Sour Cream Twists are a quick and easy pastry-like treat that anyone can make. These soft, yet flaky, twists are great with coffee, tea or as an unexpected addition to a bowl of vanilla ice cream. They’re rich, yet light, and can be frozen beautifully.
Why You’ll Love These Sour Cream Twists
- Ease of Prep. This is a recipe that will make those of you who shy away from making pastry dough from scratch very happy! The method of folding and rolling the dough is how you achieve layers and layers of flaky dough, with a brush of butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.
- Simple Ingredients. The dough comes together in just minutes with regular pantry ingredients. Don’t be scared by the yeast in this recipe, it’s pretty foolproof!
- The Perfect Treat. I love pastry, and homemade pastry is even better. These twists are just as good with a cup of coffee or tea as they are for an afternoon snack or dessert!
Ingredients You Will Need
To make the dough you will need just a few simple ingredients. Make sure to scroll down to the bottom of this post to the full recipe card with all the ingredient measurements and instructions.
- Yeast. This recipe calls for Active dry yeast. Don’t be nervous about working with yeast, this is a foolproof recipe with an overnight rise in the refrigerator. You can also use Rapid Rise (Instant) Yeast too if you want to make these quickly!
- Flour. Simple, all purpose flour is all you need! Use the “spoon and sweep” method when you measure out the flour. Simply spoon the flour into the measuring cup and sweep off the top to level it. This prevents packing the flour into the measuring cup when you scoop it which will add more flour than you need!
- Butter. You can use unsalted or salted butter. I actually prefer salted, because it adds a nice balance in pastry making, in my opinion.
- Eggs. I use large eggs in this recipe as I do in all my baking recipes for uniform results.
- Sour Cream. Full fat sour cream is best to use in this recipe.
- Vanilla Extract. I like to you use Pure Vanilla Extract, but you can also use vanilla bean paste too for an extra boost of vanilla flavor!
- Cinnamon Sugar: I use a mixture of brown sugar and ground cinnamon in the filling for this.
How To Make Sour Cream Pastry Twists
The full recipe is in the recipe card below, so I won’t walk you through making the dough itself because it’s fairly straightforward. But I definitely want to give you a visual of how to roll out and form the twists.
Bloom the yeast: Don’t stress about the yeast. Simple mix it with warm water, allow it to “bloom” which will take 5 – 10 minutes. The yeast will dissolve and bubbly up in the water.
Make the dough: You’ll need to use a pastry cutter or just a fork to mix the cold butter into the flour. It should resemble coarse sand. Then mix in the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Next mix in the the yeast mixture to form your dough.
Allow the dough to rise: The most foolproof way to make these twists is to allow it to chill overnight. This allows the dough to rise slightly (it won’t double), and the flavors to meld together. PLUS it is a great recipe to make in advance when you are entertaining or for holidays.
How To Roll Out the Pastry Dough
When you’re ready to bake, divide the dough in half and roll it out into a rectangle. Brush it with melted butter, and sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar.
Fold the dough into thirds, and then roll it out again and repeat the process 2-3 more times! This is how you create the flaky, sweet layers!
Cut the dough into strips and then give them a twist! These will bake up and get golden at the edges and on the bottom.
Can I Freeze These Sour Cream Twists?
Yes! This recipe is great to make and freeze. Just bake the twists, allow them to cool and then package them airtight and freeze for up to 30 days.
Just thaw them at room temperature and enjoy!
More Pastry Recipes You Will Love
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Sour Cream Twists
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Rise Time: overnight
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 40 twists 1x
- Category: Pastry
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Breakfast
Description
These Cinnamon Sugar Sour Cream Twists are a absolutely delicious and an easy patry recipe, perfect for beginners!
Ingredients
- 1 (1/4 oz) package Active Dry Yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water (110°F – 115°F)
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 1 cup cold butter, cubed
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a small bowl stir together the yeast and warm water. Set aside to allow yeast to dissolve and bloom (about 5 minutes).
- Place 3 cups of flour into a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, or fork, cut the butter into flour until combined and the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add in the eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and yeast mixture. Stir until a thick, sticky dough forms.
- Cover the bowl airtight and refrigerate overnight. (*see note)
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
- Dust a clean counter with flour. Divide dough in half and place half of the dough back in the refrigerator.
- Roll half of the dough into a 12×8-inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle lightly with 1 1/2 tablespoons of cinnamon sugar. Fold the rectangle into thirds.
- Give dough a quarter turn and roll it out again to a 12×8- inch rectangle. Brush with more butter and sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar. Fold it into thirds again. Give another quarter turn and repeat the process one more time.
- Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut dough in half lengthwise, then cut into 4, 1- inch strips. Twist each strip and then place on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake at 375°F for 14-15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.
Notes
*Instead of an overnight rise, you can loosely cover the bowl with a clean towel and place in a warm place to rise for 1 -2 hours
Store airtight for up to 5 days at room temperature
Made the sour cream twist over the weekend. Turned out great. Changed a few things. First I grated the frozen butter I generally do this when a recipe calls for cutting in butter. I increased the melted butter between the layers just felt it needed more. I also refrigerated the formed cookies for about 10 minutes prior to baking. Very easy to make and great taste.
So glad you liked them!!
Karen, I made these today and I agree, the instructions are not all that clear. The first batch I made as I perceived the instructions, but they were too large and they spread. For the next batch, I cut the dough into fourths, and then into small 1 1/2 ” strips. After twisting and placing on cookie sheet, I brushed with more butter, sprinkled the cinnamon sugar mixture on top, and put in the freezer for 5-10 minutes before baking to prevent spreading, I then increased the baking time to 18 minutes so that they were crisp and brown…much better! I hope this helps
I have the dough for your Sour cream twists in the refrigerator to rise overnight. I am reading and re-reading the directions and cannot figure out how you get 40 cookies out of the dough. I even drew diagrams and I am not sure what I am doing wrong. Can you show how you do this?
These are delicious! My mother had a very similar recipe off the back of an old Pillsbury flour bag. She always added raisins into the dough, rolled the dough in sugar, rolled out the dough, cut it into strips, and tied the strips into little knots. We always had an old ice cream bucket filled with these in our freezer — for unexpected company and holidays.