Lemon Cream Cheese Danish
This easy cream cheese danish is made with lemon curd, and puff pastry for an easy breakfast or brunch danish recipe that everyone will love.
A good cheese danish has always been my favorite breakfast indulgence. That flaky puff pastry crust and the sweetened cream cheese in the middle….it’s the ideal way to start the day!
This easy cream cheese danish recipe uses premade puff pastry to keep things simple but we have fancied it up by lacing the top into a beautiful braid.
Inside is sweetened cream cheese and delicious lemon curd to the perfect combination of sweet and tart (we have recipe for peach cream cheese danish too!) . Add a little glaze on the top after everything is baked and you end up with a breakfast pastry that is easy enough to make for the family and awesome enough to add to your brunch menu.
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Using premade doughs is a great way to simply your breakfast baking without sacrificing flavor. We use it for our easy chocolate croissants, holiday breakfast ring, and even our air fryer maple bacon donuts…OMG you have to try them!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Frozen puff pastry – You’ll need 1 sheet of thawed puff pastry.
- Cream cheese – Cream cheese adds the perfect tangy flavor to this cheese danish.
- Confectioner’s sugar – You’ll use this powdered sugar to sweeten the cream cheese filling and to make the glaze for the puff pastry.
- Vanilla extract – A little vanilla extract helps mellow out the lemon without masking the flavor.
- Lemon zest – Zesting a lemon is a great way to get a real punch of flavor without the added liquid of using lemon juice. You’ll use this in both the filling and the glaze.
- Lemon Curd – Yum! I could eat this stuff with a spoon. You can make your own lemon curd or you can find it in the aisle with the jellies and jams at the grocery store.
- Egg – This is used to make a simple egg wash to brush over the puff pastry to give it a nice golden brown appearance.
- Milk – You’ll add this to the glaze to thin it out enough to drizzle it over the cooled danish before serving.
Instructions
Step 1 – Prepare oven. Preheat oven to 400F.
Step 2 – Make the filling. Mix cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon zest together until thoroughly combined.
Step 3 – Fill pastry. Unfold thawed puff pastry sheet and roll it out into a rectangle that is ¼ inch thick.
Cut 1 inch strips down the left and right thirds of the puff pastry, leaving the middle section untouched.
Add cream cheese mixture to the middle of the puff pastry and then spread the lemon curd over it. Fold the end of the puff pastry up and over, then fold the top strip from the left in towards the middle. Fold a strip from the right inwards to overlap the left strip. Continue alternating left and right down the length of the puff pastry.
Make a simple egg wash by mixing the egg and water and brush the egg wash over the puff pastry.
Step 4 – Bake. Place in a 400 F oven to bake for for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Step 5 – Glaze. While the pastry bakes make the glaze by mixing the confectioner’s sugar, milk, vanilla, and lemon zest together in a bowl.
Once the pastry is cooked and has cooled to room temperature drizzle the glaze over and enjoy!
You’d never believe it was that easy to make just looking at it! This danish is delicious and beautiful and absolutely perfect for spring and summer brunches or make it ahead of time for a lazy morning breakfast this summer. Either way you and whoever you share it with (I won’t tell if you keep it all for yourself) will love it.
Looking for More Breakfast Recipes?
- Overnight French Toast Bake
- Granola Fruit Tart
- Instant Pot Oatmeal
- Asparagus Goat Cheese Tart
- Blackberry Lemon Muffins
- Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole
- Cinnamon Roll French Toast Casserole {Overnight}
- More breakfast recipes…
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Lemon Cream Cheese Danish
Ingredients
Danish
- 1 sheet Frozen puff pastry, , thawed
- 4 oz Cream cheese, , softened
- ¼ c Confectioner’s sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 Lemon zest, (whole lemon)
- 4 oz Lemon Curd
- 1 Egg
- 1 tbsp Water
Glaze
- ½ c Confectioner’s sugar
- 2 tbsp Milk
- ½ tsp Vanilla
- 1 tsp Lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F.
- Mix cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon zest together until thoroughly combined.
- Unfold thawed puff pastry sheet and roll it out into a rectangle that is ¼ inch thick.
- Cut 1 inch strips down the left and right thirds of the puff pastry, leaving the middle section untouched.
- Add cream cheese mixture to the middle of the puff pastry and then spread the lemon curd over it. Fold the end of the puff pastry up and over, then fold the top strip from the left in towards the middle. Fold a strip from the right inwards to overlap the left strip. Continue alternating left and right down the length of the puff pastry.
- Make a simple egg wash by mixing the egg and water and brush the egg wash over the puff pastry.
- Place in a 400 F oven to bake for for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
- While the pastry bakes make the glaze by mixing the confectioner’s sugar, milk, vanilla, and lemon zest together in a bowl.
- Once the pastry is cooked and has cooled to room temperature drizzle the glaze over and enjoy!
Nutrition
Danishes are amazing. Lemon flavored things are amazing. I’m fairly certain that making this would be dangerous! xD I didn’t know I needed this in my life until now, but boy how do I need it in my life ASAP 😀
I hope you get a chance to make it I loved it!!
Oh wow, I love anything lemon and this looks amazing. Thanks for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop.
Yum! Featuring YOU tomorrow… Thank you for partying with us!
XO
Thanks Desiree!!
Thanks for this great recipe! I made two last night and they turned out beautifully and were really easy to make. I will definitely be making these again soon.
Thanks for letting us know. I’m glad you liked them as much as we did ! 🙂
How much Lemon Curd do you use?
We just eyeballed it and spread a layer of it over the cream cheese. I would say it is about 1/2 cup but feel free to use more or less depending on how lemony you want it!
Im sorry but i would like to ask: Where I can buy frozen pastry?
You can find frozen puff pastry in the frozen food section. It is usually near the frozen fruit and whipped topping or frozen pie section.
I love lemon everything! This would be such a great addition to my next brunch menu!! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I am having a crowd for an early morning coffee at my house. Could this be put together the night before and then baked early in the morning?
Yes! You can make it ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator (cover it with plastic wrap) until you are ready to bake.
This looks amazing Kennett be frozen? Are there any other fruit you can put on top besides the lemon zest for a second choice?
Instead of lemon curd you could put any fruit filling such as cherry pie or apple pie filling (found in the baking aisle of the grocery store). You could also use any other curd or even a jam or jelly. I think these are best fresh so I have never tried freezing.
This was amazing. I made two and did raspberry jam on the second. Such a great idea!
Love the raspberry jam idea!
How large was the rectangle of dough when you were finished rolling?
You roll out a sheet of puff pastry slightly since it’s already pretty thin.
Where do u find the lemon crud
Most grocery stores carry it.
It’s usually in the same grocery store aisle as the jams and jellies
Wow! This is some of the best pastry I’ve ever eaten, and definitely the best I’ve ever made. It was quick & easy, flaky and delicious. I made and used Chef John’s Lemon Curd Light, and the finished product was SUPERB. I had to bake it about 4 minutes longer; otherwise made it exactly as directed. Thanks for the recipe!
Does the lemon curd melt all over? Can it be prevented? Cant wait to make this!
Sometimes you get a little leakage out of the sides but the pastry should hold most of it in. I hope you like it as much as I do!
Very late to this – but just waiting on my version to come out the oven! Followed everything but substited for alphonso mango curd instead! Looking forward to it for breakfast in the morning! But wondering how best to store it overnight? I’m sure I’ll figure it out!
Any leftover Cheese Danish should be refrigerated, covered, for up to a week!