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Cheesecake Danish Recipe

Cheesecake Danish is a puff pastry dessert that’s filled with sweet cheesecake filling and drizzled with Lemon Sugar Glaze. Make it once and your family will ask you to make it time and time again. Ready in 30 minutes or less!

Cheesecake Danish without lemon glaze on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Frozen Puff Pastry

Having frozen puff pastry on hand means that you’re ready to make dessert anytime. Variations of fillings are limitless since they can be filled with pretty much anything – from fresh fruit to Nutella, to cheese, to jam you probably have at least one of these to make delicious danishes.

Cheesecake Danish
Cheesecake Danish with lemon glaze on a decorative plate.

Perfect Puff Pastry Dessert for Parties

The Cheesecake Danish are especially good for potlucks, or large parties since they come together very quickly. We have made them several times for church fundraisers and potlucks.

Buying puff pastry from restaurant depot type of stores means that you get a lot of puff pastry dough for a really good price. We usually split the large pack between my sister and mom.

Cheesecake Danishes with lemon glaze on a cooling rack.

Best Cheese for Cheesecake Danish

For this recipe, I used farmer’s cheese (which you can make at home using THIS or THIS recipe), but you can use rinsed out Cottage Cheese curdsRicotta Cheese or even cream cheese. If using rinsed out curds of Cottage Cheese make sure to use a paper towel to blot out any excess moisture.

Cheesecake Danish with Lemon Sugar Glaze

Cheesecake Danish is a puff pastry dessert that's filled with sweet cheesecake filling and drizzled with Lemon Sugar Glaze. Make it once and your family will ask you to make it time and time again. Ready in 30 minutes or less!
5 from 1 vote

Cheesecake Danish is a puff pastry dessert that's filled with sweet cheesecake filling and drizzled with Lemon Sugar Glaze. Make it once and your family will ask you to make it time and time again. Ready in 30 minutes or less!

Author: Marina | Let the Baking Begin
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cheesecake danish, lemon sugar glaze, puff pastry dessert
Calories: 185 kcal
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 18 small pastries

Ingredients

  • 2 puff pastry sheets 12in x 12 in

Cheesecake Filling

  • 1 cup fresh farmer's cheese (ricotta or cream cheese) well drained
  • 3 Tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 egg large, beaten
  • 1 tsp flour
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Lemon zest optional

Egg Wash

  • 1 egg large, beaten

Sugar Crust

Lemon glaze

Instructions

  1. Remove puff pastry from freezer and allow to thaw slightly.

    Turn oven to 400°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. While puff pastry is thawing, make the filling, glaze & egg wash.

Make the Cheesecake Filling

  1. Make sure fresh/farmer’s cheese is very well drained. If it is not, press a paper towel against the cheese to remove any additional moisture.

  2. Combine 1 cup cheese, 3 tbsp sugar, 1/2 egg, 1 tsp flour, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and mix together.

Assemble the Cheesecake Danishes

  1. Make the eggwash: Beat 1 egg, set aside.

  2. Cut each puff pastry sheet into 9 squares and place 1 heaping teaspoon of cheesecake filling in the middle of each square.

  3. Pinch two opposite ends of the pastry together, by overlapping them and pressing firmly together with your finger.
  4. To prevent the filling from spreading too much, freeze the pastries for at least an hour before baking. If time does not allow for this, proceed to next step.
  5. Brush pastries with the egg wash and lightly sprinkle with sugar.
  6. Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until slightly golden. If pastries were previously frozen, do not thaw them, but put in the oven directly from the freezer and adjust baking time accordingly. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Make the glaze

  1. Stir 1-1½ cup powdered sugar, ½ tbsp lemon juice & ½ tbsp water until smooth glaze forms. Transfer to a ziplock bag. Snip off the end. Drizzle on top of pastries by going in a zig-zag pattern. Allow the drizzle to firm up before stacking pastries.

  2. *Thicken the glaze by adding more powdered sugar or thin it by adding water one drop at a time.
  3. Best when eaten within 1-2 hours of baking.
Nutrition Facts
Cheesecake Danish with Lemon Sugar Glaze
Amount Per Serving
Calories 185 Calories from Fat 108
% Daily Value*
Fat 12g18%
Saturated Fat 3g19%
Cholesterol 20mg7%
Sodium 84mg4%
Potassium 34mg1%
Carbohydrates 14g5%
Sugar 1g1%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 80IU2%
Vitamin C 0.2mg0%
Calcium 33mg3%
Iron 0.8mg4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Marina | Let the Baking Begin

Welcome to Let the Baking Begin! I'm Marina and my love and passion for eating only the most delicious foods drive me to share that love here on Let the Baking Begin (since 2009). With over 20 years of experience in the kitchen, you know the recipes are tested and retested until perfect. I'm so happy to have you here. Enjoy! Read more...

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  • Franca

    Can I use cream cheese instead of fresh cheese for this recipe?

    · Reply
  • Tee

    These look delicious! I am allergic to milk & milk products, I have some cream cheese flavoring, do you have any idea what kind of non milk filling could be added instead? Would a fruit filling be acceptable? Thanks.

    · Reply
    • Fruit jam, apples, pears, Nutella, ground raisins and nuts, plum butter and nuts are all good fillings for this recipe 🙂

      · Reply
  • Adam

    Got any Europen dishes

    · Reply
  • Donna

    1/2 cup of fresh cheese, is this ricotta? Thanks.

    · Reply
    • Hi Donna,
      Fresh cheese is like farmers cheese, curd cheese or cottage cheese. Ricotta does not have the tang that those other types have, but if you do not have the other kind, you could substitute it with ricotta.

      · Reply
    • Donna

      Thanks, I’ll be making these this weekend!

      · Reply
      • Let me know how it all goes 🙂

        · Reply

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