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!
Oh wow!! Raspberry glaze sounds amazing!!
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!
I used homemade black raspberry we picked, using homemade you don’t have the berry filling running out of filling and yes Best ever!!!!!!
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!
I found this recipe by googling cream cheese Danish from scratch bc as stated many times, crescent rolls. I made the dough last night and baked it this morning as part of my families Christmas breakfast. It was a hit and the ease of this recipe paired with step by step photos made me look like a pastry chef. Thank you.
A few things that I was unsure of that I would like to share. The dough is very soft and sticky. I personally was uncomfortable with how soft it was so I added maybe a half cup more flour. After refrigerating it over night, it was easy to roll out. I’m guessing that is the point of refrigerating the dough.
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
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.
Excellent, I’m so glad it turned out for you!
I have made these several times and it’s one of my favorite recipes now!
Just wondering…would it work to make these the night before for an early-morning treat (or will it get soggy)?
I make this ahead all the time and it doesn’t get soggy unles syou leave it in the fridge for a couple days, so the night before you should be fine!
This is so good and my family loves it. It was gone in minutes. My husband has ask for this instead of a birthday cake, it is that good. I did add a sugar icing to mine. I want to make it for church. Do you think I could make individual ones out of the dough. I think this would be easier for people to take. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe again it was so yummy.
I’m sure you can make individual ones!
This recipe looks amazing, I am going to try it this weekend! Although I am a little confused.. Do I add the egg to the yeast mixture and then add it to the saucepan/sour cream mix? Then add flour to that in the saucepan? Looks like the dough is in a different bowl and not in the saucepan. Please clear this up for me!
Thanks so much!
I add the dry ingredients together and then the egg and the yeast. The sour cream mix is the only thing in the saucepan and you add that to the rest of the mixture once it’s cooled down.
Thanks for the recipe. We made it once and it was delicious. I subbed GF flour 1:1 and everyone in the family really enjoyed it. I’m making it a second time today and wondering, if after folding the sides over, should it rest a bit to allow it to rise some? Yours looks much lighter than mine and wondering if that is why. It was still delicious but pretty dense. Thanks so much!!
I love the look of this so used my sweet bread dough recipe today to make it using your braided style. I had some extra cream cheese mix in the freezer so put some down the center – however, I guess I used too much. My dough usually rises again before baking but it became a MONSTER after only 30 min. and the cream cheese oozed all over , haha. Was able to kind of shove it together on the sheet and bake it – it would feed 5,000 I think, haha. Next time I’ll try it without the 2nd rise as I really love the concept of this. Thanks for posting.
I am so grateful to find your website. I absolutely love to cook/bake from scratch. It is very hard to find websites that offer from scratch recipes. Thank you for making it easy.
On to my question: Do you have a download app or just your website?
Again, thank you.
Just the website for now but we are working on a mobile site that should be ready next month 🙂
I was so happy to finally find a “scratch” recipe for cream cheese danish. Thank You! You are awesome! I mixed the dough last night and put it together and baked it today. Your recipe and instructions are easy and much appreciated. I took your suggestion of adding a sweet powdered sugar glaze, and the results are amazing! I will never again have store bought cream cheese danish. Thanks again.
Made this for Easter breakfast. It is yummy!! Thanks for the recipe!
I am so happy to have found your website. I can’t wait to try this recipe. My honey is loving the fact that I am getting back to baking from scratch, but it is also something that I enjoy and am loving as well. I bought some jam and will be adding a glaze topping, so wish me luck and please keep those recipes coming, it is very much appreciated.
Thank you
A million years ago (the 80’s), my mom took a bread making class and made this with many variations of fillings! I’m so glad to see you post it. It’s so much better from scratch and really not difficult to make. 🙂
Blessings on your day,
Jenny
Hi Merissa! I just made this tonight, and I’ve made this recipe many times before. I just wanted to comment because this is the recipe that made me discover your webpage! How’re things on the homestead? My facebook doesn’t display your posts on my news feed for some reason, even though I am following and friended you. Miss your posts, and thanks for being an inspiration to me!
Hi Lori! I’ve pretty much given up on Facebook, it rarely shows anything we post anymore, but I’m still here! Make sure to sign up for the weekly newsletters to stay on top of the new posts. 🙂
Just wanted to say I haven’t made your recipe yet but it’s quite similar to one I found on another site. BUT what I love about yours is the super clear instructions and the braiding idea…the other recipe called for making x’s in the top of the dough before baking! I must say I like braiding better, I plan on filling this lovely goodness with cooked applefilling and cream cheese as well as doing a small second rise. The lower cooking settings…I have an electric oven and 350 for that things is more like a 375…it’s an overachiever 🙂
Great recipes I’ve been looking at your website ever sense I found a cloth pad idea… I now have my own pattern created by myself which I love but you helped me on the journey of cloth pads…So thanks
p.s South Dakota sounds beautiful, I’d love to move out west
Enjoy the recipe!
I made your cream cheese danish and that thing didnt even last over one day. I couldnt stay out of it myself,and sent it to work with my husband and he ate over half of it before 11 a.m. That danish is not only easy to make but just out of this world great tasting. Mine wasnt put together as pretty as yours,but with practice i’ll get there. 🙂 I love your recipes. Made the banana cake and put a small layer of cream cheese icing on it and it is so good with a cup of coffee. That went to work with my husband as well to share. Love your “littlehouseliving”. So glad i found you.
Hi Merrissa,
What is procedure for freezing half of the dough and how long can it stay frozen?
Thanks
Hi…I’m working on this now and I’m not sure I’m doing something right. My dough came out really soupy, more like a batter than a dough. Is this right? I’m thinking I might need to knead it in some flour in order to roll it out. Any suggestions?
I’m really into looking for from scratch recipes like this one for our favorite store bought treats. Hoping this one works out for me. Thanks!
Hi Joan, I’m not sure why it would have done that after the flour was added. I would try adding in a bit more and kneading to try and get it to firm up.
Hi Merissa
Thanks for the reply. I did knead it in a bit of flour after I took it out of the fridge and it worked just fine. In fact, it was wonderful! My hubby couldn’t wait for it to cool, he had to try it NOW! 🙂 Thanks for the wonderful recipe. I will definitely be making this again. Looks like we’re going to have a bumper crop of raspberries and I can’t wait to add some of them to the filling. Take care!
Joan
Awesome, I’m so glad it turned out! 🙂
This sounds great! Can you used gluten free bread mix instead of regular floor? I sure hope so!
I haven’t tried it yet with gluten free flour but if you do let us know how it turns out!
This recipe is gonna keep me busy today…my hubs thanks you in advance 😉 I’ll let you know how it turned out…thanks for sharing this recipe and all the wonderful pics ♥
We love your recipe! Here’s my thank you post ♥ http://foodloversweb.com/made/cream-cheese-danish/
We’re so glad you enjoyed it, Correen! And thanks for sharing.
Christie
LHL Assistant
I have dough in fridge I am leaving it until tommorow but after reading comments I realized I used a stick of butter not a quarter of a cup how do you think it will turn out?
I didn’t hear back from you about using the extra butter but I’m going to try as is I will let you know how it turns out
I’m about to roll it out I am anxious to see how it turns out
I made it I added strawberry jam and glazed it. I also did an egg wash before I baked it. It was fabulous, the extra butter didn’t seem to spoil it at all it got rave revues! Thanks so much for this recipe I will try it again with the right amount of butter.
I bought some blueberry stilton today and said “Damn…I wish I could put this in a danish!” Your recipe looks easy and I think it will work.
I am a island girl from the caribbean. A beautiful twin island state by the name of Antigua and Barbuda. I love baking from scratch bcuz to me it tasted better. Dying to try this recipes. Will send a pic of my finish product. Thanx
I made this recipe for the first time last year and it is a big hit my family loves it, today I am going to put chocolet in with the cream cheese our ten year old is a choc lover???, I have been putting raspberry preserves in lately and hubby just loves it. I make everything from scratch since making the leap and ONLY using organic ingrediants so to find such a great recipe is ABSOLUTLY awesome??? thank you for sharing this recipe with us???
I made this today and it was amazing!!!! Definitely saving this. I froze the leftovers for quick breakfasts in the morning.
I’ve made this a few times and every time, everyone loves it! I’ve added orange zest to the dough for a little punch of flavor, I’ve put an egg wash before baking for a nice shine, fruit filling, etc. It’s always a hit!
My wedding is coming up and we’re planning a day after brunch for out of towers and the wedding party. I’d love to make some of these ahead of time. If I make, bake and freeze, what is the bake/thaw time for it?
Hello! I’m trying out this recipe for the first time as a belated bday treat for my husband. I’m excited to see how it turns out, it’s my first time making a danish!
I enjoyed the pictures for your recipe, and I am a visual learner, which helps me to know what the slits and braid should look like. Just a little constructive criticism I want to share. It would be good to know the dimensions when rolling out the dough. I also am guessing to roll it to about 1/4″ Thanks again for sharing! 🙂
It’s baking now,hope it tastes good but i think it will 🙂
Have made this several times for work parties, and they keep asking for it! I have discovered piping the cream cheese and jam on the dough is very easy. Thanks for photos along with the instructions. They make the recipe even easier to follow.
This looks so tasty, I can’t wait to try it!
Wow, that looks amazing! I came over from the Pretty Pintastic Link Party and decided to drop you a comment to let you know. I also pinned this on my Pintrest board “Bread”. Hope to see ya around my friend.
I just love that it is all from scratch. I can’t wait to try it!!!!
Cheese danish is one of my favorites, I may just have to try this. It looks delicious, Merissa! Visiting from Show and Tell.
This not only looks so delicious but it looks so pretty too. Thank you for sharing this masterpiece on Happiness is Homemade link party.
This looks simply divine! I’ve never made one of these Cream Cheese Danish, but I want to some day! Adding it to my Bucket List!
This would be perfect for brunch.
That sounds amazing! Definitely pinning to try for my family. 🙂
Looks yummy. I featured your recipe on Snickerdoodle today.
Your Cream Cheese Danish looks delicious! I really appreciate you sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday and hope you are having a safe and enjoyable weekend.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Congratulations!
Your Post is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week. Thanks so much for sharing with us and enjoy your new Red Plate.
Come Back Soon!
Miz Helen
Is there any way you could make your recipes print friendly? Thanks in advance.
If you click on the “Print Friendly” button near the bottom of the post you can click to delete any part of the post that you don’t want to print so that you can just print the recipe.
Im making this today(Friday) to take to my in laws Monday for Christmas breakfast. Should I freeze it and take it out Sunday evening so it’ll be thawed out by Monday morning? Thank you!
Love this recipe!
Many years ago my mother-in-law made a wonderful cheese danish and I never got the recipe. Since she passed I have looked for a replacement recipe for years. Like you said, most are not even worth trying, not when they say to use a can of crescent roll dough. Other recipes call for 6 or more cups of flour! Too much when there’s only two of us. Also, I only use organic ingredients and didn’t want to waste it on a recipe that I may not like.
Then I came across your recipe. It sounded good and it was the right size, so I made it Friday. It was good when it came out of the oven but the next day when all the flavors had mellowed it was so good it could bring tears to the eyes of a pastry lover! It didn’t last long.
My husband just yelled from the kitchen that he wanted more danish. This one’s a keeper. Thank you so much!
Hi,
I would like to save this on Pinterest, but your page won’t let me.
Thanks for the great recipe.?
Could you tell me what kind of error you are getting? I’m able to save it to Pinterest from my computer.
This recipe is awesome. I did however change a couple things.
The first thing was I made a blueberry sauce out about 15 or so blueberries, 1/4 cup of white sugar and a tbsp of cornstarch. (Making sure to make a cornstarch liquid with an oz of water)
It turned out awesome!!!
And it was so good i made it again. Only this time I split the dough into 2 equal pieces. I couldnt find a storage container big enough to keep the first one in.
Thanks again for the awesome recipe.
This recipe makes the most delicious tasting coffee cake and it has become our family favorite. It turns out every time without fail. Just had to thaank you for the recipe.
You are so welcome! I’m glad that you enjoy it 🙂
Thank you for that fine recipe. I wanted some raspberry flavor so I bought some jam to top off the cream cheese. I also did the other half with apricot for my wife’s taste. I boosted the baking time to 25 minutes. Made this three times and great each time. I still need practice on the braid but it still eats well.
Raspberry sounds like a great addition!
Recepie looks easy and sounds good. I just have one question, what kind of yeast did you use?
Just standard dry active yeast.
This is the worst dough recipie I have ever used! Your instructions are very poor. I had to figure out what sugar proportion To use for each piece because you don’t explain anything.. The dough stuck to everything and was very difficult to use. what is the rough dimensions of lengths of cuts and ratio of base material ( cream cheese mixture ). Your proportion’s Of mixtures are way out to lunch!! I had enough CReam cheese mixture to make a whole other one. what a waste!!
I made this today but my dough was too sticky and hard to handle, it needs more flour.
I tried this recipe and it is easy and De—liciois. ??
I just made this recipe and it came out deeelish… My family loves it so this will be another once a month baking recipe (unless we will have a guest).
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
So I’ve made this three times now, and it’s been tasty every time. Appearance wise, it needs some work. The biggest two issues I have are getting the dough rolled out in a nice even square (approximate square) as in the picture; and the braids separating (the first time it came out looking like a wide open, snaggle toothed mouth). The first I think is just practice, but is there a secret to the braids? I tried sticking a toothpick in them, but that didn’t have any effect I don’t think. The last one the separating wasn’t bad, but still not as good as the picture.
Thanks!
Should we add like an egg wash or something before putting it in the oven?
I do not add any kind of egg wash to this particular recipe.
5 stars this is THE BEST! It always turns out, even if you add too much sour cream(like I did). This time I used an egg wash. Beautiful!
Hi Merrisa, I was wondering what the size of the rectangle is that you roll out the dough? I read in the comments above that you roll it out to about a 1/2 inch thickness, but I couldn’t find the length and width of the rectangle. Thanks! 😉
The rectangle I usually roll this too for that thickness is about 15 inches by 12 inches or so.
This recipe is absolutely perfect! Thank you for sharing it with all ! My husband and son love it!! As soon as they finish it, they are already asking for another one! We have used cherry cheese filling and strawberry cheese filling…both equally delicious!! It’s not often you find recipes online as spot on as this one! This will be passed down in my family for generations to come..I’m sure of it! Thank you again for sharing this recipe!❤️
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
A tip for keeping the braids intact: moisten the areas where the braids touch each other with a little bit of water to make them”glue” together. I’m so glad I found this recipe! It’s so delicious and PERFECT! Wayyyyy better than store bought! Thank you! Only change I made was to split the dough in half and made 2 batches. 1 was the braided batch with cream cheese and the other was the twisted rounds with raspberry strawberry jam I made. The texture is better as a braid. Very fluffy, melt in your mouth. The twisted rounds were more dense which I don’t care for in a pastry.
My husband loves cheese danish from a local bakery. Since we have been in quarantine, I decided to surprise him. I made it today, and he loved it! He said it was better than the bakery! I dropped some off to my Mom who is a much better baker than me, and she said it was one of the best she’s tasted. I love that the dough is easy to roll out and work with. This is going in my recipe box for sure. Thank you!
This recipe was simply amazing! It is easy to follow and it tasted incredible. My son almost ate the whole thing, I had to hide it so I can have some in the morning with coffee! Thank you so much, I had to share it!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
The dough and filling tasted great but it didn’t rise at all and my yeast is fresh. Do you let the dough rise at any point? Or just during the refrigeration for 2 hours.
I measured everything exactly and followed the recipe to a t.
I will try it again as the flavors are perfect – but the dough did not turn out airy enough.
Hi,
I have instant yeast, and I think you mentioned in a comment you use instant yeast on this. Is this the case? I saw the step to soak the yeast so wanted to make sure I had it accurate. Looks great! I am attempting it today =)
Yes, instant yeast is fine. I always proof my yeast to help things get ready to rise and just to make sure my yeast is good.
Can i prepare everything (added the cheese and braid it) then wait overnight then bake them first thing in the morning? Will that be ok? Can’t wait to try it. Thank you!
I’ve done that, sometimes it rises a little bit too much so the braid isn’t as pretty but it will work. I prefer to only make the dough in advance and then prepare the rest in the morning if I’m leaving it overnight.
Is the dough after mixing with all ingredients suppose to come out sticky?
Quick Q- How should I store this? It looks GREAT, by the way, my first time making!
If you are going to eat it soon you can store it in the fridge. If it’s going to be a little bit or if you are making extras you can store it in the freezer.
How do you reheat if you freeze it? Thanks.
I just leave it in the fridge to thaw and then warm it up in the microwave when ready to eat.
I’ve never reviewed a recipe online, and never thought I would. But this is hands down THE best Cheese Danish ever! It’s just so pillowy soft and just sweet enough. I’ve made it twice now, and will be making at least one other tomorrow. I’ve had to use a little more flour. The dough is a bit wet, so the flour helped firm it up a bit. And not much. I’d say maybe 2 Tbsp to 1/4 cup. This is a stupendously good recipe. I must have more!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
My mom used to make something like this at Christmas time so I was looking for a recipe on Pinterest and came across this. Oh my goodness!!! It is AMAZING! We use einkorn flour for all our baking so that’s what I used and I only used about half the yeast and it worked great!
Do you think you could make the dough and freeze 1/2 for later? I’ve frozen other dough after mixing and putting thru a first raise – but you have it going in the fridge before any raising – so I’m thinking I could put in the freezer, thaw in fridge and go forward from there. Thoughts? This looks faboo!
I haven’t tried freezing the dough for this recipe, only the finished, baked product.
This is a great recipe. I blended cherries into the cream cheese before I spread it on the dough. It turned out very good.
Any ideas how I can make this is to individual danishes VS one big brain?
Great all around, loved it, added apricot jam. Quickly becoming a family favorite!!!!
I LOVE to cook and do so all from scratch…always have.
Equally, it is so nice to connect with someone who “gets it”, the value of pure and simple, intermingled with tradition and integrity.
Thank you Merissa for holding the standard and for the results of your many efforts that you share with us here!
Now. This Danish.
This has to be one of the absolute best things I have ever made. This recipe is perfect.
Imagining that I would need a European culinary degree to create a delicacy such as this…quite the contrary. The result of my first attempt was beyond amazing.
While I decided to add a small amount of fresh lemon juice and zest to both the dough and icing, the basic recipe created everything one could possibly hope for in a comfort food, such as this Danish.
I am SO happy to have found this and appreciate it’s connection to you!