This is the best Cream Cheese Danish Recipe from scratch! It’s beautiful and delicious and would be perfect for breakfast, brunch or any time of day as a delicious snack.
Cream Cheese Danish
Recently, I was searching online for a Cream Cheese Danish Recipe and everything that kept coming up was basically a cream cheese mixture folded into a container of crescent rolls. That’s not at all what I had in mind! I wanted a delicious, homemade danish that was soft and fluffy and didn’t taste like a dinner roll.
With that in mind, I set out to create my own delicious danish totally from scratch. Using an old Mennonite recipe as inspiration, I came up with this Cream Cheese Danish braid. If you’re wanting the real deal, not some convenient version, then you will love this recipe!
Cream Cheese Danish Recipe From Scratch
What You Need:
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 Tablespoon yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 8oz package cream cheese
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
How to make your cheese danish:
Mix together the warm water, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, and yeast in a small bowl. Let it sit for 5 or so minutes.
In a saucepan, begin making the dough.
First, mix together the sour cream and the butter on low heat. Stir continually until the butter melts so that it doesn’t burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.
Add the sugar and the salt into the sour cream and butter mixture. Stir on low heat until the sugar is melted. Remove the mixture from the heat and let it cool for a bit before adding the yeast.
Add the egg to the sour cream mixture and then mix in the yeast.
Add in the flour and mix well. Mine is not mixed well in this picture.
Cover the dough and let it chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. You can even make this dough the night before and leave it in the fridge overnight if you want to bake it fresh first thing the next morning.
Mix together the filling. Stir 1/4 cup sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla extract until well combined. It helps if the cream cheese is softened.
After the dough is refrigerated at least 2 hours, roll it out like you are rolling out pizza dough.
Cut slits along both sides of the dough about 2 inches long and at least 1 inch apart. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
Spread the cream cheese mixture down the center of the dough, between the slits.
Fold the flaps of dough back over to the center to make it look like a braid.
Bake at 350F for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown on the top.
*You may need to bake it longer than this!
Yum! Doesn’t that look delicious?
Want to make this recipe ahead of time? You can easily freeze this Cream Cheese Danish! Just prepare it according to the directions above. After baking, allow it to cool before wrapping and place in the freezer whole.
Need to print out this Cream Cheese Danish Recipe? Grab it below!
Cream Cheese Danish Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 Tablespoon yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
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Mix together the warm water, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, and yeast. Let it sit in a separate bowl for 5 or so minutes.
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In a saucepan, mix together the sour cream and the butter on a low heat. Stir together until the butter melts. Make sure you are continually stirring so it doesn't burn.
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Add the sugar and the salt into the sour cream/butter mixture. Stir on a low heat until the sugar is melted. Remove from heat and let it cool for a bit before adding the yeast.
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Add the egg to the sour cream mixture and then mix in the yeast.
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Add in the flour and mix well. Mine is not mixed well in this picture. 🙂
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Another breakfast idea! Homemade Toaster Strudels
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Cover and let it chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, you can leave it overnight if you want and finish it the next morning.
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Mix together the 1/4 cup sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla extract. It helps if the cream cheese is softened.
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Roll out the dough like you are rolling out pizza dough.
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Cut slits on either side of the dough about 2 inches long.
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Spread the cream cheese mixture in the center of the dough.
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Fold the flaps of dough back over the center to make it look like a braid. Bake at 350F for 15-18 minutes. *You may need to bake it longer than this!
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Yum! If you want you could create a sweet glaze with powdered sugar and milk. Or you could add jam inside with the cream cheese to give it a little fruit flavor! I'm going to make a glaze with mashed up strawberries and a little sugar. Also, if you want to make this ahead of time this recipe works great! Just prepare as directed above, bake, and freeze whole.
Cream Cheese Danish Variations
Glaze
Create a glaze with powdered sugar and milk to drizzle across the top. Start with 1 cup of powdered sugar and add 1-2 tablespoons of milk, stir well and add in more powdered sugar as needed, until desired consistency is reached. For extra flavor, add in a splash of lemon juice or vanilla flavoring.
Filling
Add some Strawberry Jam or Spiced Apple Butter Recipe inside with the cream cheese to give it a little fruit flavor!
Looking for a delicious spin on this recipe? You have to try my Apple Danish Braid!
Fruit Topping
I’m going to make a light fruit topping for this one using mashed up strawberries and a little bit of sugar to bring out the natural juices. Just drizzle lightly over top for a little pop of color and added flavor. You could also use other fresh berries to do the same.
Ready to do some more baking? If you loved this recipe, you’re sure to love these too!
Old Fashioned Bread Pudding Recipe
Old Fashioned Sour Cream Cookies Recipe
Monkey Bread From Scratch Recipe
Amish Cinnamon Rolls or Caramel Rolls Recipe
Old Fashioned Cheese Squares Recipe
Coffee Cake Recipe From Scratch
Homemade Toaster Strudels Recipe
If you are looking for some more breakfast inspiration, make sure to head over to our Breakfast Recipes page to find all kinds of delicious goodies!
Do you plan on making this Cream Cheese Danish Recipe? What toppings and fillings will you use?
This Cream Cheese Danish Recipe from Scratch was originally published on Little House Living in February 2011. It has been updated as of September 2019.
This looks delicious! You are a great baker!
Off the charts delicious! Great recipe true measurements and great instructions wonderful pictures I have made it 4 times now with fruit filling and without both ways fantastic and this will be what I bring to all my Christmas visits
Thank you for this wonderful recipe I am going thru your website now for other treasures
Merry Christmas!
With Hugs Donna
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This is absolutely my GO-TO RECIPE for something special for brunch or for company – or just because my husband loves it so! It is incredibly easy. When fresh raspberries are in season, I make a warm raspberry glaze to drizzle over the danish as it comes out of the oven. Or fried apples in the Instant Pot. Now that is some good eating! Thanks so much for your lovely blog. I love to visit!! Rebecca in Mexico
I’m so happy to hear that! 🙂 The raspberry addition sounds SOOO good!
That looks yummy! And the braid is beautiful as well. Thanks for sharing this at the Homestead Barn Hop! Hope to see you again next week! 🙂
Beautiful tutorial – too bad I’m laying off the sweets for a while! This one looks really good! Perhaps later…
This is my Moms favorite dessert and I’ve been searching online for a great recipe from scratch. This one looks great! The pictures will most likely be very helpful to me, as I am relatively new to baking. I think I will try this out this weekend. Thank you!
This looks so good and I will be trying it out this week. Thanks for sharing. I came over via the Barn Hop and so glad I did!!!
I’m glad you did too! 🙂
Passing through from the barn hop…This looks absolutely delicious! That is one thing I miss from living in NJ is the bakeries. I have mastered many favorite recipes of must haves but haven’t found a good danish recipe yet…I will have to try it and let you know…Thank You!
Yes I’d love to hear what you think! Ours was gone in 2 days…just from the 2 of us:)
Hi, I dropped by via the Homestead Revival and I am soooo glad I did. What a yummy looking Danish. I can’t wait to try it. And it is so pretty! Thank you for sharing! 🙂
Wow! This looks amazing! Almost too pretty to eat . . . almost 😉
Thanks for sharing on the Homestead Barn Hop!
~AFG
Megan Jenelle @ A Blossoming Homestead
Made this and it is delicious, getting ready to double the recipe and do it again! hubby loved it!!
Made this and it is delicious, getting ready to double the recipe and do it again! hubby loved it!! mine wasn’t as pretty as yours, couldn’t get the hang of the braid for some reason, any hints to make it easier?
Make sure the dough is just a little bit sticky so that it will help the braids stick together.
You are amazing! I also hate the cop-out of using crescent rolls. I’ve also been looking for a recipe that doesn’t require butter for the fat (expensive in my area). I can’t wait to try yours!
How pretty!
This looks amazing! The whole crescent roll idea isn’t my cup of tea either! Thank you for the recipe and tutorial. I will definately make this in the not so distant future. Thank you again!
Good morning!!
Thank you for this recipe. I am trying to make as much food from scratch these days as I can and, like others, recipes call for canned garbage foods.
Your recipe uses the abbreviation “t”. I’m assuming that’s teaspoons, but just want to double check before I make this.
Thanks again
Yes, lower case t = teaspoon and capital T = Tablespoon.
Is there a easy to print recipe here? or am I just missing it?
Just click the little green Print Friendly button at the bottom of the post to print.
I’m learning to pass up about the first five hits when I do a search for a recipe and find an irl that looks more traditional because I know I will find from scratch recipes. Thanks! I also have a recipe for making homemade crescent rolls. They are good, but you have to prepare a day in advance because they are supposed to be refrigerated for 8 hours. You might be able to skip that step Idk.
I have this recipe for buttery crescents if you are interested! https://www.littlehouseliving.com/homemade-crescents.html
I made the dough last night, refrigerated it, let it warm up for about 30 minutes this morning and then rolled it out on a floured surface. I then realized I didn’t have any cream cheese!!! I did, however, have ricotta and cottage cheese. When I added a 1/2 cup cranberry chutney, I just knew it would be way to runny, so I cooked it down until it was the consistency of warm cream cheese. I then chopped up five strawberries and laid them down the line and then covered them with the cheese mixture. Once the braid had baked for 20 minutes, I took it out of the oven and did what my Swedish mom always did; I mixed a tablespoon of coffee with enough sugar to thicken it and also a 1/4 tsp. of cardamom and brushed it over the top and then sent it back to the oven for eight minutes. My guests LOVED it! All that to say, once you have to dough recipe down, you can do all kinds of amazing things with this recipe!
While in quarantine we have been trying to make lots of new recipes. I had been craving cheese Danish and tried this a couple weeks ago and it is absolutely amazing. My husband said last night he could ‘suffer’ through another so I had to make another one. I whipped up the dough last night and ready to bake it in just a moment. Thank you for a wonderful recipe with mostly staple foods so we don’t have to run to the store in difficult times.
Aww I’m so glad you liked it!
Looks delicious and a lot easier than I would have thought.
This looks wonderful, love a good cheese danish, and I can see it with strawberry or blackberry jam added on top of the cream cheese. Yum.
Pinning and will be making soon!
This is on my list now!
I want to make this for the weekend! I will let you know how it turns out for me. Thanks, again, for the recipe.
Is it best to freeze before or after you bake?
After you bake:)
going to roll it out in the morning for breakfast. It looks so soft… is it ok to add more floiur?
Yes, you can add more flour if you need to for a little firmer dough.
Hi, this looks great. Can’t wait to try it for the super bowl..
Just wanted to verify that the type of flour could be unbleached All-Purpose?
Thanks, Sherry
Yes Sherry, that’s what I use for this recipe:)
This recipe is amazing! I spent an our trying to find a danish recipe that either didn’t use refrigerator aisle junk or take four days to make, and this was perfect. It was straightforward, easy, and delicious. Thank you!
Oh my…this looks amazingly delicious! I need to buy sour cream and I can’t seem to get to the store fast enough! 🙂
Coffee! But boy, does that look delicious…
You are so right about searching for a homemade Cream Cheese Danish recipe on the internet. This sounds amazing and I’ll make it for breakfast tomorrow morning. It also sounds like a great recipe to add a pie filling recipe on top of the cream cheese (cherry, apple, raspberry, etc.). Thanks!
kids had so school. . . .so we decided that leftover apple cobbler would be our “apple oatmeal” for breakfast. we even added milk and called it “apple pie a la mode”.
making it right now..
Looks god – but it is dry multi grain cheerios at the computer this morning – waiting for the dogs to wake up for their walk…
thanks for the step by step in pictures!
That looks delicious!
I just made this today. Loved it! Easy to make & looks & tastes like it should have been something I slaved over. Thanks for posting it. Made my family’s day 🙂
Made this and it is great..thank you!! Love the dough also..it is beautiful.
This was soo yummy! I decided to do it because I had everything in the house and didn’t have to go to the store! I did not have any powder sugar for a icing, so I popped open a can of strawberry creme frosting and microwaved it and drizzled on top, and it was Yummy!!! Thank you soo much again!
Loved the recipe and it was easy to make. My only concern is that I find the yeast smell very overpowering. Haven’t tasted it yet, it is cooling as we speak but was wondering if I can use a little less yeast next time?
How long did you let the dough sit? I try and only let it chill for about 2 hours, otherwise the yeast will get too strong.
I only let it sit 2 hours. I tasted it once it was fully cooled and it tasted very good and only a little yeasty. I am wondering if maybe using onlt 1/2 tbsp of yeast would work?
i made this recipe this morning, after a long search for a good, homemade cheese danish. it came out great. i added apricot butter over the cream cheese mixture. i did have some trouble transferring the dough to the baking sheet though, so it didn’t come out very pretty. i think next time i will cut dough in half and make 2.
thanks for this great recipe!
Today I tried the Cheese Danish recipe and it is very delicious and I would think much healthier than store brought! Very easy to make. Yummy!! Thank you! 🙂
Just about to pop this in the oven – just thought I would respond with a few questions (I am not a big time baker- just want to eat more naturally these days) – I don’t have a pizza stone, so I rolled on my counter then transferred to a cookie sheet lined with foil. (was not easy to do the transfer). Wondering if this will work, or if I should have prepared the pan differently? Guess I will find out in a few! Also – wasn’t sure how thick to roll it. Pictures helped some, but perhaps specifying under the pic would be nice, too! Thank you for the recipe!
I roll the dough about 1/2 inch thick. The cookie sheet will work, next time you can probably just grease it. I actually just roll it out right on my stone pan now so no transfer!
Sorry, dumb? And maybe too late …. you have 1 T. Of yeast…..does capital mean tablespoon? Or is it a teaspoon?
Yes, it is one tablespoon.
Okay so I have been baking completely scratch since the beginning of this year. While at costco hubby wanted cheese danish and I just say I can make that. Well I couldnt find a recipe because all of them where start with crescent roll dough. So I was happy to find this. I also love the rest of the site I have been going though and picking out what recipes I’m going to do this week and what I will have to wait on. Any ways I am making the danish tomorrow and cant wait to see how it turns out
Hi, I love your recipe, I”m not the kind of the crescent dough. I would like to know what kind of yeast do you use.
Thank You
I just use regular Instant yeast. (I buy mine in bulk from Sam’s Club.)
Whoops! I didnt melt the butter w/the sugar & SC…. Wonder if that will still work. I put it in the stand mixer and let it spin. What do you think?
It should still be ok:)
After you make it do you let it rise a bit …then bake it?
No, you can just bake it right away. It will rise the correct amount as it bakes:)
This was amazing! So easy to make and very tasty. This beats anything you can purchase at the store. I made a strawberry reduction to pour over the top of the cream cheese before folding over and baking.
I have everything but sour cream in the house. Can I substitute the sour cream with something else? Looks delightful!
I haven’t tried it with anything else but you might be able to get away with ricotta cheese or maybe cream cheese.
I had the same problem when I made it last night. I did have some heavy whipping cream, though, which I added… maybe a Tbsp of lemon juice to, to thicken and ‘sour’ it. Worked just fine.
I just made this and it is so delicious! It didn’t come out as pretty but I know next time I will need more flour so the batter is less sticky. I placed apricot preserves on top of the cream cheese and about 3-5 minutes before the bread was done I brushed the top with a melted butter and sugar mix.
Oh and by the way, I made a trip to the store to buy sour cream. I read somewhere that when baking be careful to substitute sour cream for something else and I’m so glad because this danish is so good!!!!
Can I substitute the butter for margarine?
I do not use margarine so I’m not sure but you can try it.
I was so pleased to find this recipe – finally a real “from scratch” recipe!! I tried it this morning and it was delicious and beautiful. I added some cherry pie filling (my husband’s favorite) and I was the hero of the day! I put the dough together the night before and it came together easily in the morning. I did add a little more flour and I also baked a little longer but I think that’s because I didn’t roll it out thin enough. This recipe is a keeper. Thank you!
I would really love to try this. I was just wondering if you could omit the egg. If so what would be a good subsitution? Thanks
You can mix ground flax seed or flax meal with water to replace the egg. 1 T. flax and 3 T. water to replace 1 egg.
You can also always use 1/4 cup applesauce in place of an egg! I have this in the oven now! (with an egg :/ )
Great tip!
was happy to fine cream cheese danish recipe from scratch online it was easy to follow just waiting for the two hrs then in the oven it goes can’t wait to see how it turns out…while it in oven 15-20 minutes waiting…the wait is over it was great thanks you so much for the recipe…will be given it out to family and friends…..
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
This looks so delicious! I want to make it, but i’m confused. In your recipe, you say to use 1/4 c of butter, but in the picture, it looks like you are using a whole stick,which is 1/2 c. Do we use 1/4 or 1/2?
For one recipe use 1/4 c. of butter. I think when I took the pictures I made a double batch. 🙂
Oh ok, thanks so much 🙂 I can’t wait to make it!
well, it just came out of the oven, and the braid unraveled! the sides are not connected at all 🙁 it smells delicious, but i don’t know what went wrong. Do you have any tips for keeping it together?
I bet it will still taste good:) I just try and push the braid pieces together as much as possible before I bake but mine come undone also.
i’ll have to push them together next time i make this; and there will be a next time because it does taste very yummy 🙂 thanks so much for this recipe 🙂
Well I’m glad it still tastes good!
These look yummy-Thank you for posting a cheese danish recipe that doesn’t use refrigerated pastries-no one makes anything homemade anymore. Have you ever tried adding some jam on top of the cream cheese mixture?
Yes, it’s super yummy with jam in it!
I just made this Danish for breakfast and I must tell you it’s amazing! Your directions were spot on. Plan on trying more of your recipes soon. Thanks!
I have to say this is one tasty recipe. I added a Raspberry puree to the cream cheese batter and then buttered and sprinkled powdered sugar on top. I will work on the braiding part but amazing…Simply amazing. Thank you
I had to go find this recipe earlier since I couldn’t locate it in my mass of printed recipes. Thank God for Pinterest! Way better then the crescent roll version.
I am making this now..have the dough in fridge!!
Thank you for this recipe. I made two of these last year for Christmas via bread maker recipe. Alas, my bread maker is not working but your recipe is so simple I don’t know why I needed my bread maker in the first place. I put apricot spread over the cream cheese and very carefully shaped the braid into a wreath. I thought it would make an ideal breakfast treat for St. Lucy’s feast day tomorrow!
New fan here from Frugal Days. This looks so good. I will definitely be trying it. If you haven’t already, I would love for you to come visit me at Fresh Eggs Daily and share at my weekly Farm Girl Blog Fest: http://fresh-eggs-daily.blogspot.com/2012/12/farm-girl-friday-blog-fest-12.html
Happy Holidays!
Lisa
Fresh Eggs Daily
This looks scrumptious…cheese danish is my FAVORITE! Thanks for the recipe!
I was wondering if I could slice strawberries and add them on top of the cream filling before baking or if the strawberries would burn or something?
I think it would turn out ok. Otherwise you can make an easy strawberry puree by blending the strawberries first or you could even mix the strawberries in with the cream cheese before you spread it on.
This was AMAZING! The Hubs and I loved it. I added some blackberry jam on top, and it was absolutely delish. Thank you so much for sharing! I’m so glad that I stumbled across your page on fb. Love your blog!
Woohoo! So glad you liked it!
I have to tell you, I have been having the same problem. That is every time I looked for a cream cheese danish recipe I was bombarded by the “almost from scratch” recipes. I wouldn’t use a tube of crescent rolls to make crescent rolls, let alone a decadent pastry!
Thank you for this recipe. It was so delicious and so much easier than I ever dreamed. Next time I make it I will roll my dough a little thinner, but then it will need a little more filling.
Thanks again, loved it!
This is a good recipe, however, it took about 30-45 mins to bake. I would recommend baking this @325 F for 30-45 mins. This amount of dough is impossible to bake in the time stated @350 F.
Secondly, my bottom browned way too dark. Thank goodness I caught that BEFORE it burned completely black.
My braid was SUPER goregous.
Thanks for the recipe.
I’m sure it varies from oven to oven, thanks for sharing! 🙂
THIS IS A GREAT RECIPE!!! I MADE IT LIKE THE RECIPE CALLS, I HAVE ADDED CHERRY PRESERVES, AND APPLE FILLING..WHEN EVER I MAKE IT EVERYONE TELLS ME IT TASET BETTER THAN SOMETHING YOU WOULD BUY AT A BAKERY!! I DO CHANGE A FEW THINGS LIKE .. I DO NOT STIR ON THE STOVE.. I MELT THE BUTTER IN THE MICROWAVE THEN ADD THE SOUR CREAM (WHICH COOLS IT) SUGAR, SALT THEN THE EGG, AND THEN THE YEST MIX (THAT HAS SAT FOR 5 MINUTES) THEN THE FLOUR.. OH, I USE DUCK EGGS WHEN I HAVE THEM.. IT ALWAYS TURNS OUT GREAT!! THANK YOU FOR THIS GREAT RECIPE!!
Thanks so much for this recipe! I will be making it today! It looks delicious! I’ve been searching the internet for a while today and all I could find was crescent roll this and pastry sheet that! It’s sooo good to find a danish recipe from scratch. 🙂 Thanks!
This recipe is wonderful! Thanks for your work.
I made this for my girlfriend and myself.
It was gone between the night I made it and post-coffee the next morning.
I’m actually here a second time to make it again. 😀
love and stuff to you kind miss/mrs- C.
I would love to make this. Read through comments and noticed you mentioned you used instant yeast. I only have active dry yeast. Do you know if I have to adjust the 1 T. amount of yeast if I use active dry? Would I have to let it rise longer, too? Thank you.
I honestly am not sure of the difference, I just Googled it for a bit and it doesn’t look like there really is so I would use the same amount 🙂
I agree with the no crescent rolls! There is nothing like homemade! Thank you for putting this up. I am going to make it for Easter. Especially because the jewish bakery who makes the best danish is close for passover! How many people would you say it served? Wondering if I should double or triple for about 25 people ? Thanks again so excited to try this.
I would say this serves 8-10 at best, you’d want to triple it for 25. Enjoy!
Thank you for recipe. I made the Danish this afternoon. My braid was not pretty like yours, but it was delicious! My husband said “just like pastry dough.” I added sour cherries to mine and didn’t have sour cream so I used plain yogurt. My grandson has nut allergies and has had to give up a lot of goodies, until now. He’ll be happy tomorrow.