This Easy Cream Cheese Danish is a delicious, flaky, semi-homemade breakfast recipe made with canned crescent rolls, vanilla, cream cheese, and sugar! It's the perfect Saturday morning breakfast, sweet addition to brunch, or a holiday treat!
Originally published October 2015, updated June 2023
A few weeks ago a friend at church brought this Cream Cheese Danish into the fellowship hall before Sunday School for us to all have. I had one bite and was hooked. Within a few days, I found a recipe online, bought the ingredients... and then forgot about it. Until this morning.
The hubby always gets up before me on Saturdays (well, actually he gets up before me on all the days, but let's pretend) and when he walked back into the bedroom with a cup of coffee, he asked if we had (canned) Cinnamon Rolls or anything "easy" for breakfast.
That's when I remembered the Cream Cheese Danish recipe. I drug myself out of bed and made my way to the kitchen to put this recipe together. Y'all... it's so super easy and delicious... there's no good excuse to not make it!
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Easy Cream Cheese Danish
You know, I'm sort of trending here lately with delicious and easy breakfast recipes. I shared the Sour Cream Banana Muffins not too long ago and before that, the Easy Cinnamon Roll Waffles and then the Viral TikTok Cinnamon Rolls with Heavy Cream. My most recent breakfast love is these Strawberry Cheesecake Pancakes.
Anywho... you're going to love this Cream Cheese Danish recipe because it only takes 10 minutes and a few ingredients to put it together and get it in the oven.
Also, it's semi-homemade (yellow canned crescent rolls!), but it's gonna taste like you worked on it all morning!
The only hard part of the cream cheese danish with crescent rolls? The waiting. It really needs the full 20 minutes to cool. I always hate it when delicious recipes have your whole house smelling like heaven and then require a waiting period. It's just. so. wrong.
Anyway... after it cooled for an excruciatingly long 20 minutes, we all dug in. And here's the thing that really shocked me.
Two of my six kids didn't like it. Whaaaat?!?!?!
The hubby and I are starting to wonder if they were switched at birth? They couldn't really be our children, could they?!
Oh well.. as Richy said, "More for us!" Ha!
Ingredients
These are all very basic pantry ingredients - easy to find at any grocery store!
- Ready to use refrigerated Crescent Rolls - I always use Pillsbury for these, but a store brand would likely be just as well! You can also use the dough sheets if you like!
- Cream Cheese - for the best results, have your cream cheese at room temperature. When mixed, it will be much smoother!
- Sugar
- Vanilla Extract - bottled or homemade vanilla extract would be great in this recipe
- Egg + Egg White - you'll need one whole egg and one egg white.
- Powdered Sugar
- Milk
Cheese Danish Variations & Substitutions
Crescent Rolls: Puff pastry dough or puff pastry sheets can be substituted for the crescent roll dough or crescent sheets.
Reduced Fat Option:
Full-fat cream cheese is best for the creamiest cream cheese pastry filling but you can substitute reduced fat cream cheese (aka Neufchâtel) instead. You can also use Pillsbury Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls.
Reduced Sugar Option:
The glaze can be omited altogether if you want to reduce some of the sugar in the cream cheese pastry recipe. You can also use a one-to-one sugar substitute in the recipe.
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How to Make Cream Cheese Danish
- Preheat oven to 350º degrees.
- Prepare a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray (I use butter-flavored).
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and 1 whole egg. Beat with a hand mixer until smooth. Set aside.
- Unroll one can of crescent rolls and lay in the bottom of the pan (stretch if necessary to cover the bottom). Pinch the seams together if needed.
- Spread the cream cheese filling over the crescent rolls evenly.
- Unfold and lay the second pack of crescent rolls on top of the cheese mixture
- Brush with egg wash.
- Place the danish in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for at least 20 minutes.
- While the danish is cooling, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla for the glaze in a small bowl. Whisk until completely smooth.
- Pour and spread or drizzle the glaze over the cooled cheese danish.
Now try really hard to not eat the whole pan 😉!!
Pro-Tips
- Be sure the cream cheese is at room temperature but the crescent rolls are cold! If the crescent rolls get warm, they get sticky and difficult to handle.
- If you choose to use the crescent sheets, use a knife to cut slits in the dough so the cream cheese mixture can bubble up. If using the already perforated sheets, you an also open up some of the perforations more so the cream cheese mixture can bubble up!
- Don't skip the cooling step! The cream cheese filling is a little like cheesecake - it needs to set up before you eat it!
- Wait and add the glaze after the cream cheese filled pastry cools - otherwise it will melt and run into the cracks!
Recipe Variations
Lemon Danish: Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or or a 2 tablespoons of lemon curd to the cream cheese filing to add a little zing. Then top the glaze with the zest of one lemon!
Raspberry Cream Cheese Danish: Swirl ½ cup of raspberry filling or raspberry jam into the cream cheese mixture. Top with fresh raspberries.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish: Swirl ½ cup of strawberry jam into the cream cheese mixture. Top with fresh strawberries.
Fruit Danish: For any other fruits or flavors (blueberries, apricots, etc.), add fruit spread or syrup over the cream cheese mixture and swirl it together before adding the top layer of crescent dough. You an also add fresh berries or jams on the inside or on top over the glaze.
Serving Suggestions
Cream Cheese Danish with Cresent Rolls are best while still warm out of the oven. It's fast and easy enough to be perfect for a stand-alone weekend breakfast, a brunch, or a treat for the holidays.
How to Store Crescent Roll Danish
Refrigerate: any cooled, leftover cream cheese pastry should be covered with plastic wrap and kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freeze: you can keep any leftovers for 3-4 weeks in the freezer. Be sure to wrap tightly and place in an airtight container. Thaw at room temperature for 2-3 hours.
Reheating: place in the microwave for 15-30 seconds. Or place in an oven preheated to 350° for 5-10 minutes.
Cream Cheese Danish FAQ
A traditional cream cheese danish is made of a pastry dough that when baked is tender, flaky and lightly browned buttery crust. Fillings can vary with a danash, but filled with a sweetened cream cheese mixture and it becomes a cheese danish or cream cheese danish. For this easy version, we're going to make a Pillsbury Crescent Rolls Cream Cheese Danish because the crescent dough is what makes it so easy!
Yes! Cream cheese is safely used in millions of recipes with delicous outcomes! Low fat cream cheese may have a slightly less creamy texture when baked if you choose to make that substitution.
Tools Needed to Make Cheese Danish
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Okay - so here's the recipe for ya!
PrintRecipe
Easy Cream Cheese Danish
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
This Easy Cream Cheese Danish is a delicious, flaky, semi-homemade breakfast recipe made with canned crescent rolls, vanilla, cream cheese, and sugar!
Ingredients
For the danish
- 2 cans (228 g each) ready to use refrigerated crescent rolls
- 2 8-ounce (226 g each) packages cream cheese
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) vanilla extract
- 1 egg (45 mL)
- 1 egg white (30 mL)
For the glaze
- 1 cup (130 g) powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons (45 mL) milk
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º degrees.
- Prepare a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray (I use butter-flavored).
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and 1 whole egg. Beat with a hand mixer until smooth. Set aside.
- Unroll one can of crescent rolls and lay in the bottom of the pan (stretch if necessary to cover the bottom). Pinch the seams together if needed.
- Spread the cream cheese filling over the crescent rolls evenly.
- Unfold and lay the second pack of crescent rolls on top of the cheese mixture
- Brush with egg wash.
- Place the danish in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for at least 20 minutes.
- While the danish is cooling, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla for the glaze in a small bowl. Whisk until completely smooth.
- Pour and spread the glaze over the cooled cheese danish.
Notes
- Be sure the cream cheese is at room temperature but the crescent rolls are cold! If the crescent rolls get warm, they get sticky and difficult to handle.
- If you choose to use the crescent sheets, use a knife to cut slits in the dough so the cream cheese mixture can bubble up. If using the already perforated sheets, you an also open up some of the perforations more so the cream cheese mixture can seep up through the holes!
- Don't skip the cooling step! The cream cheese filling is a little like cheesecake - it needs to set up before you eat it!
- Wait and add the glaze after the cream cheese filled pastry cools - otherwise it will melt and run into the cracks!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American / Danish
Imani
This looks amazing, I'm going to try this at home! 🙂
Rose Atwater
I hope you love it as much as we do!
Teresa A Weeks
Can you make it ahead time then bake later
Rose
No, I don't think so.
Holly Reynolds
Directions not clear. Mix what ingredients for glaze. I ended up putting both sugars in filling mixture
Shari
The glaze is the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk mixture.
M.L.
I was baking in a hurry one Christmas and made the same mistakes- who bakes in a leisurely manner at Christmas? I put glaze ingredients into the filling of a caramel toffee bar. The result was excruciatingly rich and gooey but my son-in-law loved it! Now I struggle to recreate the disaster every year because I can’t remember if I put in all of the topping or just some!
Pete
What is the egg white for?
Rose Atwater
When you brush egg white over the top, it'll make the top shiny and golden brown when it bakes.
Pamela G
Dang gone you! It's not very often I see something in the recipes that come in that I save for use to make for others that makes me want to convert it. However, the minute I saw this Danish I KNEW that I'm going to have to see if I can figure out the best way to make this gluten-free for ME. As crazy as it sounds since I bake ALL THE TIME and decorate cakes and am around sweet items all the time is that I'm not really much of a "sweets" person. I just participated in a survey that asked if the person loved or disliked candy corn. My nephew and I just had this conversation about that a week or so ago when I asked him if he liked it because a cookie recipe I was thinking of trying used them so it was funny when this survey arrived. Neither one of us like candy corn and as for me, I never did. I think it's so sweet it downright hurts to eat. I was therefore shocked when the number of people who said they LOVE candy corn was SO high, it was between 75 and 80 percent, at least of those taking the survey, that love it. I don't know who created this Danish recipe but they hit a winner with this one. If it taste anywhere as good as it looks, I'm in trouble.
Terry L
I have made this wonderful and super easy several times and our church family loves it and so does our family. As a matter of fact i havent found anyone that doesnt like it!! Makes me feel like a professional baker and Im not. Thank you for listing it!!
Rose
Awww - thanks for commenting Terry!! That's great 🙂
Alayna @AlaynasCreations
Looks like a winner to me! Out of our family of four I predict 3 of the 4 of us would be in love. The little guy, well, he must be like your two that didn't like it - he just has his own views on food and he doesn't usually go for things like this.
Thanks for sharing with us at the #HomeMattersParty link party.
Amelia
I mad a version of this last year. It was a little under sweet for me and not everyone liked it. Bunch of complainers!
Kelly
That looks super delicious. And 7 kids ( I'm including the husband)? Your house must be fun!
Rose
LOL... it's really good, and yes, always fun!
Sandei
You can make it a strawberry cream cheese danish by drizzling strawberry glaze over the filling before putting the second layer of pastry on. Then lightly on top again.
Rose
YUM!!!
Zarina
Aww we don't have ready made Danish in this part of the world How'd you make that? would love to have recipe for that ...
Ashley miears
Does this go in the fridge after its done?
Rose
Yes
Leah
This recipe is amazing! So ridiculous how good this is! I love how easy it is too! I followed almost everything in the recipe except that I used one 8 oz package of 1/3 less fat cream cheese with one package of regular cream cheese. I also used a can of Honey Butter Crescent Rolls for the top layer. I probably should have reduced the amount of icing a bit, but I didn't. It was sooo delicious, creamy, & sticky sweet. I found the new rolls of full sheet un-cut crescent rolls. They were perfect for this recipe. Thanks for sharing this amazing creation!
Rose Schroyer
I took this to our family Thanksgiving dinner..everyone loved it. It is soooo good!
Rose
SO happy to hear it! Thanks for commenting!
Diana
Can this sit out or should it be put in the refrigerator?
Rose
I let it sit out.
Donna
I'm confused. You said put it in the fridge in one comment then you said let it sit out? Which one?
Rose
You're right - sorry about that. After it's baked, I let it sit out to cool, then we eat it fresh. If there are leftovers, I refrigerate them for later or the next morning.
Donna Dickerson
Thank you so much for clearing up the instructions about refrigeration.
Donna
Should all ingredients be room temperature? Should the crescent rolls be room temperature also?
Donna
Should all ingredients be room temperature?
Rose
Yes, I usually prefer to work with room temp ingredients.
Tami
They taste great but having a problem cutting into squares. They are falling to pieces! HELP!!!
Corinne
This looks so yummy! Do you think this recipe would work if halved? Maybe baked in an 8" square pan? Thanks for posting this on throwback Wednesday on Thursday!
Rose
I can't imagine why it wouldbn't!
Ann
This is one of my all-time, go-to breakfast “casseroles”. I’ve never made it ahead of time—how do you re-heat it?
Katie
This was so delicious and easy!
Esmé Slabbert
love the simplicity and the fact that its cream cheese. pinned it.
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Thanks for stopping by!
Marissa
This is now my kids newest favorite breakfast on the weekends! Thanks so much!
Tiffany G
is this something I can bake the night before and carry to a work brunch?