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This Cream Cheese Danish tastes just like the bakery case but comes together with store-bought puff pastry, a sweet vanilla cream cheese filling, and juicy fresh strawberries, and my whole family lines up the second they come out of the oven. They look fancy but could not be easier, and that golden, flaky pastry is irresistible. If you love an easy breakfast pastry, our fresh strawberry scones are another weekend favorite.
Flaky puff pastry, creamy filling, and fresh strawberries bake up into the prettiest, easiest danishes you will ever make.
Cream Cheese Danish Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 20 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 35 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 12 danishes
- ⚡ Calories: 380kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Flaky, buttery pastry with sweet vanilla cream cheese and strawberries
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, on par with our crescent roll cinnamon rolls
Quick Answer
To make a cream cheese danish, beat softened cream cheese with powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Cut thawed puff pastry into squares, score a border around each one, and spread the cream cheese filling in the center. Top with sliced sugared strawberries, brush the edges with egg wash, and freeze for 20 minutes so the pastry puffs. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 22 minutes until golden, then drizzle with a simple vanilla glaze.
Jump to:
- Cream Cheese Danish Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Cream Cheese Danish
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Cream Cheese Danish FAQs
- Other Recommended Breakfast Pastries
- Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Puff pastry makes it easy. Store-bought puff pastry gives you bakery-style flaky layers with none of the work of making dough from scratch.
- The cream cheese filling is dreamy. Cream cheese whipped with powdered sugar and vanilla is sweet, tangy, and perfectly smooth.
- Fresh strawberries shine. Sugared fresh strawberries add juicy, bright flavor and a gorgeous pop of color on top.
- The freezer trick guarantees puff. Chilling the assembled danishes before baking helps the pastry puff up tall and flaky every time.
- That glaze is the finishing touch. A quick vanilla powdered sugar glaze drizzled on top makes them look and taste like the bakery case.
- They look impressive but are simple. These danishes come together in about 35 minutes yet look like you fussed all morning.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- They taste like the bakery but start with easy store-bought puff pastry.
- The sweet vanilla cream cheese filling and fresh strawberries are irresistible.
- They are perfect for brunch alongside our lemon blueberry coffee cake.
Key Ingredients
Here is everything you need to make these strawberry cream cheese danishes. Just a handful of simple ingredients, starting with store-bought puff pastry.
- Puff Pastry: Thawed store-bought puff pastry sheets are the shortcut to flaky, golden danishes. Keep them cold until ready to use.
- Cream Cheese: Softened to room temperature so it whips up smooth and creamy for the filling.
- Powdered Sugar: Sweetens both the cream cheese filling and the vanilla glaze.
- Fresh Strawberries: Sliced and tossed with a little sugar to draw out their juices for a juicy, sweet topping.
- Vanilla Extract: Adds warm flavor to both the filling and the glaze.
- Egg: Beaten with a splash of water for an egg wash that gives the pastry a golden, glossy finish.
- Milk: Thins the powdered sugar into a smooth, drizzly glaze.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
These cream cheese danishes are easy to make your own. Here are a few favorite ways to switch them up.
- Switch the fruit: Use blueberries, raspberries, cherries, or sliced peaches instead of strawberries.
- Add jam: Spoon a little fruit preserves over the cream cheese for extra sweetness.
- Make them lemony: Add lemon zest to the cream cheese filling for a bright twist.
- Go savory: Skip the sugar and fruit and fill with herbed cream cheese for a savory danish.
- Try other pastries: Use the same filling in our crescent roll dough for a different shape.
- Mini danishes: Cut the pastry into smaller squares for bite-sized danishes, perfect for a brunch spread.
How to Make Cream Cheese Danish
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice the strawberries into a bowl, add 2 tablespoons of sugar, mix, and let them sit to release their juices.
- In another bowl, beat the room temperature cream cheese with 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 cup powdered sugar until smooth.
- Gently unfold the thawed puff pastry and cut each sheet into 6 even squares, for 12 total.
- Score a border about 1/4 inch from the edge of each square, then spread about 1 tablespoon of cream cheese filling inside and top with sliced strawberries.
- Beat the egg with a splash of water and brush it around the borders, then sprinkle the pastries with sugar if desired.
- Place the assembled danishes in the freezer for 20 minutes so the pastry puffs up nicely. Do not skip this step.
- Bake for 20 to 22 minutes until the crust is golden brown and puffy.
- While they bake, whisk together 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 to 2 tablespoons milk to make the glaze.
- Transfer the danishes to a cooling rack, drizzle with glaze, dust with extra powdered sugar if you like, and enjoy.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Keep the puff pastry cold until you are ready to fill it so it puffs up best.
- Do not skip the freezer step; 20 minutes in the freezer makes the pastry puff up tall and flaky.
- Score the border about 1/4 inch in so it puffs into a raised edge around the filling.
- Pat the strawberries a bit so excess juice does not make the pastry soggy.
- Brush the edges with egg wash for that glossy, golden bakery finish.
- Let them cool slightly before glazing so the glaze sets instead of melting off.
- Serve the same day for the crispiest, flakiest pastry texture.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
These strawberry cream cheese danishes are the star of any breakfast or brunch table. Serve them slightly warm with a hot cup of coffee or tea, and watch them disappear before anything else on the table.
Make them part of a bigger brunch spread alongside our fresh strawberry scones and a slice of lemon blueberry coffee cake for a beautiful, varied pastry board.
They are also a lovely sweet ending to a meal. For more bakery-style treats, try our Portuguese custard tarts or a strawberry cheesecake bundt cake for a crowd.
These danishes are best the day they are made, but leftovers keep covered at room temperature for a day or in the fridge for two to three days. Reheat briefly in the oven to bring back the crispness.
Cream Cheese Danish FAQs
Yes, you can assemble the danishes up to the freezer step and keep them frozen on the tray for up to a month, then bake straight from frozen, adding a few extra minutes. You can also fully bake them ahead and store them, then refresh in a warm oven before serving. The vanilla glaze is best added fresh right before serving.
Puff pastry gives these danishes their signature flaky, buttery layers, so it is the recommended choice. In a pinch you can use crescent roll dough for a softer, more bread-like danish, though the texture will be different. Just keep whatever dough you use cold until ready to bake for the best rise.
The most common reason danishes do not puff is skipping the freezer step or letting the puff pastry get too warm. Cold pastry going into a hot oven is what creates those tall, flaky layers. Make sure to chill the assembled danishes for 20 minutes and bake at a full 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fresh strawberries work best because they hold their shape and do not release too much liquid. If using frozen strawberries, thaw and drain them very well first. You can also swap in other fruit like blueberries, raspberries, cherries, or sliced peaches, or use a spoonful of fruit jam in place of fresh fruit.
Store leftover danishes loosely covered at room temperature for up to one day, or in an airtight container in the refrigerator for two to three days. Because they contain cream cheese, do not leave them out for more than a couple of hours. Reheat in a warm oven for a few minutes to bring back the flaky, crisp pastry.
Yes, you can make a single large danish instead of individual squares. Keep the puff pastry sheet whole, score a border, spread the filling, and top with strawberries, then bake a few minutes longer until the center is cooked through and golden. Slice it into pieces to serve, like a strawberry cream cheese danish braid or slab.
Love easy breakfast bakes? Try our fresh strawberry scones next.
Planning a tea party? These pretty strawberry tea sandwiches come together in 5 minutes.
Our strawberry cream cheese danish is another bakery style breakfast bake.
Love a filled pastry? Our strawberry cream cheese danish is another easy crowd-pleaser.
Love a filled pastry? Our strawberry cream cheese danish is another easy crowd-pleaser.
Love a filled pastry? Our strawberry cream cheese danish is another easy stunner.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish
Ingredients
- 4 cups strawberries sliced
- 2 tablespoons sugar plus more for sprinkling on top
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar divided
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract divided
- 2 puff pastry sheets thawed
- 1 large egg
- 1-2 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Slice strawberries and place in a medium sized bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and mix. Let this mixture sit.4 cups strawberries, 2 tablespoons sugar
- In a medium bowl, combine room temperature cream cheese, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and 1/2 cup powdered sugar. Mix to fully combine.8 ounces cream cheese, 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Gently unfold the thawed puff pastry, and cut into 6 even squares. You should have 12 total, after you use both sheets of puff pastry.2 puff pastry sheets
- Score the dough around the edges, about 1/4 inch away from the border and place about 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese filling in the inside. Smooth it out and place strawberries on top of the cream cheese filling.
- Lightly beat the egg with a splash of water and brush around the border of the puff pastry. Sprinkle the whole pastry with sugar, if desired.1 large egg
- Place the prepared puff pastries in the freezer for 20 minutes. (You do not want to skip this step! It makes the crust puff up so nicely!)
- Bake for 20-22 minutes at 400F or until the crust is golden brown and puffy.
- While the danishes are baking, combine 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1-2 tablespoons of milk. You can drizzle this over the danishes for a nice glaze.1-2 tablespoons milk
- Transfer to a cooling rack and top with glaze, and powdered sugar if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Let the cream cheese come to room temperature before mixing to make it smooth.
- Use a pastry brush to apply the egg wash evenly for that golden brown finish.
- Chill the pastries before baking—this helps them puff up nicely.
- Slice strawberries in a large bowl and sprinkle with sugar for extra sweetness.
- Use a paring knife to gently score around the outer edge of each danish.
- A small bowl is perfect for mixing your glaze quickly and easily.
Nutrition
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Absolutely delicious looking forward to making this again