You will love this Easy Cream Cheese Danish recipe. Once you follow the simple steps in this post, you'll be a Danish Making Diva!

closeup of easy Cream Cheese Danish on a white plate over a red towel

Ever since I can remember, I have loved cream cheese danishes. I'm a sucker for cream cheese. What can I say?

Cream cheese danishes are sweet (because you know the cream cheese is mixed with sugar) without being overwhelmingly so. Tasty without overpowering the bread. And intricate in their simplistic braiding that looks so complicated and refined.

Once I learned how to braid dough, I was set. I was a Danish Making Diva!

Look out Sunday mornings, and every other day of the week mornings. Because I have it all figured out now. A sweetly simplistic cream cheese danish doesn't have to be time-consuming or imposing. It's. Wait for it... Easy. (Hence the name Easy Cream Cheese Danish!)

I know... danishes don't look easy. They look difficult and challenging. But you know what? They really don't have to be. You too can become a Danish Making Diva! (Or Danish Making Dude for all the guys out there who want to get in on the danish-making fun too!)

Simple Steps to Becoming a Danish Making Diva (and Making This Easy Cream Cheese Danish Recipe)

Find a sweet dough you like to work with. I love working with a recipe that has been in my family for years. The dough I used in this Easy Cream Cheese Danish recipe is the same dough I use every Christmas to make our traditional coffee cake, Potica.
Roll out your dough onto parchment paper so it will be easy to transfer to a cookie sheet.

Fill the dough with favorite filling or layer it with a couple fillings like my cream cheese filling and apple pie filling or strawberry jam. Yum!

Use kitchen shears to cut the sides of the dough and criss-cross.
When you're finished, pop it in the oven and you're a Danish Making Diva! Told you.

The Trick to This Easy Cream Cheese Danish Recipe

The trick to working with this soft dough in this recipe is refrigeration. It will be easiest to work with if refrigerated overnight.

More Sweet Breakfast Recipes for You to Enjoy

Low Carb Crepes - Sweet or Savory Flourless Crepes Two Ways
Chocolate Breakfast Biscuits
The Best Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Ready for the recipe? Here you go! Let me know if you make it and what you think... and meanwhile: What is your favorite danish/breakfast recipe?

Recipe

Easy Cream Cheese Danish

Yield Servings 12
Prep Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Cook Time 25 mins
Total Total Time 55 mins

Ingredients

Dough

1 cup margarine or butter
½ cup milk
2 packages active dry yeast
¼ cup warm water
3 egg yolks
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt

Filling

8 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup powdered sugar
¼ cup milk

Instructions

1
Heat the butter and milk until the butter is melted. Set aside to cool to lukewarm.
2
In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes to activate and then mix in egg yolks.
3
Blend in the cooled milk mixture and then sift in the flour, sugar and salt.
4
With dough hook, mix on medium speed until dough is soft and pliable.
5
Place dough in a large bowl that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for about 8 hours. It will rise in the refrigerator.
6
After dough has been refrigerated, remove and tear in half. On parchment paper, roll out into a rectangular shape about 15 inches long and 8-9 inches wide.
7
Meanwhile, soften cream cheese and mix together until smooth with powdered sugar and milk.
8
Pour cream cheese mixture down the middle of the dough and spread out to two ends.
9
Use kitchen shears to cut strips in dough and braid in criss-cross fashion.
10
Preheat oven to 350 and bake for 18-25 minutes. This will vary depending on the type of baking sheet you are using. Pizza stones tend to be on the higher end of the baking time.