The Easiest Cream Cheese Breakfast Pastries

updated Mar 1, 2021
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These quick and easy puff pastry breakfast pastries are filled with cream cheese and your favorite fruit jam.

Makes12

Prep5 minutes to 10 minutes

Cook15 minutes to 18 minutes

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Credit: Joe Lingeman

It’s hard to beat a really good cheese danish — especially one topped with a swipe of rich, fruity jam. Although cheese danishes are traditionally made with yeasted dough, I have a trick for making them in a fraction of the time: using a box of frozen puff pastry. They’re just as warm, buttery, and flaky as the original, but you get to bite into them so much sooner.

Credit: Joe Lingeman

Before you begin, I have one quick tip. We all know the sweet cheese filling is the best part of this breakfast treat, but you don’t want to add more than about 2 tablespoons of it. Limiting the filling, as well as leaving a small border (about a half-inch) around the edge of the puff pastry pieces, will ensure the filling stays in the pastry and doesn’t overflow onto the baking sheet.

The Easiest Cream Cheese Breakfast Pastries

These quick and easy puff pastry breakfast pastries are filled with cream cheese and your favorite fruit jam.

Prep time 5 minutes to 10 minutes

Cook time 15 minutes to 18 minutes

Makes 12

Nutritional Info

Ingredients

  • 1 (17.25-ounce) box

    frozen puff pastry (2 sheets)

  • 8 ounces

    cream cheese

  • 3 tablespoons

    granulated sugar

  • 1 teaspoon

    vanilla extract

  • All-purpose flour, for dusting

  • 1/4 cup

    jam

  • 1

    large egg

Instructions

  1. Thaw 1 box frozen puff pastry according to package directions, but keep it cold. Place 8 ounces cream cheese in a medium bowl and let sit at room temperature until softened.

  2. Arrange 2 racks to divide the oven into thirds and heat the oven to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Add 3 tablespoons granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to the cream cheese and stir or beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.

  3. Unroll the puff pastry sheets onto a lightly floured surface. Roll each into a 9x12-inch rectangle. Cut each sheet into 6 rectangles. Use a sharp knife to lightly score a border around each piece about 1/2-inch from the edge (do not cut all the way through). Prick the center of each piece several times with a fork. Transfer the rectangles to the baking sheets, 6 per sheet, spacing them evenly apart.

  4. Spread 2 tablespoons cream cheese mixture in the center of each pastry. Top each with 1 heaping teaspoon jam. Beat 1 large egg to break up, then brush onto the borders of each pastry. Bake until puffed and lightly browned, 15 to 18 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.