CHERRY CHEESE DANISH RECIPE 🍒 EASY AND DELICIOUS! (2024)

This easy Cherry Cheese Danish recipe is fancy enough for holidays and special occasions yet simple enough to make on a Tuesday morning. The cherries are literally the cherry on top of a perfect cheese danish! A tasty shortcut makes this a family favorite! More breakfast favorites: Breakfast Casserole,Homemade Biscuits,Buttermilk Pancakes, and our favorite – Baked Bacon!

Cherry Cheese Danish

Cheese Danish is easily one of our favorite breakfast treats and when you add cherries… yes, please!

While danishes are typically reserved for special occasions and the holidays (every.single.Christmas), I’ve used a shortcut here that makes this easy breakfast treat perfect for any day of the week.

There is seriously nothing better than biting into that crispy puff pastry and then sinking your teeth into the sweet and savory cream cheese layer. So delicious!

Easy Danish Recipe

This easy cherry danish recipe is a winner anytime of year because it’s made easy with the help of frozen puff pastry sheets and pie filling. We’re talking a total of just six ingredients – including the powdered sugar you see dusted on top of the danishes. (And if you prefer icing or a glaze to powdered sugar, I give instructions on that below.)

The danish recipe may look super complicated and fancy, but just follow my step by step instructions below and refer to the images in the post as well. It’s really very simple to do!

Ingredients Needed

You’ll only need six ingredients for this recipe and the majority are for the cream cheese filling:

• puff pastry – this recipe calls for both sheets in one box of puff pastry. You can halve the recipe and use a single sheet.
• cream cheese – use full fat cream cheese if you can
• granulated sugar – just a bit to sweeten up the cream cheese filling
• vanilla extract – another tasty option is to use Bourbon instead of vanilla
• cherry pie filling – I give other options below if cherries aren’t your thing
• powdered sugar for dusting – check out the glaze recipe below if you prefer that to powdered sugar

How To Make Cherry Cheese Danishes

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
2. Lay out one roll of puff pastry and cut it in half and then in half again. Making 4 even squares.
   

   Tip: Use a pizza cutter to cut into squares. If you don’t have one, use a small, sharp paring knife.

3. Leaving a ½ centimeter edge, start ½ centimeter in from the corner and cut parallel to one side not quite to the middle. Start from where you cut at the corner and make an L going down the other side but not all the way to the middle. Do this on each corner. (see photo for example). Repeat on all 4 squares using a very sharp paring knife to make the cuts.
4. Once you have made the cuts, transfer the pastry to the prepared baking sheet.
   
5. Mix cream cheese, sugar and Bourbon in a bowl. Put one scant teaspoon in the middle of each corner of the pastry.
6. Place one cherry and small amount of filling on each cream cheese corner.
7. Dip finger in water and dampen each corner to help them stick.
8. Fold each cut corner piece into the middle making sure to press slightly so it will hold. Put one cherry in the middle.
9. Repeat with second roll of pastry.
10. Bake on a silicone baking for 12 min.
11. Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Want that perfect dusting of powdered sugar as shown above? Use my all time favorite tool: this dusting wand by OXO. It gives perfect results every time. Don’t have a dusting wand? Use a small sifter or strainer like this.

Danish Glaze

I chose to dust the top this danish recipe with some powdered sugar but another fun way to finish them off is with a simple glaze. Here’s how:

You just need two ingredients for this simple glaze:

• powdered sugar and
• milk

Simply whisk about half a cup of powdered sugar with two or so teaspoons of milk. If it’s too thick, add another teaspoon of milk. Too thin, add a tablespoon of powdered sugar. It’s really that easy!

Drizzle over the top of the baked danishes and serve!

Working With Puff Pastry

Puff pastry is the secret ingredient that makes this recipe so quick and easy to make but there are few things you should keep in mind.

1. Allow the frozen puff pastry to defrost in the fridge for several hours. If you are really short on time, you can defrost it at room temperature on a lightly floured surface, carefully flipping a few times as it defrosts.
2. Don’t let the pastry become soft because that means the butter is getting soft and you will start to lose the flakiness that puff pastry in known for. If your pastry gets too soft, return it to the fridge until it becomes firm again.
3. Since this recipe uses both sheets of puff pastry, leave one sheet in the fridge until you are ready to work with it. Likewise, it makes it rather simple to cut this recipe in half if you just want to use one sheet and make four danishes.

Danish Variations To Try

• This recipe uses cherry pie filling but don’t stop there! Try apple, blueberry, strawberry – you name it! This easy recipe works with any pie filling you might want to try so use your favorite.
• Topping options: powdered sugar and as I previously mentioned above, a simple glaze. Another fun way to finish the danishes off is with some sliced almonds. In fact, you can add these just a few minutes before they are done baking and then top with the powdered sugar and glaze. Beautiful and delicious!

More Breakfast Treats

1. Stuffed French Toast
2. Cinnamon Bread
3. Lemon Blueberry Scones
4. Cranberry Almond Breakfast Cookies
5. Almond Bear Claw
6. Chocolate Chip Pancakes

Looking for more free recipes? Make sure to follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram!

How To Make Cheese Danish