Little squares of puff pastry filled with a sweetened cream cheese and a powdered sugar glaze topping make these Puff Pastry Cream Cheese danish delicious!
These are another puff pastry recipe that's perfect for brunch or even a light dessert. You might even enjoy them for a coffee break during a busy day. Let me show you how easy working with frozen puff pastry is!
I love using frozen puff pastry for recipes; especially easy dessert recipes.
The cream cheese filling in this recipe tastes like cheesecake. You'll need to let the danish cool and set before adding the glaze and enjoying a first bite.
Don't skip brushing the puff pastry with the egg wash or even the little sprinkle of sugar. Both will only help enhance the flavor tremendously!
If you love danish recipes as much as I do, make sure you try my Puff Pastry Apple Tart or my Puff Pastry Hearts are filled with chocolate mousse.
Table of Contents
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Main Ingredients Needed
Here's a quick overview of the ingredients for this recipe. Find the exact amounts and click the Instacart button to easily add them to your cart – all in the printable recipe card below!
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1 | Combine the Ingredients
- In a medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
- Add the vanilla extract.
- Finallly add the milk and mix until smooth. Set aside while you prepare the puff pastry.
Step 2 | Prepare the Puff Pastry
- Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
- Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface.
- Cut the pastry sheet into four equal parts. Then cut the four parts into four more parts so you have 16 pieces.
- With a sharp knife, score an inner rectangle on top of each square. You don't want to cut all the way through, just enough to help the puff pastry rise around the filling and create a little wall or edge so the filling doesn't escape while baking.
Quick Tip: Brushing puff pastry with an egg wash will give it a golden sheen while baking. The sugar caramelizes while the pastry bakes and makes it golden and beautiful.
Step 3 | Add the Cream Cheese Filling
- Place about 1 to 2 teaspoons of filling inside the center of each puff pastry square.
- Brush the edges with the egg wash.
- Place the tray in the refrigerator to chill the dough for 30 minutes before baking.
Quick Tip: Placing the baking tray in the refrigerator or even freezer to chill the puff pastry one more time before placing it in the hot oven will help chill the butter in the layers and give the recipe a better "puff" as it bakes.
Step 4 | Baking Instructions
- Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 12 to 14 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown.
- Allow the pastries to cool completely before adding the glaze. If you add it too soon, it will melt because of the heat of the pastries.
Step 5 | Add the Glaze
- Combine the ingredients for the glaze together in a small bowl.
- Drizzle on top of the cooled pastries.
Before You Begin!
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Recipe Variations
- You can easily cjamge this recipe by replacing vanilla extract with lemon extract.
- After you add the cream cheese filling, you could add a spoon of raspberry jam on top for a raspberry cream cheese flavor. Or try lemon curd!
- Decorate the top of the danish with fresh fruit like I did with my Puff Pastry with Cream Cheese and Fruit Recipe.
Storage Tips
- This cream cheese danish should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
- They will remain fresh like this for about a day.
- However, as with most puff pastry recipes, they are best eaten fresh.
Top Recipe Tip
- Make sure the cream cheese is softened so it's easy to blend with the sugar.
- This will also help when you spread the sweetened cream cheese mixture on top of the puff pastry before baking.
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Puff Pastry Cream Cheese
Ingredients
For the Cream Cheese Filling
- 4 ounces cream cheese; softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream.
For the Puff Pastry
- 1 sheet of puff pastry; thawed
- 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water
For the Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 - 2 tablespoons milk
- ¼ teaspoon pure almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
- Aedd the heavy cream and vanilla extract until smooth. Set aside.
- Line a baking sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Unfold the puff pastry sheet on a light floured surface.
- Cut the puff pastry sheet into four equal parts. Then cut the four parts into four more parts so you have a total of 16 squares.
- With a sharp knife, score an inner rectangle on top of each puff pastry piece. You don't want to cut all the way through, just enough to help the puff pastry rise around the filling and create a little wall or edge so the filling doesn't escape while baking.
- Place about 1 to 2 teaspoons of the filling inside the center of each puff pastry square.
- Brush the edges of the pujff pastry with the egg mixed with water.
- Sprinkle each square with a little extra granulated sugar.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 14 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow the danish to cool for a minute before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Combine the ingredients for the glaze and drizzle on top before serving.
Angela says
I'm making these right now but I'm confused a bit...do I fold them?
And cutting a square but not all the way thru ...these are pretty thin but
I'm gonna follow directions exactly and see how they turn out. They sound delicious.
Lois says
You don't fold them at all. They will puff up around the cream cheese filling as they bake. I hope they turned out delicious! Thank you for visiting.
Ashley Blackman says
I made these really quick today for desert for my family’s usual Sunday dinner. I may have put too much cream cheese on certain squares but other than that, they were delicious! I definitely ate two before they fully cooled down 😆
Lois says
Thanks for the GREAT comment!