In this Instructable, I will show you how to make a cheese danish. This easy cheese danish recipe is made with puff pastry. I love having puff pastry on hand in the freezer because there are so many awesome pastries that you can make with it. And I love a good pastry! This cheese danish is awesome because it is almost like have cheesecake in breakfast form, haha. And I love cheesecake. Danishes are one of my favorite things to eat for breakfast. If you want you can also add jam or jelly or preserves on top or fruit, powdered sugar, glaze, etc. If I can do it, you can do it. Let's get baking!

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Follow the easy steps below or watch the video tutorial or do both! :)

Step 1: Ingredients and Tools

You may print the recipe here.

Ingredients:

8 oz of softened room temp cream cheese (226g)
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract (1ml)
1 tsp. of citrus juice (orange, lemon, lime) (5ml)
2 to 4 tbsp. white granulated sugar (25 to 50g)
1 large egg yolk
2 puff pastry sheets (I get the pepperidge farms brand)
flour for dusting work surface
Cinnamon and sugar mix (for dusting) or plain white granulated sugar

Egg wash

1 large egg
2 tsp. water

Tools:

Pizza roller or knife
Basting brush
Spoon
Bowls
Fork
Spatula
Sheet pan
parchment paper or a silicone mat
hand mixer

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Step 2: Danish Filling

Preheat the oven to 400 F (205 C). In a medium bowl add the softened room temp cream cheese, vanilla extract, orange juice, sugar, and egg yolk. Blend those ingredients all together until smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.

Step 3: Egg Wash

Now in a little bowl add the egg and water and whisk it with a fork until frothy. This will be the egg wash.

Step 4: Cut, Baste, and Fold

Now unfold a puff pastry sheet and lay it on a floured surface. Use a pizza roller or knife and cut it into 4 smaller squares. Baste the corners of it with egg wash and then fold the corners over. This will create an octagon shape for the danish.

Step 5: Dollop, Baste, and Spinkle

Next, dollop a few tablespoons of cream cheese filling in the middle of the puff pastry. Then baste the puff pastry that is showing with egg wash. Follow that up by dusting the puff pastry with a cinnamon and sugar mix or just plain white granulated sugar.

Step 6: Bake, Cool, and Enjoy!

Now place the pastries on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Then bake them for 15 to 20 minutes until they get nice and golden brown on the top. The cream cheese filling may or may not get a little color on top. That is totally fine if it does. After coming out of the oven allow them to cool on the pan for about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy! :)

Note: Before baking, you can also add a dollop of your favorite jam, jelly, or preserves along with the cream cheese. Also after if comes out of the oven you can dust with powdered sugar before serving, or make a simple glaze with powdered sugar and milk and drizzle that on top. Totally up to you! :)