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Cheesecake Danish Recipe

This Cheesecake Danish recipe is easy and good - you can't go wrong with that! Self control goes out the window when these danishes are around!

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I made a double batch of these cheesecake danish for my family (don’t freak out that there are 2 blocks of cream cheese and 4 egg yolks in the mixing bowl) and they were all gone by day 2.

They are best fresh and warm, but I made them the night before, popped them in the fridge and they were great the next day. The filling is a simplified version of my cheesecake recipe and I used pre-made Pepperidge Farm puff pastry.

This Cheesecake Danish is Easy and good – you can’t go wrong with that! The idea for these comes from Kristina who makes a pumpkin cheesecake version.

Ingredients for Cheesecake Danish:

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice
1 box (2 sheets) Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry, thawed according to package instructions
1 large egg
1 Tbsp water
Powdered sugar – optional

How to Make the Best Cheese Danish:

Preheat oven to 400 ˚ F.
1. Place cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and using electric hand mixer, beat on low speed until smooth.

A bowl with cream cheese and sugar

Filling for cheesecake danish being mixed in a mixing bowl

2. Add egg yolks, vanilla, salt and lemon juice and continue mixing just until well blended.

A close up of food on a plate, with Cheesecake and Kitchen

Mixture for cheesecake danish in a bowl

3. Sprinkle flour on a clean, dry, non-stick surface. Unfold 1 pastry sheet on floured surface and roll it into a 10×10-inch square.

A floured cutting board and a rolling pin on the side of it

4. Cut pastry into 4 equal squares. Beat together 1 large egg and 1 Tbsp water with a fork. Brush the edges of each square with egg wash.

A pastry sheet on a floured cutting board

5. Place a heaping Tbsp of cheesecake mixture diagonally on each square.

Cheesecake danish on a floured cutting board

6. Fold and overlap 2 of the edges. Pinch tightly to seal.

Pastry sheet being folded over to shape a cheesecake danish
A uncooked cheesecake danish

7. Place pastry on the lined baking dish. Brush the top of the pastry dough with egg wash. Complete the other pastries and repeat with the second puff pastry sheet.

Cheesecake danishes on a baking sheet being brushed with an egg wash

8. Bake 20 minutes (rotating the pan after 10 minutes), until the edges are golden brown. When pastries are just warm, sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.

Cheesecake Danish Recipe

4.67 from 9 votes
Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients 

Servings: 8 danishes
  • 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 box, 2 sheets Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry, thawed according to package instructions
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • Powdered sugar - optional

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 ˚ F.

  • Place cream cheese and sugar in a bowl and beat on low speed until smooth.
  • Add egg yolks, vanilla, salt and lemon juice and continue mixing just until well blended.
  • Sprinkle flour on a clean, dry, non-stick surface. Unfold 1 pastry sheet on floured surface and roll it into a 10x10-inch square.
  • Cut pastry into 4 equal squares. Beat together 1 large egg and 1 Tbsp water with a fork. Brush the edges of each square with egg wash.
  • Place a heaping Tbsp of cheesecake mixture diagonally on each square.
  • Fold and overlap 2 of the edges. Pinch tightly to seal.
  • Place pastry on the lined baking dish. Brush the top of the pastry dough with egg wash. Complete the other pastries and repeat with the second puff pastry sheet.
  • Bake 20 minutes (rotating the pan after 10 minutes), until the edges are golden brown. When pastries are just warm, sprinkle with powdered sugar if desired.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, Danish
Keyword: Cheesecake Danish
Skill Level: Easy
Cost to Make: $6-$7

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Natasha Kravchuk

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the blogger behind Natasha's Kitchen (since 2009). My husband and I run this blog together and share only our best, family approved and tested recipes with YOU. Thanks for stopping by! We are so happy you're here.

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Read comments/reviewsAdd comment/review

  • Janine Ryan
    November 25, 2020

    Can you put these in the fridge unbaked overnight and pop in the oven in the morning?

    Thank you 🙂

    Reply

    • Natasha
      November 25, 2020

      Hi Janine, I have always baked them right away so I’m not sure how that would turn out or if a film would form on the cream cheese. If you experiment, please let me know how it goes. These do keep well if you wanted to bake them today and enjoy them the next day.

      Reply

  • Judith Cajulis
    June 11, 2020

    HI Natasha

    I love your recipe and followed you all the time. I tried your lasagna and it was a blast…They loved it. Anyway, I wish you have a video taken on cheesecake danish recipe. I always watch and so easy to follow while watching your video.

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      June 11, 2020

      I’m so happy you enjoyed that! Thank you for that suggestion!

      Reply

  • Karina
    April 21, 2020

    Hi Natasha,
    I baked this yesterday, it came out so good. thank you for the delicious recipe. I folded all 4 edges. how can I send you the photo?

    Reply

    • Natasha's Kitchen
      April 21, 2020

      So awesome Karina! You can share your photo on our Facebook page or Facebook group!

      Reply

    • Karina
      April 21, 2020

      Thank you Natasha

      Reply

  • Liz Williams
    August 14, 2017

    My cheesecake layer was very thin and I didn’t get much from it. Made it exactly like the recipe.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 14, 2017

      Hi Liz, that is normal. You don’t want to add too much of the cream cheese mixture or it will overwhelm the pastry and ooze out. I’ve tested this theory 🙂

      Reply

  • Jay
    August 8, 2017

    Hi,

    Is lemon juice necessary? I don’t want to taste lemon in the pastry.

    Thanks.

    Jay.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 8, 2017

      Hi Jay, it is barely noticeable but it does help to cut the sweetness a little and give it more depth of flavor. Since there is such a small amount, it doesn’t taste lemony.

      Reply

  • Irina
    July 22, 2016

    Made them today….I had hour and a half before guests arrived, and couldn’t think of something quick to bake… Like always, “Natasha’s kitchen”gives me plenty ideas. Well, 30 min before guests arrived, I had a big plate of ready to eat, cooled down, beautiful Cheesecake pastries. It only took me 1hr from frozen puff dough to a ready to eat pastries. I made 9 pastries per one sheet. Two sheets total of 18 Danishes!!! Thank you Natasha for posting such a wonderful recepies!!!!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      July 22, 2016

      Irina, thank you for such a sweet comment, It means a lot to me 😊.

      Reply

  • Val
    December 5, 2015

    These are amazing! Sometimes I swirl some fruit spread in the middle which tastes great too! Thanks for the great recipe!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      December 5, 2015

      Thank you for the nice review and you are welcome 😀.

      Reply

  • Irina
    October 11, 2015

    Absolutely delicious… Followed the exact recipe and Danishes turned out amazing. The only thing that I changed is I cut a sheet of pastry into 6 squares instead of 4…and just had smaller Danishes. Вкусняшки :)))

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      October 11, 2015

      I love the idea of making smaller danishes. I bet they were cute :). Thanks for sharing your awesome review!

      Reply

  • Mariya
    April 24, 2015

    I accidently added whole eggs instead of just egg yolks.. Do I have to restart or will my danishes be okay?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      April 24, 2015

      The filling might be more loose and might not stay put as well and the texture of the finished product will be a little different. If it seems too runny, you may need to re-do it. Let me know what you ended up doing. Sorry I wasn’t able to get to your comment sooner…

      Reply

    • Ally
      May 21, 2017

      I just did the same thing, what did you end up doing?

      Reply

  • Linda billingsley
    April 13, 2014

    On the cheesecake Danish,you stated that there are toe blocks of cream cheese. In the recipe ingredients list, you have one 8 oz cream cheese. Thank you!n linda

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      April 13, 2014

      When I photographed the recipe, I doubled the recipe and I used 2 blocks, but this recipe only calls for 1 stick of cream cheese. 🙂

      Reply

  • Aliona
    March 26, 2014

    These look amazing and my kids love pastries so Im so looking forward to making these. I was just wondering if you have a recipe of how to make puff pastry dough from scratch. I dont know of any stores in my area that sell those…;(

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      March 26, 2014

      I don’t have one posted unfortunately. Until I do, you might google it and see what’s rated well. Sorry I don’t have a better answer for ya!

      Reply

  • Ana-maria
    January 7, 2014

    Thank you for the recipe. Very easy to make.They are in the oven right now and they look so good!!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      January 7, 2014

      You are welcome :), every time I make this Danish, I always wish to double the recipe since it gets eaten so fast.

      Reply

  • Kseniya Kay
    September 12, 2013

    These look sooo good! I’m actually in the middle of making some 🙂 these made me crave Napoleon cake ha! Do you have any Napoleon cake recipes or know of someone that does? I can’t seem to find a good one.
    🙂 Kseniya

    Reply

  • Oksana
    August 12, 2013

    Does the filling run as the Danishes bake?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      August 12, 2013

      It didn’t for me and I’ve made this several times. I should have taken a final picture (in my defense; this was posted before I got better at taking good photos ;)). Just don’t overdo it on the filling and it will be ok 🙂

      Reply

  • Inna
    July 15, 2013

    Made those just now and already ate 2! Absolutely delicious!!!
    The filling wasn’t enough for 8 danishes so I ended up mixing more filling. Don’t know maybe I put way too much, but it seems just perfect with the amount of filling I put in them. Thanks for the recipe idea, my husband should be home soon he will enjoy them for sure! 🙂

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      July 16, 2013

      Awesome, thank you for the good report Inna :).

      Reply

  • Dimitri
    May 27, 2013

    Hello,
    I would like to ask you if there is a possibility you might know how to make pastry dough? The Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry has high fructose corn syrup in the ingredients. Plus if I would want to make it everything from scratch it would be a good idea just to know the recipe of the dough. Thank you.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      May 27, 2013

      That would be a good post. I’ll add it to my to-do list. Thanks for the idea!!

      Reply

    • elena
      September 7, 2013

      Check out this website for the recipe of puff pastry dough
      http://www.olgasflavorfactory.com/miscellaneous/quick-puff-pastry/

      Reply

      • Natasha
        natashaskitchen
        September 7, 2013

        Oh I love Olga’s blog. I didn’t realize she had puff pastry posted. Thank you!!

        Reply

  • nadya
    March 21, 2013

    i just made these! and they are aaammmazzziiiinnnggg!!!!!!!! 🙂 thank u! you

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      March 22, 2013

      You’re welcome Nadya 🙂 Thanks for letting me know you loved them!

      Reply

  • Kate
    March 14, 2013

    Made these tonight! Turned out well! I put in half a teaspoon of lemon juice instead of a full one because I don’t like food too lemony. Next time I want to put raisins into the filling and maybe a tiny bit less sugar. Thanks for the recipe Natasha!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      March 15, 2013

      You are welcome Kate :).

      Reply

  • Alena
    October 22, 2012

    These were amazing!! Thank you! Since I had a lot of apples I microwaved 1 chopped apple, 1 T sugsar and 1/2 t. cinnamon for a 1.5 minutes and added on top of the cheesecake mixture. YUM!!! Can’t wait to make much more of it next time!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      October 22, 2012

      Mmm that apple idea of yours sounds great. Thanks Alena!

      Reply

  • Oksana
    July 14, 2012

    Hi Natasha,
    I don’t know why the cream cheese filling spilled out from the pastry in the oven :(( it made a mess. Maybe I put too much? Seems like no one had that problem so maybe I put too much in…

    Btw, cash and carry has a huge box of pre-cut square pastry for a good deal 🙂

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      July 14, 2012

      I have had that problem if I put too much of the mix inside. I will have to test out the one in cash and carry. Thanks!

      Reply

  • Tanya
    March 17, 2012

    Can you make these with apples?

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      March 18, 2012

      I’ve tried apricots and sugar sprinkled on top, but not apples. You may have to sautee your apples with some sugar and a bit of water to soften them up. Then it would be like an apple pie. That sounds like a nice idea.

      Reply

  • taya
    February 15, 2012

    How much dose usually come out? (like pieces out of one recipe? )

    Reply

    • Natasha
      natashaskitchen
      February 15, 2012

      8 Danishes from 1 box (2 sheets puff pastry)

      Reply

  • Maria
    October 16, 2011

    very easy to make and delicious, thank you very much for the recipe. By the way i am also a nurse, good luck in your schooling 🙂

    Reply

  • Val
    June 7, 2011

    i made these today, they were very good. its amazing how much things can be made with puff pastry sheets!!!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      June 8, 2011

      I know! And I love that I don’t have to make the pastry from scratch! It’s so fast and easy just to buy it.

      Reply

      • Val
        June 8, 2011

        do you know where to buy the pastry in bulk? or the best deal?

        Reply

        • Natasha
          June 9, 2011

          I’ve found it to be least expensive at winco followed by walmart

          Reply

        • lana
          November 9, 2012

          You can also buy at Cash&Carry in the big pack.

          Reply

  • Natasha
    May 2, 2011

    Thanks girl!

    Reply

  • Natasha
    May 2, 2011

    Can you please post some gravy recipes? thank u!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      May 2, 2011

      Yes 🙂 it’s now on my list. I made gravy recently and completely forgot pictures!

      Reply

  • Zhanna
    May 2, 2011

    These were so good! I’m going to make them this week! Yum!

    Reply

    • Natasha
      May 2, 2011

      HI Zhanna!! I’m glad you liked them. It was great having you over. You are always welcome visit and stay at our house 🙂 I’m so glad the boys had fun together this time around!

      Reply

  • Natasha
    May 1, 2011

    Just a heads up – I made a change to the recipe last night – should have been 2 egg yolks instead of 1!! Sorry about the mix-up.

    Reply

  • Natasha
    April 30, 2011

    Looks good Gonna try! Thanx!

    Reply

  • irina
    April 30, 2011

    Natasha….These look so good. I’m going to make these for sure, I always have frozen puff pastry in the freezer and most of the ingredients. Thanks again for posting and sharing one of your recipes.

    irina 🙂

    Reply

  • Mila
    April 29, 2011

    These look amazing! And so simple. Will try them soon. 🙂 Thank you again for your wonderful recipes and your dedication with posting 🙂

    Reply

    • Natasha
      April 29, 2011

      Hi Mila – you know I’m still really looking forward to trying that recipe you sent me as soon as my mom’s strawberries and raspberries are ripe! 🙂

      Reply

      • Mila
        April 30, 2011

        I can’t wait for you to! I’m sure you will love it! And I wAnt to c your creation. Everyone makes there’s different in some way and it’s interesting to see. (decor wise) Have a blessed weekend!!! 🙂

        Reply

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