Recently, when we’ve been going back to the North to visit friends & family, we’ve stopped half-way for a comfort break. This generally entails a trip to the loo and a coffee & pastry each.
We often plump for their pecan plaits which make for the perfect, tasty energy boost.
So, with some ready-made, ready rolled pastry sitting in the fridge waiting to be used, I decided to have a go at making my own pecan maple puff pastry plait.
There are lots of tutorials available on YouTube for cutting the pastry and forming the plait – it’s quite easy and straightforward. When it comes to the filling, there’s a good degree of flexibility possible. I went for a combination of pecan & maple with a touch of cinnamon.
The addition of the cinnamon worked fine – however, we both think we might actually prefer the simplicity of the maple & pecan combination alone. There are other options too; incorporating toffee sauces, chocolate, dried fruit and various other types of nut.
There’s all manner of snacks that we enjoy with our coffee, but perhaps nothing beats a crispy, sweet pastry straight from the oven.
Click to save this pecan maple puff pastry plait recipe to Pinterest
- 200g/7oz pecans
- 85g/3oz muscovado sugar
- ¼tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 30g/1oz butter, softened
- 1 pack (320g) pre-made, ready-rolled puff pastry
- 1 egg, beaten
- Preheat your oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas mark 6
- Finely chop the pecans. I put the pecans into a large mixing bowl and used the butt of my rolling pin. You could also use a large pestle & mortar for the task
- In a large mixing bowl, combine 150g/5¼oz of the chopped pecans (reserve the remainder to sprinkle over the top of the plait before it goes into the oven), sugar, cinnamon, maple syrup and butter
- Unroll the pastry onto a large baking sheet (still on its parchment paper)
- Cut the pastry as shown in the photos (this is a useful video clip to show how it's done [opens in a new tab])
- Spoon the sweet pecan filling down the centre of the pastry as shown in the photo
- Fold the pastry as shown (also seen in the previously mentioned video)
- Brush the top of the plait with some of the beaten egg and sprinkle over the reserved pecans
- Cook for 20-25 minutes until the pastry has turned golden brown
- Allow to cool on its tray for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving