Danish Rolls

Overview: Come one, Come all ! These Danish Rolls are the best thing to come around since sliced bread and ding dongs. These are not very difficult to make but to require a some time. It is a lot better to have one or two extra people around to help form the rolls once the dough has risen.

Lime Light: I would like to thank my Mom Amy for helping me with this recipe. I had to wait three months for her to come visit me in order to teach me how to make these. I also need to thank my Grandma Georgianna for the recipe. I am not sure how long this recipe has been in the family but in my eyes she helped get the tradition going.

Start out by getting the yeast to mix by putting 1/4 cup water in a container.

Add 2 tablespoons of yeast and put the container to the side.


Next place 2 cups of milk in a pot and bring to a boil. You want to scald the milk which means boil it until there are bigger bubbles along the edges of the pot. Be careful not to boil the milk for too long though.


Place 4 tablespoons of margarine in the mixer.

Pour the milk into the mixer.

Add 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract, and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract. Mix all together and let sit until the milk has become warm instead of scalding.


Add in 2 beaten eggs and 1 cup of sifted flour.

Blend this very thoroughly and add the yeast mixture.

Once it has been mixed pour dough onto your lightly floured board or counter and knead it with more flour until it is smooth and elastic.

Grease a bowl with vegetable oil to place the dough into. Place dough in bowl to get it coated with vegetable oil, lift the dough and flip it so the other side gets coated with vegetable oil.

Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm area that is free from any drafts.

Let the dough rise for 1 hour.

Turn on your oven to 450 degrees.

Roll the dough out onto a board because you will be cutting it out into strips and you don't want to make scratches on your counter top.

Cut 4 tablespoons of butter into thin slices and cover half of the rolled out dough.

Fold the dough over, lift it and turn it 90 degrees. Roll the dough out again to the same size as before. Repeat the process of cutting 4 tablespoons of butter into thin slices and folding the dough over 2 more times. After these two times, lift the dough up and rotate it 90 degrees and roll it out again to the same size as the first time.

Cut the dough into thin strips.

Time Saving Tip: You can cut the dough using a knife or I have found that a pizza cutter works best. The dough won't stick as much to the pizza cutter nor will the pizza cutter pull the dough. Plus, since the pizza cutter rolls, you can cut it a lot faster.

Cut the dough lengthwise.

Take a strip and pull it a little bit. Twist in opposite directions with both hands making the dough look like a piece of twisted licorice.

Then pinch one side and coil the dough into a circle while continuing to twist the one end continuously. At the very end of coiling, tuck the end underneath so that it won't uncoil. Place on a cooking sheet spreading them out since they will rise more. Place sheet in the oven at 450 degrees for 8 minutes or until golden brown.

Tip: Look at the end of this entry for a video description of coiling up a Danish Roll courtesy of my Mother.

While the rolls are baking, start mixing up the glaze.

Place 1 pound of confectioners sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons boiling water in a mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. I would suggest using a wire whisk instead of our dinky plastic whisk.

Take the rolls out of the oven and immediately place on a cooling rack and use a big spoon to drizzle the glaze on top of them. You have to drizzle while the rolls are still warm.

If you run out of glazing in your bowl, do not be afraid to scrape up and reuse the leftover glaze that has fallen from the rolls.
You might want to make sure your counter is clean before you do this though.

Ahhhhh! Deliciousness! Eat as many as you can before everyone sees/smells them!