You’ll love this easy to make Homemade Apple Danish. Enjoy it hot from the oven for a warm and delicious fruity baked treat!
This delicious recipe uses puff pastry to create a flaky shell and combines cream cheese and apple pie filling for a sweet and creamy inside. You’ll love eating this danish for a holiday breakfast or any special occasion brunch!
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💚 Why You'll Love This Recipe
For a sweet and special breakfast treat, make this delicious puff pastry apple danish! Extremely easy to prepare with only 5 ingredients required, this is a simple pastry that you'll love serving for a special breakfast or even as dessert.
Combine apple pie filling with pre-made puff pastry for quick and painless prep, add cream cheese for a creamy balance to the sweet apples, and you've got yourself a beautiful braided apple danish! With easy-to-follow instructions, this recipe will turn even a novice baker into a professional pastry chef.
You can use store-bought pie filling, or if you are feeling ambitious you can make your own apple pie filling. It's actually pretty easy and made with simple ingredients!
If you love preparing sweet and fruity baked goods for breakfast, you should also try these tasty Orange Muffins with chocolate chips!
🧂 Ingredients Needed
- puff pastry - this pre-made dough is easy to work with and will result in a light and flaky crust.
- flour - ensures the puff pastry won't stick to your working surface.
- cream cheese - gives your apple cream cheese danish a delicious creamy layer that pairs well with the sweet and fruity pie filling.
- apple pie filling - this shortcut ingredient makes it super quick to prepare this homemade danish.
- egg - you'll use this for an eggwash that gives your pastry a golden brown finish.
🔪 Instructions
- Allow your puff pastry to come up to room temperature and spread out on a lightly floured surface. Use a sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut strips at an angle, leaving a strip untouched in the middle.
- Spread cream cheese over the center of the dough.
- Top with apple filling.
- Pull the strips over the apple mixture, alternating between sides to create a braided effect.
- Beat the egg and brush over top the dough, then bake at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes.
❔ FAQs
No, these two baked goods are slightly different. Where a danish is made of dough wrapped around sweet filling, streusel refers to a crumbly layer that's baked on top of desserts like pies and cakes. This crumb topping is often made of things like brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, and butter.
Danish pastries are typically baked, but you can also air fry danishes to cook them a but faster than they would in the oven.
Most danishes are made from a fairly simple yeast-leavened dough composed of flour, milk, eggs, sugar, and butter. Puff pastry is a great substitute as it takes on the same light and flaky texture when baked, though it may be less rich and flavorful than homemade danish dough.
For another easy apple-based recipe, try this delicious apple fritter casserole! Get some apple pie filling and cinnamon roll dough, along with a few other ingredients, to create this sweet and filling breakfast or brunch treat!
💭 Expert Tips and Tricks
- Line your baking sheet or cookie sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup after baking.
- Try not to work the dough too much for best results. If it gets too warm it may become fragile and could rip or tear. (Your danish will taste good anyway!)
- Prepare up to 8 hours before baking and store covered in the fridge. Don't brush with the egg wash until you're ready to put your danish in the oven.
📌 Make this apple cream cheese danish any time you need a quick treat or dessert that will look like it came right from the local bakery! Puff pastry and apple pie filling make this danish recipe fast and easy to put together!
💡 Substitutions and Variations
- Drizzle with a homemade glaze made of powdered sugar, butter, milk, and vanilla for an extra dimension of sweetness.
- Feel free to use other types of fillings like cherry pie or blueberry pie filling to make other flavors of cream cheese danish.
- Other kinds of pastry can be used for this apple danish, like phyllo dough or crescent roll dough. You can even use pie crust!
- If you're in the middle of apple season and have fresh apples you want to use, feel free to make apple danishes with a homemade apple pie filling instead!
- Top with caramel sauce to make this an autumnal caramel apple pastry.
- Bring out the warm flavors of fall by adding some of my Homemade Apple Pie Spice.
🥫 Storage and Reheating
Keep your apple cream cheese danish covered in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to a week. It can also be stored in the freezer for a few weeks. Be sure to allow it to thaw before serving again.
If you want to reheat your danish, you can easily pop it in the microwave for a bit!
🍴 What To Serve With This Dish
To create a delicious breakfast spread, serve your cream cheese danish with a hearty and savory main course like Slow Cooker Breakfast Burritos or a Baked Egg Frittata with Ham. You can also pair it with some Air Fryer Breakfast Potatoes or Air Fryer Boiled Eggs for a quick and tasty companion!
✔️ More Apple Recipes You'll Love
- Apple Walnut Salad - Combine sweet apples with crunchy walnuts and a tart dressing for a delicious and healthy salad.
- Slow Cooker Butternut Squash and Apples - This unique side pairs squash with apples in a warm and comforting dish that's perfect to serve with holiday meals.
- Eggplant Apple Vegetarian Quesadillas - Apples provide a subtle sweetness to these cheesy and delicious quesadillas.
- Apple Spice Cake - Make this warm and seasonal cake from One Lovely Life for an apple-infused dessert!
If you like making your own fruity pastries, you really need to try these Air Fryer Pop Tarts! So delicious and easy to make, and they are a fun breakfast or snack!
Apple Cream Cheese Danish
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📋 Recipe Card
Apple Danish with Cream Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 puff pastry sheet
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 4 ounces cream cheese
- 5 ounces apple pie filling (about ½ can)
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Let puff pastry come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.1 puff pastry sheet
- Sprinkle flour onto a cutting board or pastry board. Roll the puff pastry sheet out to smooth the lines.2 tablespoons flour
- Place the puff pastry on a parchment lined baking sheet. With a knife or pizza cutter, cut lines on each side of the dough at an angle, leaving an area lengthwise down the middle for the filling.
- Spread cream cheese down the middle.4 ounces cream cheese
- Spread the apple pie filling over the cream cheese.5 ounces apple pie filling
- Whisk an egg and brush over the top of the dough.1 egg
- Criss-cross the dough over the filling. Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes until the pastry is a light golden brown.
Notes
- You can use other dough like crescent rolls or pie crust.
- Fill with other fruits like blueberries, cherries, peach, and more to create different danish flavors.
- Don't let the puff pastry get too warm while preparing your danish or it will become difficult to work with.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate. The nutritional values for your final dish may vary based on measuring differences and products used.
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Tara says
Dare I say it.. this recipe is better than my mom's! The cream cheese just really made it over the top delicious.
Anjali says
I made this apple danish as part of a bigger brunch spread last weekend and it was a total hit! Everyone loved it and there were no leftovers!
Caitlin says
Such a delicious danish recipe, and so easy to make!!
Charles says
Your Homemade Apple Danish looks incredible! I will definitely be having this over the Holidays with some holiday blend coffee! Thanks for sharing!