Puff Pastry Danishes
Use your favorite fruit preserves paired with a tangy cream cheese filling and flaky pastry to make these easy and delicious puff pastry danishes!
Servings 12 danishes
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 sheets puff pastry thawed according to package directions
- ⅓ cup Bonne Maman fruit preserves any flavor
For the egg wash
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
For the glaze
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- ¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line (2) baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl with an electric hand mixer, beat cream cheese, granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract until smooth. Set aside.
- Work with one sheet of the thawed puff pastry at a time, keeping the rest in the refrigerator until you’re ready to work with it to keep it cold.
- Unfold one pastry sheet onto a lightly floured work surface. Cut into 3 pieces along the fold marks. Next cut the pastry sheet horizontally across the middle of the sheet to create 6 even rectangles.
- Place the rectangles onto the prepared baking sheet. Use a paring knife to lightly score a ½-inch border around each puff pastry rectangle. This will allow the edges to rise around the filling; just be sure not to cut all the way through the pastry.
- Add a slightly heaping tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture to the center of each pastry and spread it evenly within the borders you created. Next, add a teaspoon of jam to the center of each pastry, but do not spread the jam out.
- Whisk together the egg and water until thoroughly combined. Use a pastry brush to apply the egg wash to the border of each pastry.
- Bake in preheated oven for 16-18 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. The centers will deflate a bit while cooling.
- Repeat the process with the remaining pastry and filling ingredients.
- Allow pastries to cool completely.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla to create a glaze. You want the glaze to be able to drizzle off of a spoon, but you do not want it to be watery. At this point, if the glaze is too thick to drizzle, gradually add more milk ½ teaspoon at a time until you reach the desired consistency. Drizzle glaze over cooled pastries. The glaze will harden upon cooling.
Notes
If your puff pastry has a lot of flour, I recommend using a pastry brush to brush some of it off. This will help make it easier to spread the cream cheese mixture on top.
Feel free to halve this recipe if you only want to make 6 danishes at a time.
Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Warm them in a toaster oven to bring back some crispness to the pastry.