep cold.
- Quickly form 1/3 of the dough into a rectangle and using the extra flour, lightly dust the rectangle.
- Using the extra flour, heavily dust a flat surface, then roll out the dough to approximately 12x17 inches in size.
- Position the dough lengthwise on the work surface.
- Along the long edges of the dough rectangle, use a sharp knife to cut 4-inch-long angled lines, about 1/2-inch apart.
- Spoon 1/3 of the filling along the length of the rectangle's uncut center.
- Alternating from one side of the dough to the other, fold each 1/2-inch wide strip towards the center, crisscrossing the filling in a braid-like fashion.
- Lightly press together the ends of the strips to seal.
- Sprinkle with 1/3 of the remaining walnuts.
- Repeat the shaping, filling, and braiding processes with the remaining ingredients to form 3 braided danishes in total.
- Place the 3 danishes on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake the danishes until they are golden-brown, about 30 minutes.
- Take the danishes out of the oven and cool them for about 30 minutes.
- While the danishes are cooling, mix the confectioners' sugar and the water until a smooth icing forms.
- Drizzle the icing in fine streams over the warm danishes.
- Slice and serve.
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