Golden Danish Twists Recipe

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, butter, salt, yeast mixture and 3 cups flour; beat on medium speed until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. For filling, in a small bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gradually beat in cream, lemon peel and vanilla. Punch down dough. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll one portion into an 18x12-in. rectangle. Spread half of the filling lengthwise down half of the dough to within 1/2 in. of edges. Fold dough over filling; seal edges. Cut into eighteen 1-in. strips. Twist and loosely coil each strip. Tuck end under; pinch to seal. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover with kitchen towels; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Preheat oven to 375 °. Bake twists 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks. For icing, in a large saucepan, melt butter. Stir in flour until smooth. Stir in lemon juice. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes or until mixture is thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in confectioners' sugar and lemon peel until blended. Drizzle over warm twists. Sprinkle with almonds. Refrigerate leftovers.