German Twists Recipes

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat in the egg, egg yolks, sour cream, vanilla and yeast mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Place three ungreased baking sheets in the refrigerator., Sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar over a clean work surface. On the sugared surface, roll half of dough into a 12x8-in. rectangle (refrigerate remaining dough until ready to use). Sprinkle rectangle with 4 teaspoons sugar; fold into thirds. , Give dough a quarter turn and repeat rolling, sugaring and folding two more times. Roll into a 12x8-in. rectangle. Cut into twelve 1-in.-wide strips; twist. Place on chilled baking sheets. Repeat with remaining sugar and dough., Bake at 375° until lightly browned, 15-20 minutes. Immediately remove from pans to wire racks to cool., For icing, combine confectioners' sugar and cream. Dip twists into icing or drizzle icing over twists.

Steps:

• Cut the butter and the shortening into the flour and salt. Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Add to teh flour mixture. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Cover with a damp cloth and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Roll out 1/2 the dough into an oblong 8.16". Mix 1 1/2 cup of sugar with 2 teaspoons of cinnamon and sprinkle 1/4 of it over the dough.
• Fold 1/3 dough over the middle 1/3, then fold the other end over the middle. The dough is now 3 layers deep.
• Roll our into an oblong again. Use some more of the cinnamon/sugar mixture in place of flour as you roll it out each time. Again sprinkle with some of the c/s mixture and fold in thirds again. This give it a layer effect when baked.
• Cut into 1x4" strips. Place on greased cookie sheet as you give a twist to the ends. Press ends down.
• Bake for 15 minutes at 375.
• Serve warm.

Steps:

• Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a bowl and let activate while you complete remaining steps.
• Place flour and salt into a food processor and pulse once or twice to combine. Scatter butter slices over flour and process until butter is thoroughly mixed into the flour, about 1 minute.
• Whisk yeast mixture, sour cream, egg, egg yolks, and vanilla extract together in a bowl; pour mixture into food processor. Pulse several times, just until the dough starts to hold together and clean the sides of the bowl (do not overmix). Remove dough from food processor and divide in half; form each half into a thick disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 2 hours. For best texture, refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Sprinkle a work surface generously with sugar and roll out one of the dough disks into an 8x16-inch rectangle. Sprinkle dough with a generous amount of sugar. Fold the dough over in thirds, letter-style, and roll out again; fold as before and roll out and fold a third time, sprinkling dough with sugar each time. Finally, roll dough into a 4x14-inch rectangle, about 1/4 inch thick. Repeat process with second dough disk.
• Cut strips from the short side of the dough rectangles, making them 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide. Place strips onto the parchment-lined baking sheets, twisting and slightly stretching them. If preferred, form into horseshoe shapes.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cookies will puff up a bit to reveal delicate layers. Let cookies cool for about 5 minutes on sheets before transferring to wire cooling racks.