The Best Cheese Danish Recipe

Name: Cheese Danishe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 55 min
Ingredients: 2 sheets Puff pastry (- Thawed but still cold); 1 tbsp Butter (- Melted optional for extra sheen); 1 large Egg (- Beaten with 1 tsp water for egg wash); 8 oz Cream cheese (- Very soft); 1/3 cup Granulated sugar (- Adjust to taste); 1 large Egg yolk (- Binds and enriches); 1 tsp Vanilla extract; 1 tbsp Lemon juice (- Fresh for best flavor); 1/8 tsp Salt (- Pinch balances sweetness); 1 tbsp Sour cream (- Secret tang optional but recommended); 3/4 cup Powdered sugar (- Sifted); 1–2 tbsp Milk (- To desired drizzling consistency); 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract (- Or swap almond extract)

I've been making breakfast pastries for church stuff and weekend brunches for 19 years now, and I can tell you that a good cheese danish doesn't need fancy tricks or weird ingredients you can't find. This isn't one of those recipes that takes forever or makes your kitchen look like a bomb went off. I've made this recipe about 70 times, changing little things here and there until we got something that's flaky, creamy, and makes people think you bought it from some expensive bakery.

Close‑up of a golden, flaky cheese Danish on a wooden board, showing its layers of puff pastry filled with creamy cheese.

Why You'll Love This Cheese Danish Recipe

Making this danish for tons of bake sales and watching Emma's friends actually get excited about eating breakfast has shown me exactly what makes this recipe work. It's rich without making you feel sick, sweet without being like candy, and you can actually taste the cheese instead of just sugar. Emma has helped me make this so many times that he knows when the filling is ready just by looking at how it sits on the dough.

Whether you're making it for regular weekend breakfast or taking it to one of those places where you want people to remember what you brought, this cheese danish always gets people talking. The best part? Even kids who say they don't like cream cheese end up wanting seconds. Easy Cheese Danish Recipe: Homemade Bakery Style

Jump to:

Why You'll Love This Cheese Danish Recipe
Ingredients For Cheese Danish Recipe
How To Make Cheese Danish Recipe Step By Step
Cheese Danish Recipe Variations
Substitutions
Storage Tips
Equipment For Cheese Danish Recipe
The Recipe That Got Passed Down From My Aunt's Kitchen
Top Tip
Why This Recipe Works
FAQ
Time to Make Some Really Good Cheese Danish!
Related
Pairing
Cheese Danishe

Ingredients For Cheese Danish Recipe

For the Pastry:

Puff pastry sheets
Butter
Egg for brushing

Top‑down photo of baking ingredients: a glass bowl of flour at center, eggs on a green napkin, a bowl of oil, a small bottle of vanilla extract, and a tray of more flour, all arranged on a stone countertop.

For the Filling:

Cream cheese
Sugar
Vanilla
Egg yolk
Lemon juice
Salt

For the Top:

Powdered sugar
Milk
More vanilla

See recipe card for quantities.

Overhead view of a bowl of cream cheese surrounded by butter sticks, granulated sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla beans, lemon zest, and a small dish of salt on a marble surface.

How To Make Cheese Danish Recipe Step By Step

Get Your Filling Ready:

Mix cream cheese until it's smooth
Add sugar, vanilla, egg yolk, and lemon juice
Beat it until there's no lumps
Taste it - should be sweet but tangy

Close‑up of a clear glass mixing bowl on the wooden countertop, containing smooth, creamy cheese filling being folded with a metal fork by one hand, with scattered flour and a rolling pin hinting at ongoing preparation.

Prep the Pastry:

Thaw puff pastry if it's frozen
Roll it out on a floured surface
Cut into squares or rectangles
Don't make them too big or the filling will leak out

Top‑down view of a floured wooden countertop showing a square of puff pastry being brushed with glossy egg wash by a red silicone pastry brush, with a neat dollop of ivory cheese filling in the center and a hand holding a small glass bowl of beaten egg at the edge of frame.

Put It Together:

Put a spoonful of filling in the center of each piece
Fold the corners over or leave it open - whatever you like
Brush with beaten egg so it gets golden
Let them sit for about 15 minutes

Overhead shot of the same surface with a larger sheet of puff pastry being precisely cut into four equal squares by a hand wielding a knife, while small bowls of ingredients and a rolling pin rest blurred in the background.

Bake Them:

Let them cool a bit before adding the glaze
375°F for about 15-20 minutes
Look for golden brown color
Don't open the oven door too much or they'll go flat

Cheese Danish Recipe Variations

Berry Good:

Add fresh blueberries to the filling
Strawberry jam on top
Mixed berries scattered around
Emma's favorite for summer

Chocolate Crazy:

Mini chocolate chips in the filling
Drizzle chocolate on top
Cocoa powder mixed in
Always goes first

Apple Cinnamon:

Diced apples in the filling
Cinnamon in the cheese mixture
Apple pie spice on top
Tastes like fall

Lemon Explosion:

Extra lemon juice and zest
Lemon glaze instead of vanilla
Yellow food coloring if you want
Really tangy and good

Substitutions

Pastry Options:

Puff pastry → Crescent roll dough
Frozen → Store pie crust
Store-bought → Biscuit dough
Regular → Phyllo sheets

Filling Changes:

Cream cheese → Mascarpone cheese
Regular → Greek yogurt (thick kind)
Plain → Ricotta cheese
Standard → Cottage cheese (blend it smooth)

Sweet Stuff:

White sugar → Brown sugar
Regular → Honey (use less)
Normal → Maple syrup
Standard → Powdered sugar

Other Swaps:

Lemon juice → Orange juice
Vanilla → Almond extract
Egg yolk → Whole egg
Fresh → Bottled lemon juice

Storage Tips

On the Counter (2 days):

Let them cool down all the way first
Put them in a container with a lid
Don't stack them or they'll stick together
Keep them away from heat and sun

In the Fridge (4-5 days):

Cover them with plastic wrap
Put them in the fridge if it's really hot outside
Warm them up in the oven before eating
They taste better warm anyway

Freezing (Not Worth It):

You can freeze them but they get soggy when you thaw them
The pastry gets all limp
If you have to freeze them, wrap them really well
Better to just make them fresh

Equipment For Cheese Danish Recipe

Baking sheet
Mixing bowl
Small brush for egg wash
Sharp knife

The Recipe That Got Passed Down From My Aunt's Kitchen

My aunt had this little bakery in her small town back in the 1980s, and she made the best cheese danish anyone had ever eaten. People would drive from two towns over just to get hers on Saturday mornings. When she closed up shop, she gave me her recipe, but there was this one thing she did that wasn't written down anywhere - she'd add a tiny bit of sour cream to the filling. "It makes the cheese taste more like cheese," she'd tell me over the phone when I called asking why mine didn't taste exactly like hers.

That little bit of sour cream cuts through all the sweetness and makes the cream cheese filling taste better and more interesting. Now I always add about a tablespoon to my filling, and Emma says it tastes like the ones from "that fancy place" we went to once. The other thing she taught me was to let the puff pastry thaw all the way before you work with it, but then chill it again for about 20 minutes after you cut it.

Top Tip

Here's the one thing that matters most when making this cheese danish - don't put too much filling in each one. I know it's tempting to load them up because the filling tastes so good, but if you put too much, it'll leak out everywhere and make a mess in your oven. Emma found this out when he tried to help and made one that was basically a cheese volcano.

The other big thing is making sure your cream cheese is really soft before you mix the filling. If it's cold and hard, you'll get lumps no matter how much you beat it. I take mine out about an hour before I want to bake, and sometimes I even stick it in the microwave for like 10 seconds to soften it up faster.

Why This Recipe Works

I've been making this for years, and here's why it's better than other cheese danish recipes. First off, using puff pastry instead of making your own dough saves tons of time and honestly tastes just as good. The trick is not messing with it too much - just thaw it, cut it, fill it, and bake it. Plus, the cream cheese filling is simple but that little bit of sour cream makes everything better.

Emma has eaten this so many times that he can tell if I forget the sour cream just by taking one bite. The other thing is the heat - if you bake it too hot, the pastry burns before the filling gets done. Keep it at 375°F and peek through the oven door. Most importantly, don't skip letting it sit before baking - that 15 minutes makes the pastry puff up way better.# Easy Cheese Danish Recipe: Homemade Bakery Style

FAQ

What is a cheese Danish made of?

A cheese danish has puff pastry wrapped around a cream cheese filling that's mixed with sugar, vanilla, and usually an egg. Some people add lemon juice for tang. The pastry gets brushed with egg wash to make it golden and shiny when it bakes.

Is a cheese Danish sweet?

Yeah, cheese danish is sweet but not crazy sweet like a donut. The cream cheese filling has sugar in it, but it's also tangy from the cheese. It's more like a sweet breakfast thing than a dessert. Goes great with coffee in the morning.

What is in a cheese Danish at Starbucks?

Starbucks cheese danish has puff pastry with cream cheese filling, but theirs is probably made with preservatives and junk to keep it fresh longer. Homemade ones taste way better because you use real cream cheese and fresh stuff instead of the processed garbage.

What cheese is Danish?

Danish cheese includes things like Havarti and Danish blue cheese, but cheese danish pastry doesn't use those. It uses cream cheese for the filling because it's sweet and creamy. Regular Danish cheeses would be too salty and gross in a pastry.# Easy Cheese Danish Recipe: Homemade Bakery Style

Time to Make Some Really Good Cheese Danish!

Now you know how to make cheese danish that actually tastes like it came from a bakery - from using my aunt's sour cream trick to getting the pastry just right. This flaky, creamy breakfast treat shows that sometimes the best recipes are the ones that get passed down through families.

Want more recipes that people love? Try our Best Knorr Spinach Dip Recipe that's great for parties and always goes first. Want something different for breakfast? Our Best Japanese Pancake Recipe makes fluffy pancakes that are like eating clouds. Or change things up with our Easy Sweet Potato Hash Recipe that makes regular breakfast way better!

Why You'll Love This Cheese Danish Recipe