Hello sweet little buttery puffy pastries filled with raspberry swirled cream cheese otherwise known as the Raspberry Cream Cheese Danish. You are a beautiful thing!
You won’t believe how quickly you can whip these little morning treats up. And even better, you can keep everything you need on hand in the fridge or pantry just in case the need for a little sweet bite to go with your morning cup of coffee comes along.
Friends, these are the cutest little pastries. You’ll love them too!
Here’s how you make them: Cut and score your slightly thawed frozen puff pastry. And just a note on the puff pastry – if you are able to find a frozen puff pastry made with all butter (like the one Trader Joe’s carries around Christmastime) go with it! Any puff pastry will be delicious, but I’ve found that the better quality puff pastries made with all butter do make a difference in flavor and in rise.
Place a small scoop of your sweetened cream cheese mixture onto the center of the pastry dough. Add a couple of dollops of raspberry jam and swirl away. Put them in a hot oven and watch them do their thing… which is of course get very puffy!
Let them cool for a bit and then go ahead and drizzle on that almond glaze. Better than any store-bought pastry I’ve ever had for sure. They make the perfect little treat to go with that morning cup (or cups) of coffee.
Everyone is always so happy to see these Raspberry Cream Cheese Danishes on a big platter on the breakfast table. They seem to make everyone linger just a bit longer than usual before the daily routines take over. Enjoy!
Raspberry Cream Cheese Danish
Sweet, flakey, buttery puff pastries filled with raspberry swirled cream cheese!
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 16 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 puff pastry sheet (usually come 2 per box in the frozen section)
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons raspberry jam
- 1 egg plus 1 tablespoon water
- sparkling sugar (optional)
For the Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1–2 tablespoons water
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Lay frozen puff pastry sheet on a clean work surface and allow to thaw for 10 minutes.
- While you are waiting for it to thaw, you can make the cream cheese filling. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar into the cream cheese. Add the heavy cream and vanilla and mix until smooth. Set aside.
- Unfold the puff pastry and cut it into four equal parts. When you unfold it, sometimes it will break on the creases which is fine. Then cut your four parts into quarters, so you have 16 rectangles or squares.
- With a sharp knife, score an inner rectangle as shown. You don’t want to cut all the way through. This helps the puff pastry rise around the filling, and creates a little wall so the filling doesn’t escape.
- Place about 1 teaspoon of the filling onto the center of each puff pastry. Top with a few small dots of the jam, and swirl it around with a toothpick. Don’t worry about being precise with your swirling because you really won’t be able to tell after baking.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water and brush only the edges with a pastry brush. This adds a pretty sheen to the finished pastry. Sprinkle the edges with the sparkling sugar if desired.
- Bake for 13-14 minutes. They will puff up, and the edges should be golden. Remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack. Allow them to cool completely before drizzling with icing.
For the Icing
- In a medium bowl, whisk powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of water. Add more water a tiny bit at a time until you have reached the desired consistency. Add almond extract and whisk. Transfer the icing to a small Zip-loc bag, seal, and cut off the tiniest tip of the bottom corner. Drizzle over the cooled danishes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Danish
- Calories: 139
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 55mg
- Fat: 7.2g
- Saturated Fat: 2.3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4.3g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 17g
- Fiber: 0.2g
- Protein: 1.7g
- Cholesterol: 20mg
I made apricot and black raspberry tonight. They are delightful and your instructions are easy to follow. Looking forward to enjoying them again in the morning with coffee!
That sounds wonderful! Thanks for letting me know.
Thank you for this recipe, tasted delish! My problem was the dough would puff making the filling spill out. Any idea how to fix that problem? Not enough filling??
Hmmm maybe try scoring the boarder a little more so that only the edges will puff up. Hope this is helpful and glad you liked them!
I made these this morning. I must buy a different brand of puff pastry sheets. I got 12 (toaster strudel sized) pastries, 6 from each sheet. I didn’t have any heavy cream, so I used almond milk in the cream cheese mixture, it worked out fine. The only other change I made was to add a little cream cheese to the glaze to cut the sweeteness a little. What a treat and sooo quick and easy! I’ll definitely make again!
I’m so glad you liked them Ginny, thanks for letting me know!
Did you line the baking sheet with parchment paper?
I used a Silpat baking mat buy parchment paper would be good too.
How do you cut and separate the little rectangules of dough without pulling them out of shape? Also, what surface are you using on your baking sheet? Thanks!
It’s more of a scoring than cutting. It’s easier to do it when the dough is not frozen but quite chilled. The surface is a silicone baking mat called Silpat. Hope you enjoy!
Wonderful recipes. love it!
Thank you Mary!
I made these sugar free for my husband, he loved them. I tried them too, so delish
How nice! Glad this recipe worked out for you.
There were wonderful. Not too sweet and not too rich. Easy to make. Thanks!
I tried this recipe and it was delicious, though not as pretty as yours. My whole family loved them!
Glad everyone enjoyed them Beth. Thanks for letting me know!
Can I make these ahead and how many day will they be good?
I just made the dough the night before. I think they are like cinnamon rolls – best eaten the same day they are baked, but no one refuses them the next day by any means!
These look so good! I’m wanting to make them for a brunch tomorrow morning. I’ve never worked with Puff Pastry before. Would it work to prep through the egg wash stage and refrigerate overnight to bake in the morning? Thanks for any advice!
Kelli, I’m a little worried that if you did these the night before they might not turn out quite as well. The puff pastry could possibly dry out and not rise as well. Hope you enjoy!
Hi again, Julie
I went ahead and tried making the the night before as I found another recipe that said you could. It worked out just fine. I got them on the pans, sprayed some plastic wrap with cooking spray and then covered them tightly and refrigerated them overnight. I took them out about 10 minutes before baking and sprinkled with sugar. They turned out wonderful. I did bake one pan last night so I would have something to compare it to and they seemed the same to me. Thanks again for a fun recipe!
Oh good to know! I’m glad you tried it!
These are so easy and company worthy. Very tasty and pretty
I’m so glad they worked out for you Brenda!
Wonderful, simple, elegant looking, and fast! Everything that makes for a great potluck item. Oooorrrr, a guilty pleasure at home, lol. Is the cream cheese room temp soft, or fridge cold when used? Does adding some cinnamon, or extract to the cream cheese matter?
Exactly! Go ahead and use room temp cream cheese if possible, and feel free to flavor it as you please!
This was so easy! I made it in a braid form (all one piece) and everyone loved it. I even had one guest who said it was the best pastry she ever had. As you can imagine, the braid form took a tad longer to bake but the presentation was adorable. This is definitely going into my permanent rotation!
I love that you did it in a braid. I will have to try that!
Wow these look wonderful! I cannot wait to make these. I love your photos-they are simple and elegant and definitely have me hungry over here for this delicious looking dessert! Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for your kind words Destiny! You totally made my day sweeter.
Just come across your recipe around Christmas time,and today is my 4th batch. I also use my and my husband’s favorite pie filling,blueberry and cherry minus the icing and they taste just as great. Thanks for sharing this one its definitely a keeper. Theyre so delish,ummm umm..
Sincerely Jamie 🍒
That’s so great, thank you!
Do you really only put 1 tsp of the cream cheese filling in the middle of the pastry? What are the demensions of the final product?
OMG! OMG! OMG! I am speechless. My mouth is full.
No need to say anything, my dear. You just enjoy those danishes!
OMG I just came across this recipe & already heading out to the grocery store to make these tonight. I love these but I usually buy them store bought already made. Now I will be making these instead. Thanks for a
great & easy recipe.
Hope you enjoy Elaine!
Does this store well over night? Or is it better fresh out of the oven?
I think they are better fresh. Enjoy!
Love your recipes…
Thank you so much Annette!
I am so sorry I found this, they are dangerously delicious! This morning is the second time I have made them in a week. The cream cheese mix and the frosting are enough for both sheets of puff pastry, and trust me, you will want to make both!
Thanks Lynn!