Bear Paws Recipes

BEAR CLAWS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Stir in sugar, salt and egg; mix well. Add the flour all at once, stirring until mixed. Set aside., For butter mixture, sprinkle 1 tablespoon flour on a work surface; place butter on surface and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon flour. Press and roll out with a rolling pin. Scrape butter from rolling pin and continue to work the butter until it forms a smooth mass without any hard lumps. Knead in remaining flour, working quickly to keep butter cold. , Place butter mixture on a sheet of plastic wrap and shape into a small rectangle. Cover with another sheet of plastic wrap; roll into a 9x6-in. rectangle. Set aside., Turn dough onto a floured work surface; roll into a 14x10-in. rectangle, with a 10-in. side toward the bottom. Unwrap butter mixture; place on dough 1 in. above bottom edge and 1/2 in. from each side edge. Fold top half of dough over butter and pinch edges to seal., Turn dough a quarter turn to the right; sprinkle lightly with additional flour. Lightly roll into a 16x8-in. rectangle. Fold bottom third of rectangle up and top third down, as when folding a business letter, making a 5-1/2x8-in. rectangle (this is called one turn). Rotate dough a quarter turn to the right. Lightly roll into a 16x8-in. rectangle and again fold into thirds, finishing the second turn. Repeat rotating, rolling and folding two more times for a total of four times. Wrap loosely in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 30 minutes., Roll dough into a 12-in. square; cut square into three 12x4-in. strips. Spread 2 tablespoons filling down the center of each strip to within 1 in. of long edge. Fold lengthwise over filling and pinch seam to seal. Cut each strip into three pieces. With scissors, cut each piece four times from pinched seam to about 1/2 in. from folded side. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Curve folded side slightly to separate strips and allow filling to show. Cover and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 1 hour., Preheat oven to 400°. Brush bear clasws with egg. Bake 10-14 minutes or until puffy and golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks. Combine glaze ingredients; brush over warm rolls. Cool.

ALMOND BEAR CLAWS

Steps:

• 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. Stir in the butter, egg whites, almond extract and amaretto liqueur on high speed until its 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. Cut the dough in half lengthwise to make two 4 inch wide strips.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). 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.

BEAR PAWS

Steps:

• Mix together all dry ingredients together except vanilla and sugar.
• Cut in butter.
• Work into dough.
• Break off small pieces and put in bear paw mold.
• Bake in preheated 350° oven for 20 minutes.
• Roll in vanilla sugar while still hot.

SEE'S POLAR BEAR PAWS RECIPE

Steps:

• Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
• Mix sugar, corn syrup, butter, and 1 cup whipping cream in a 4 quart pan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir constantly.
• Once it comes to a boil, heat the other cup of whipping cream in the microwave for 1 minute until hot. Gradually add the cream to the ingredients cooking in the pan, stirring constantly. (add it slowly so the caramel mixture never stops boiling)
• Continue stirring and it will begin to thicken and darken in color. Cook until it reaches about 242 degrees (soft ball stage). You can do the cold water test by spooning a little of the caramel into cold water, let it sit for a few seconds and then pull it out and if it can hold the shape of a ball then it's done. If not, keep cooking and repeat the test. (This cooking process to get it to the right temperature could take up to 20 - 25 minutes. Just keep stirring over the medium heat).
• When it reaches the soft ball stage or 242 degrees, remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Then fold in the peanuts. Pour into a bowl to cool for about 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes to cool quicker.
• Spoon onto parchment paper in tablespoon size mounds. Place in the fridge for about 30 minutes until set.
• Melt vanilla candy coating in the microwave on low for 30 second increments. Stir until melted and smooth. Dip the caramel cluster into the white chocolate with a fork allowing the excess chocolate to drip off. (I use a plastic fork with the middle tines broken out.This works great for letting the excess chocolate to drip back into the bowl) Place back onto the parchment lined pan to set up. They can be refrigerated to set up faster.

CHOCOLATE-DIPPED BEAR PAWS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, beat butter with sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add flour, spices, salt, and almonds and beat well on low speed until dough starts to come together, about 1 minute. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush 2 madeleine pans with softened butter. Press 2 packed tablespoons of dough into each mold (dough should be level with top of mold).
• Bake until edges are brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes in pans on a wire rack. Turn pans upside down over rack and tap to release cookies from mold. Let cool completely on rack.
• Melt chocolate in a metal bowl set over (not in) a pan of simmering water, or in a double boiler. Dip each cookie on the diagonal into chocolate, then place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, about 30 minutes.

BEAR PAW COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside
• Using a stand mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar and sugar until creamy
• Add in the egg and egg yolk, vanilla and beat to combine.
• Add in the baking soda, cornstarch, salt and flour and beat until a soft dough forms.
• Using a small ice cream scoop, scoop dough into your hands and roll it
• Place dough onto cookie sheet and bake 9-12 minutes.
• Once cookies are baked, place a melting wafer into the center of the cookie for the pad of the paw
• Then place 3 chocolate chips above the paw for the claws
• Repeat steps with remaining dough and cookies
• Let cookies cool for about 30 minutes before enjoying!

BEAR'S PAW BISCUITS

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 180C / 160C fan oven / gas mark 4.
• Thoroughly grease 3 bear paw moulds or madeleine pans with butter.
• In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
• In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cinnamon, cloves, cocoa powder, and nuts. Add to butter-sugar mixture, mixing thoroughly.
• Press dough into prepared pans and bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the edges are turning slightly brown.
• Allow to cool completely.
• Melt chocolate on a bain-marie (bowl sitting on a pan of boiling water). Hold each cookie by the "heel" and dip the top front end of the "paw" into chocolate, and then place on waxed or parchment paper.
• Insert four almond "claws" into paw while the chocolate is still wet and let the chocolate hardened completely.
• Store covered in an airtight container.