I adapted this recipe from one in the sugar hit book, the original recipe is for maple and pecan ones but I had some hazelnut praline paste that I made left over and wanted to use up. they were SO GOOD I feel like I need to use a some swear words to describe how amazing they were but I will keep it clean lol, but lets just say they where all gone about 10 minutes.

bear claw pastries are shaped a bit like a bears paw and they are made with a Danish pastry style dough. I decided to make a water icing with some maple syrup and icing sugar and sprinkle them with some sliced hazelnuts. next time I want to attempt the same spread but with almonds.

recipe for dough

• 300g 2 cups plain (all purpose) flour
• 1 teaspoon active dried yeast
• 125ml 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 egg
• 200g (7 oz) butter

once the dough has risen, tip out on to a lighly floured surface and roll into a large rectangle, slice the butter thinly and lay onto the middle section of the dough leaving a quarter of the dough exposed at the top and bottom.

fold the top and bottom pieces over the butter so that they meet in the middle, then fold the left and right hand edges so they meet in the middle, and fold the whole thing in half so the seam is on the left.

press the dough firmly to seal it then roll it back out to a rectangle again, then repeat the same folding process twice more.

wrap tightly in cling film and place in the fridge for two hours or overnight. (not make the praline below)

preheat the oven to 180c roll out the dough into a light rectangle and cut into small rectangle spoon on some of the filling (about 2 tbsp.) then brush the edges with egg and press closed then use a knife to cut the claws then brush the whole thing with egg and place on a baking tray with a gap between each one and then let them rest for about 15 minutes and then bake them for 25 to 30 minutes

to make the praline paste

• 200g hazelnuts
• 140g castor sugar
• 3 tbsp. water