Weekend mornings were made for homemade pastries, and you don’t necessarily need a culinary degree for bakery quality baked goods. Thanks to frozen puff pastry, you can whip up a batch of danishes in under 30 minutes. These Easy Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish are delicious and simple to make.
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A Few Fun Facts about Danish
Danishes are pastries with multiple layers of dough rolled out and folded with butter, which then can be baked into multiple shapes and filled with fruits, preserves, cream, chocolate or a variety of other fillings.
In the mid 1800s bakers in Denmark went on strike in order to be paid monetarily instead of just for room and board. At this time bakery owners brought in workers from Austria who brought with them their method of making pastries ( in Denmark the word for Danish pastry is “weinerbrod” which translates literally into Vienna bread). The pastries then made their way to the United States by the hands of Danish immigrants, and became popular after they were served at the wedding of President Woodrow Wilson.
About Puff Pastry
When it comes to easy and impressive recipes puff pastry is one ingredient I always have on hands. Puff pastry is a laminated pastry, made with layers of butter and dough fold over and rolled out several times. This creates a pastry that is light and flaky. Excellent puff pastry is available at most supermarkets and is a great shortcut for creating pastries, appetizers and desserts. You can find puff pastry in the freezer section; common brands include Dufour ( made with butter and my preferred choice) and Pepperidge Farm ( made with vegetable based fats and is vegan).
Ingredients for Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish
- Puff Pastry
- Cream Cheese
- White Sugar
- Vanilla Extract
- Fresh Strawberries
- Cornstarch
- Egg
- Water
How to Make Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish
These danishes are quite simple to make but look like they took a lot of effort and skill. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a medium bowl beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and vanilla until creamy. In a separate bowl combine sliced strawberries, cornstarch and remaining 1/2 tbsp of sugar.
Place the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out slightly and then, with a pizza cutter, cut the puff pastry in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 4 equal pieces (you will have a total of 8 slices). Use a knife to score (but not completely cut through) a border into each piece (This will allow the border to puff up around the filling).
Spoon the cream cheese mixture within the border, then top the cream cheese with strawberries. Combine the egg and water to create an egg wash then brush over the border of the puff pastry. Transfer the pastries to a baking sheet lined with a silicon baking mat or parchment paper. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the danishes are puffed up and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
If you like this post be sure to take a look at some of my other recipes!
Strawberry Cream Cheese French Toast Casserole
Orange Pecan French Toast Casserole
If you make these Easy Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish please leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Pinterest for my latest recipes. Also, if you do make this recipe please tag me on Instagram, I’d love to see what you guys are making!
Easy Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish
Equipment
- 1 large baking sheet
- 2 medium bowls
- 1 Hand Mixer
Ingredients
- 1 package puff pastry thawed per package directions
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1/4 cup sugar, + 1/2 tbsp divided
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups fresh strawberries sliced
- 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a medium bowl beat together cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar and vanilla until creamy.
- In a separate bowl combine sliced strawberries, cornstarch and remaining 1/2 tbsp of sugar.
- Place the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out slightly and then, with a pizza cutter, cut the puff pastry in half lengthwise, then cut each half into 4 equal pieces (you will have a total of 8 slices). Use a knife to score (but not completely cut through) a border into each piece.
- Spoon the cream cheese mixture within the border, then top the cream cheese with strawberries. Combine the egg and water to create an egg wash then brush over the border of the puff pastry.
- Transfer the pastries to a baking sheet lined with a silicon baking mat or parchment paper. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the danishes are puffed up and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Savita says
These cheese danish look so delicious, and easy to make. I’ve never made one myself, so this recipe is going to be a great help.
Ann says
I love making something like this for a breakfast item. These look delicious! I have some extra strawberries on hand – will have to give it a try!
Ann says
These look so delicious! These would be great as a breakfast treat or for dessert! Excited to make these soon!
Monica | Nourish and Fete says
These are just lovely! We love strawberry anything, and it’s so nice to have a new special breakfast treat — these are especially perfect for a fancy weekend brunch. Will definitely be serving them for friends asap!
Jamie says
Wow! This pastry strawberry danish looks absolutely yummy and very enticing! Perfect comfort food for everyone to enjoy and love! Plus everyone wants strawberries! Loved it!
Linda says
This recipe is super-essy to make but looks a bit fancy. Can these be frozen?
Brianna says
Unfortunately the puff pastry would end up a little soggy after being frozen
Elizabeth says
These danishes turned out great! Everyone in my family loved them, and requested I make again! Thanks for the recipe share!
Amy Liu Dong says
Wow! This breakfast recipe is so delicious and looks so easy to make. I can’t wait to make this for my family!
Camille says
These are absolutely delicious!! Everyone loved them!! Thank you for sharing this recipe!! I will definitely make these again and again!!
Olesya says
Very easy to follow and make recipe! My pastry dough was folded in such a way that it made more sense to cut into 12 mini danishes rather than 8 full size. You need to wing it on the amount of filling to put on each, just eyeball it and don’t worry about perfect shaping, you can press down with the strawberries a bit to flatten it out but it doesn’t melt and run over the sides so no worries there. I baked 6 at a time in our toaster oven instead of full size oven and immediately realized the temp was too high so the second batch was baked at 350 and that came out perfectly after 15 minutes. Toaster ovens tend to run higher so I was prepared for this and watching closely. Thanks again! Loved making these.
Brianna Simmons says
I’m thrilled to hear you liked them!