Each Cream Cheese Puff Pastry Danish has delicate layers of puff pastry filled with vanilla almond cream cheese, berries, and fruit preserves, and is topped with a drizzle of delicious creamy almond icing. These Danishes melt in your mouth and are soft, flaky, creamy, flavorful treats perfect for a holiday or weekend breakfast.
What we love about this Cream Cheese Danish with Puff Pastry
If you haven’t used puff pastry sheets before, this is a perfect recipe to try! I love using frozen, prepared puff pastry, it is instant dough and as it bakes it puffs up into glorious light and flaky pastry. To use puff pastry sheets in this recipe, you leave the pastry sheets on the counter to thaw, cut them into squares, score and prick the pastry, and fill them with cream cheese and berry filling. No yeast is needed like with many other breakfast treats or waiting for the dough to rise, and it comes together pretty quickly.
The possibilities for fillings are endless! We are partial to this Cream Cheese Danish filling though. The vanilla almond cream cheese filling, berry and preserve topping, and creamy almond icing are an amazing combination. We love doing half with a blueberry filling and the other half with raspberry. The berry topping options are flexible, try blackberry, strawberry, or canned cherry pie filling.
If you are looking for other delicious sweet breakfasts, try our recipe for Orange French Toast.
What you need to make this Cream Cheese Danish
You will need the following ingredients:
- Frozen puff pastry
- Cream cheese
- Granulated sugar
- Freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Vanilla extract
- Almond extract
- Eggs
- Raspberry preserves
- Raspberries
- Blueberry preserves
- Blueberries
- Milk
- Powdered sugar
Berry Danish Substitutions
I know what it’s like when you don’t have everything on hand and the last thing you want to do is run to the store and pick something up. Here are a few ideas to substitute items on the ingredients list if needed:
- Different berries and preserves could be used. For example, strawberries, blackberries, or a canned fruit filling like apple or cherry.
- You could substitute the extract by only using vanilla or almond.
- You could substitute bottled lemon juice for fresh lemon juice in a pinch.
- Powdered sugar could substitute for the granulated sugar if needed.
- You could use a gluten-free pastry dough, Sweet Loren’s is a brand our grocery store carries.
Step-by-step Instructions
Step 1. Beat together cream cheese and granulated sugar until creamy. Mix in lemon juice, vanilla extract, almond extract, and egg yolk. Set aside. In 2 separate small bowls, gently mix together raspberries with raspberry preserves and blueberries with blueberry preserves.
Step 2. Roll puff pastry into a 12 x 12-inch square on parchment paper. With a pizza cutter cut into 4-inch squares.
Step 3. With a sharp knife, score the dough ¼ inch inside the borders of the square. Poke the inside of the square with a fork. In a bowl combine egg and milk, and brush the mixture on the border of each square.
Step 4. Fill the middle of each square with about 2 teaspoons of the cream cheese mixture. Add 1 teaspoon of preserves with 2 pieces of fruit on top of the cream cheese.
Step 5. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.
Step 6. Whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and almond extract. Drizzle icing over the puff pastry squares and serve.
Tips for Working with Puff Pastry
- When thawing the dough, don’t keep it at room temperature for too long, it should still be cold when using. It should unfold easily and be cold to the touch. If it’s too frozen, it can tear more easily. When working with one puff pastry, I cover and refrigerate the other so it doesn’t dry out or get too warm.
- Try to handle the puff pastry with your hands as little as possible and work quickly to keep the butter cold in the pastry. If it’s too warm, you won’t get the flaky layers you want.
- When cutting puff pastry, you want to cut it straight down, a pizza cutter works great. Never use a serrated knife which will affect the layers when cutting.
Frequently Asked Questions
| How to reheat Cream Cheese Puff Pastry Danish? |
| The puff pastry tastes great cold or at room temperature, but to heat and serve warm, place on a baking sheet in a 350-degree Fahrenheit oven for about 10 minutes. Warming it in the microwave may cause the pastry to become a little soggy. |
| How do I store leftovers? |
| Puff pastry is best the day it is made, but it will keep covered in the fridge for 3-5 days. You can freeze the Danishes, but the cream cheese filling may separate a bit when thawed. Also, the puff pastry texture will lose some of its crispiness. To freeze, wrap tightly and freeze for 1-2 months. |
Cream Cheese Puff Pastry Danish
9
servings25
minutes15
minutes40
minutesEach Cream Cheese Puff Pastry Danish has delicate layers of puff pastry filled with vanilla almond cream cheese, berries, and fruit preserves and is topped with a drizzle of delicious creamy almond icing. These Danishes melt in your mouth and are soft, flaky, creamy, flavorful treats perfect for a holiday or weekend breakfast.
Ingredients
Danish
2 sheets (1 package) frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package directions.
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
1 egg yolk
½ cup raspberry preserves
½ cup raspberries
½ cup blueberry preserves
½ cup blueberries
1 large egg
2 teaspoons milk
Glaze
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon almond extract
2 -3 teaspoons milk
Directions
- With a handheld electric mixer or stand mixer, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar until creamy. Mix in lemon juice, vanilla extract, almond extract, and egg yolk. Set aside.
- In 2 separate small bowls, gently mix together raspberries with raspberry preserves and blueberries with blueberry preserves.
- Roll puff pastry into a 12 x 12-inch square on parchment paper. With a pizza cutter cut into 4-inch squares.
- With a sharp knife, score the dough ¼ inch inside the borders of the square. Poke the inside of the square with a fork. Slide a cookie sheet under the parchment paper. Repeat with the second pastry sheet and a second cookie sheet.
- In a bowl combine egg and milk, and brush the mixture on the border of each square.
- Fill the middle of each square with about 2 teaspoons of the cream cheese mixture. Add 1 teaspoon of preserves with 2 pieces of fruit on top of the cream cheese. Alternate squares with raspberry or blueberry filling or do one cookie sheet of each. Be careful not to overfill the squares with the cream cheese, fruit, and preserves or they will spill off the puff pastry squares as the pastry rises when baking.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, almond extract, and milk together. Use a spoon to drizzle glaze over cooled pastry squares.
Notes
- I almost always use Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry sheets and have had great success using them for this recipe.
- See my tips above for using puff pastry. Make sure the dough stays cold when using it and cold and covered if you are not. Work quickly and try not to handle it with your hands too much.
- Be careful not to overfill the squares with the cream cheese, fruit, and preserves or they will spill off the puff pastry squares as the pastry rises when baking.
Loved the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It’s a favorite breakfast treat here, we love these puff pastry Danishes. Thanks for the great feedback!
So yummy! I love how easy they are to make with the puff pastry!
Thank you so much! We also love how the puff pastry helps makes these danishes so easy. It’s such a delicious breakfast treat. Thank you for the great review!
These look so good. I’ve always been nervous to try them but you make it look so simple. Thanks for the great recipes.
Thank you so much! They really are easy and taste so good! Thanks for the great comments!
Such a great idea to make with puff pastry! Such a great idea with the berry season fast approaching.
Thank you! The berries are so delicious with the cream cheese filling and preserves here. Thanks for the great feedback!