20-Minute Cream Cheese Danishes with Jam

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Store-bought puff pastry does the heavy lifting here: cut it into squares, pipe in a lemony sweetened cream cheese filling, drop in a spoonful of jam, and bake until the edges are shatteringly crisp and deep golden. A quick vanilla glaze drizzled over the top gives them that glass-case bakery finish — no yeast, no laminating, no proofing, and about 20 minutes in the oven.

Ingredients

• 1 sheet frozen all-butter puff pastry (about 8–9 oz), thawed
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp water
• 1 tbsp turbinado or coarse sugar, for sprinkling

• 8 oz full-fat block cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lemon zest, finely grated
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 pinch fine sea salt
• 1 tbsp all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup raspberry, apricot, or cherry jam
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp whole milk, plus more as needed
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 400°F (205°C) and line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment. Unfold the thawed puff pastry sheet onto a lightly floured surface; if it has deep fold lines, roll gently with a rolling pin to smooth them and bring the sheet to roughly a 10-inch square.
2. Make the filling: in a medium bowl, beat the room-temperature cream cheese with the granulated sugar until completely smooth, about 1 minute with a hand mixer or 2 minutes with a sturdy spoon. Beat in the egg yolk, vanilla, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt, then fold in the flour. The mixture should be thick and pipeable — do not overbeat it or it will loosen and run in the oven.
3. Cut the pastry into 9 equal squares (a pizza wheel is easiest). Transfer them to the baking sheet, spacing them at least 1 1/2 inches apart. Using a paring knife, score a border about 1/2 inch in from each edge, cutting only halfway through the pastry — this lets the rim puff up into a frame.
4. Beat the egg with 1 teaspoon water and brush the scored borders lightly, avoiding drips down the cut sides (egg glue on the edges keeps the layers from rising).
5. Spoon or pipe about 1 1/2 tablespoons of cream cheese filling into the center of each square, staying inside the scored border and spreading it into a neat rounded mound. Press a shallow dimple in the middle of each and add about 1 1/2 teaspoons of jam. Sprinkle the borders with turbinado sugar.
6. Bake on the center rack for 18 to 22 minutes, rotating the pan front to back at 12 minutes, until the borders are puffed and deep golden brown and the filling is set with just a slight jiggle in the center. Pale pastry means underbaked and soggy — push to a true golden brown.
7. Let the danishes cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then slide the parchment onto a wire rack and cool at least 10 minutes more. Whisk the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla into a smooth glaze that ribbons off the whisk; add milk 1/4 teaspoon at a time if it is too thick.
8. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled danishes in thin lines and let it set for 5 minutes before serving. They are best the day they are baked, ideally slightly warm.

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Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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