A simple and delicious recipe for flaky and delicious Cheese Danish! These are made with my easy (cheater’s) homemade puff pastry, though you can substitute store-bought in a pinch.
Cheese Danishes make for a great special occasion breakfast food, they’re one of my favorite Christmas morning foods alongside Homemade Cinnamon Rolls and French Toast Casserole!
Homemade Cheese Danishes
A little while back I shared my recipe for homemade puff pastry, and, if you recall, strongly encouraged you to make a few extra batches and store some in your freezer. This Cheese Danish recipe is exactly why. Once you have that pastry made, you’re only 25 minutes away from perfect homemade breakfast pastries. Perfect for brunch or holiday breakfast spreads or (let’s be real) any random Tuesday the craving happens to hit.
I always thought danishes were difficult to make, and the puff pastry can be a bit time consuming, but we’ve mastered that now (and if we haven’t, there’s always store-bought). They’re not difficult, and homemade is better than any pre-packaged breakfast pastry you’ve ever tried.
The filling is smooth and creamy, like a pocket of cheesecake or cream cheese frosting encased in buttery, flaky pastry. The glaze is simple and a perfect compliment to top everything off. Just. Make. These. Now.
What You Need:
- Puff Pastry. I highly recommend you use my “easy” homemade Puff Pastry for best taste! However, store-bought will work. You’ll need one box (/two sheets).
- Cream cheese, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Stir these together to make your cheese danish filling.
- An egg and a splash of water. This will be your egg wash which helps brown the outside of your cheese danish.
- Powdered sugar and milk. Whisk these together to make a glaze for drizzling over the danishes once they’ve cooled. Or while they’re still warm. No judgement here.
How to Make Cheese Danish
Begin by dividing your puff pastry dough in half and roll into a 12×12 square. Cut this into four even-sized squares. The steps below correspond with the step-by-step collage above.
- Stir together cream cheese, (granulated) sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract and dollop two tablespoons into the center of each square.
- Fold the corners toward the center without actually touching them to each other. Leave a small bit of space between the corners.
- Brush the pastry with an egg wash (made by whisking together egg and 2 teaspoons of water).
- Bake until golden brown. The pastry (and the filling) will puff quite a bit in the oven, but will settle down as they cool.
Don’t forget to drizzle everything off with a simple milk and sugar glaze. Technically you *should* let the danishes cool a bit before drizzling with this glaze, otherwise it has the inclination to melt alllll over the place. I personally don’t mind so long as I get to enjoy my cheese danish warm (sometimes too warm, careful not to burn your tongue).
But we’re all adults here. Choose your own ending! Melty and warm or cool and tidy!
Different Danish Shapes
The square shape that I used in today’s recipe is is the simplest and most basic design for making cheese danishes. However, if you watch my video (below the recipe) I also share how to make a fancy-looking but surprisingly simple pinwheel design, too.
Enjoy!
More Recipes You Might Like:
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Homemade Cheese Danish Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 batch homemade puff pastry see note to use store-bought pastry
Filling
- 8 oz (226 g) cream cheese softened
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ¾ teaspoons vanilla extract
Egg Wash
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons water
Glaze
- 1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar
- 3-5 teaspoons milk
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F (205C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Prepare filling by stirring together cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.8 oz (226 g) cream cheese, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, ¾ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Divide puff pastry into 2 even parts (If using homemade puff pastry I’ll usually cut this width-wise, if using store-bought dough it will already be divided into two even sheets for you).1 batch homemade puff pastry
- Roll first half of puff pastry into a 12x12” square (about 1/16” thick). Cut into 4 even-sized squares.
- Transfer squares onto prepared baking sheet. Dollop about two tablespoons of filling into the center of each square. Fold the corners over the center of the filling, leaving a space about ¼” thick in the center and between corners.
- Prepare egg wash by whisking together egg and 2 teaspoons water. Brush generously over the top of the puff pastry dough.1 large egg, 2 teaspoons water
- Transfer cheese danishes to 400F (205C) preheated oven and bake for 17-19 minutes or until light golden brown. Pastries will puff a lot in the oven but will settle as they cool.
- Repeat steps with second half of puff pastry dough.
- Allow cheese danishes to cool before drizzling with glaze.
Glaze
- To prepare glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar, 3-5 teaspoons milk, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Drizzle glaze generously over cooled cheese danishes. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Tammy
Love this recipe! Was wondering do the leftovers need to be refrigerated?
Sam
What are leftovers? 🤣🤣🤣 😉 This can be stored at room temperature for several days. I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Maci
I feel like everything was good but the puff pastry. It was too dry and I followed everything step by step and I froze my butter for 40 mins.
Sam
Hi Maci! Is it possible there was too much flour in the dough? If you didn’t use weights I definitely recommend checking out my article on how to measure flour. 🙂
Callie
Hi! Can I omit the lemon in the filling if I don’t have any on hand? Thank you.
Sam
Absolutely! 🙂
Melissa
Great recipe but my cream cheese spread and didn’t stay in a nice mound in the middle. I may have gone a tiny splash over on the vanilla, was that the issue? If adding jam to the cream cheese mixture for a different flavor, can you use less sugar? Thanks for sharing!!
Sam
Hi Melissa! It’s not supposed to stay mounded in the middle. I’m not sure how adding jam would go. The flavors may not mix well. If you do try it let me know how it goes. 🙂
sigh
can I use the cream cheese in a tub for this recipe?
Sam
I haven’t tried it, but I think in this situation it could still turn out. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Sarah
I tried these this weekend and added fresh apricot from our tree. They were delicious! The only problem I had was the folded corners opened up while baking. Any suggestions?
Sam
Hi Sarah! They should puff up a little bit and settle back down when done baking. If they completely unfold there may be too much cheese filling in the danish. 🙂
Maria
This is a great recipe. Absolutely loved it. Thank you!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Maria! 🙂
Gretchen
I made these the other day and they are AMAZING! I had never made homemade puff pastry before, but the videos were so helpful and made it so easy. Everything turned out great! I will definitely be making these again! Thank you for sharing!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Gretchen! 🙂
Nisa
Hi, thanks for sharing your recipe! Do you think leftover cream cheese frosting can work as a filling?
Sam
I think if you were to use cream cheese frosting as a filling for these cheese danishes you would probably end up with a pretty big mess. The frosting will probably just melt out when baking.
Aliis
I have found frozen puff pastry where I live (quite rare, I promise) and am excited to try your recipe! I would like to know how long the prepared filling will last in the fridge if my family just assembles what we plan to consume in a serving. Would you say a few days to a week?
Sugar Spun Run
I am happy that you were able to find puff pastry, Aliis! The filling will last up to one week if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I hope that your family enjoys it! 🙂
Andrew
I have a question, does the 1 batch of puff pastry mean 1 recipe or half of the recipe? Because on the puff pastry recipe it says to divide into two and then use.
Sam
Hi Andrew! You will want to use the entire recipe here. 🙂
Andrew
Ok, I did the recipe with only 1 batch of puff pastry which is half of the recipe because the recipe makes two batches, and it turned out fine. It was really good!
Sugar Spun Run
That is wonderful, Andrew! Enjoy! 🙂
Dittus
Thank you, love this recipe! It came out great and my friends loved it. Is there any way to use this same recipe but with a different filling? Maybe raspberry jam?
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you and your friends loved it, Dittus! Yes, you can absolutely change out the filling to whatever your preference is at the time. Thanks so much for commenting. Enjoy! 🙂
Dittus
Perfect. Do you have any fillings that you recommend trying? Thanks again!
Sugar Spun Run
In my homemade strawberry pop-tart recipe, I use a strawberry filling that would pair nicely with this. You can try that. I also have a lemon curd recipe that would work too. Let me know what you end up trying. 🙂
Pam
Thanks for a great recipe! We all loved them! Can’t wait to make them again.
Barb
Hi Sam- hope you enjoyed Christmas with your new baby boy! Made the cheese danishes and we loved them! My son was home from California and he said they put any bakery danish to shame! Making more this weekend.
Happy New Year!
Sugar Spun Run
That is wonderful, Barb! I am so glad that he enjoyed them! I hope that you had a wonderful visit with your son and a happy holiday. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Monica
I would like to make these a few days ahead – do you know if they freeze well? Thank you! 🙂
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Monica! Yes, they can be frozen for up to one month. I recommend storing them in an airtight container. I hope that you enjoy them. 🙂
Monica
Thank you Sam! I’m very excited to try them! Should I wait to glaze them until I bring them back to room temperature?
Sugar Spun Run
You are welcome, Monica! Yes, I think that the icing applied the day you serve them will be best. 🙂