Easy Strawberry Danish
This easy shortcut recipe for a strawberry danish is made with store-bought puff pastry dough, a sweet cream cheese filling, and ripe juicy strawberries!
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 391kcal
Ingredients
Danish
- 17.3 oz package puff pastry sheets
- 8 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups sliced fresh strawberries
- 2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
Sweet glaze
- 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp powdered sugar whisked to remove any lumps
- 4 tsp whole milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Prepare
- Set out puff pastry package out of the freezer and let it sit at room temperature for about 20-30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400°F, and line a large baking sheet (or two smaller ones) with parchment paper.
Make the filling
- In a large mixing bowl, add cream cheese, granulated sugar, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Beat with a handheld mixer until well combined and creamy.
Make strawberry mixture
- In another mixing bowl, add sliced strawberries and cornstarch. Stir well, until cornstarch has sort of melted into the berries
Prepare puff pastry sheets
- On a clean countertop or large cutting board, add a sheet of puff pastry. Use a rolling pin to roll it out to a rectangle roughly 10x13".
- Slice in half, and then slice each half into 3 even pieces, so you have 6 in total.
- Repeat with the remaining puff pastry sheet.
- ** Optional ** Use a butter knife to gently score a smaller rectangle inside each piece, leaving about 1/2 - 1" of a border. (this helps you keep the filling away from the edges of the puff pastry)
Assemble
- Carefully spread about 2 Tbsp of the cream cheese mixture in the center of each piece of puff pastry dough, leaving that border around the edge.
- Repeat with remaining pieces of puff pastry, then evenly divide the strawberries over the top of the cream cheese mixture.
Brush with butter
- Use a pastry brush, or your fingertips, and brush the edges with the melted butter.
Bake
- Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Make glaze
- While danish is in the oven, add the glaze ingredients to a small mixing bowl and whisk to combine until smooth.
Drizzle and serve
- Once the danish is finished baking, let cool a few minutes, then drizzle liberally with the glaze and serve warm.
Notes
- I estimate this recipe will serve approximately 12, but that can be adjusted based on your preferences.
Large "braided" danish:
- Preheat oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix cream cheese mixture as directed, and mix strawberries and cornstarch as directed.
- Unroll the puff pastry and use a rolling pin to roll it out a bit to flatten it.
- Carefully cut slits, about 1.5-2” long and 1” apart going down the side of the sheet. Repeat on opposite side.
- Spoon the cream cheese mixture down the center of the puff pastry sheet, leaving a small border between the mixture and the slits.
- Top cream cheese mixture with strawberries.
- Cross the strips over the top of the strawberries, alternating from one side, then the other, overlapping the ends in the middle.
- Brush the top with melted butter.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until pastry is golden brown.
- Pastry will be puffed up, but will settle as it cools. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheet.
- While pastry is cooling, add glaze ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Whisk until creamy and smooth.
- Drizzle glaze over the top of the baked pastry.
Nutrition
Calories: 391kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 163mg | Potassium: 109mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 320IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 31mg | Iron: 1mg
