This bakery-style strawberry danish is made with frozen puff pastry, fresh strawberries, and cream cheese filling, and is topped with either powdered sugar or zesty lemon glaze.
These danishes could not be easier to make! All you will need to make this is super simple ingredients like frozen puff pastry, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, cornstarch, and fresh strawberries!
They are perfect for a quick breakfast, as a dessert, or as a delicious snack. Since these danishes are not very sweet, I highly recommend topping them with plenty of powdered sugar or an easy lemon glaze.
If you like making strawberry desserts, check out our strawberry brownies, strawberry filled cupcakes, strawberry shortcake cake, strawberry glazed donuts, cheesecake with strawberry sauce, and strawberry sauce for cheesecake.
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Why this recipe works
- This recipe is made with store-bought puff pastry which is the easiest and fastest!
- Has a flakey and buttery texture that no one can resist.
- Can be made with homemade puff pastry as well!
- This recipe is made with fresh strawberries! A great way to make a quick and delicious breakfast and use up fresh strawberries.
- This recipe takes under an hour from start to finish and is topped with a delish lemon glaze.
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Full measurements are in the recipe card below.
Frozen puff pastry- we use store-bought frozen puff pastry, we find it the easiest and fastest to work with. If you want to use a homemade puff pastry, that will work great as well.
Egg- you will need 1 egg for this recipe, for the egg wash. Make sure that your egg is at room temperature.
Cream cheese- the most important ingredient in this recipe, is cream cheese. Make sure that you are using full-fat cream cheese, it's important that you use full-fat cream cheese and make sure that it’s at room temperature.
Granulated sugar- you will need one cup of granulated sugar for this recipe. The cheesecake will be sweet, but not too sweet. One cup of sugar is the perfect balance of sweetness for this recipe.
Vanilla extract- vanilla extract adds extra flavor.
Lemon zest- the lemon zest adds an aroma and a light flavor to this cake. Don’t worry, this cheesecake will not taste like a lemon cheesecake.
A pinch of salt- helps to balance the flavors.
Strawberries- use fresh strawberries for this. Wash them and dry them with paper towels.
Instructions
Preheat an oven to 200c (400f), and let your puff pastry thaw for about 30-40 minutes or until it's easy to work with.
Slice your fresh strawberries into thin slices, and place them in a bowl. Add cornstarch and mix well until the strawberries are well coated. Set aside.
Into a medium mixing bowl, add the room-temperature cream cheese, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix with a whisk until creamy and smooth.
Lightly flour a clean surface and use a rolling pin to roll the puff pastry slightly and cut it into 12 even rectangles using a pizza cutter. (we used two puff pastry sheets. every sheet is cut into 6 rectangles)
Use a butter knife to make a smaller rectangle into each danish piece. Top the smaller rectangle with about a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture. Spread it around and keep it in a small rectangle. Repeat until you run out of the mixture.
Place the strawberries on top of the cream cheese filling.
In a small mixing bowl, add 1 egg and a tablespoon of water or milk. Mix with a fork. Brush the sides of the danishes with the egg wash. We like topping the danishes with demerara sugar for extra sweetness and crunch.
Bake the danishes in a 200c (400f) preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden brown on the edges. Keep an eye on the danishes so they won't burn.
Make an easy lemon glaze by mixing powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, and top these danishes with a drizzle of the glaze.
These danishes are not very sweet so I recommend topping them with either the glaze or with powdered sugar.
Expert Tips
- Feel free to make the danishes in whatever size you'd like. You can make these smaller or bigger. We cut ours into 12 danishes.
- Thaw the puff pastry in advance. An hour or two before making this, take the frozen puff pastry from the freezer and let it thaw at room temperature until it's defrosted.
- Make sure that your fruit is super dry. After washing the strawberries, dry them out using paper towels. This will keep your danishes from getting soggy.
- Make sure that you are using room-temperature cream cheese in this recipe, this step makes it easier to mix the cream cheese with no unnecessary lumps, we don’t want that.
- Use high-fat cream cheese or the well-known Philadelphia cream cheese. Using full-fat cream cheese ensures that your filling will be stable and will not crack.
- Keep an eye on the danishes when they are baking! They are easy to burn.
- If you have a cookie scoop, use it to scoop out the filling to the danishes so they will bake evenly.
- Make these danishes your own by adding or topping them with your favorite flavors. Add a teaspoon of jam, chocolate chips, and lemon zest.
Faq's
These danishes will last up to 3 stored in the fridge. Cover them with plastic wrap or foil to prevent them from drying out. We recommend reheating them in the toaster oven to get them crispy again!
Place the puff pastry at room temperature for 2-3 hours until it's thawed or place it in the fridge overnight.
Yes! If you love making your own puff pastry, use it! If it is frozen, make sure that you thaw it an hour or two before making this recipe.
Yes. You can make them the night before, and reheat them in the oven or in a toaster oven until they are crispy again.
Unfortunately no. The mixture will turn too liquidy and the danishes will turn soggy with a weird texture.
Storing
Store these danishes in the fridge since it contains dairy. Make sure that you store it in an airtight container so it won’t dry out.
Reheating
Reheat these in a toaster oven or regular oven at 150c(300f) for about 5 minutes (keep an eye so they won't burn) until they are nice and crispy.
Freezing
Freeze them after they cooled completely in an airtight freezer-friendly container for up to 2 months.
Substitutions
Puff pastry- you can swap the store-bought puff pastry and use a homemade puff pastry if needed!
Gluten-free- you can make this recipe gluten-free by swapping the puff pastry with gluten-free puff pastry. You can make homemade ones or use store-bought!
Variations
Glaze- top these with a simple glaze! You can use the easy glaze I made in this lemon shortbread cookie recipe.
Powder sugar- these danishes are not very sweet, so I recommend generously sprinkling them with powdered sugar.
Fruit- you can make these danishes with your favorite fruit instead of strawberries! Slice them and prep them the same way.
More puff pastry recipes
Apple pie with puff pastry- This apple pie with puff pastry is the easiest pie ever! It is made with store-bought or homemade puff pastry and filled with an easy and delicious apple pie filling!
Puff pastry apple tart- This puff pastry apple tart is the perfect easy apple dessert. It is made with caramelized apples and store-bought puff pastry!
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📖 Recipe
The Best Strawberry Danish
Ingredients
- 2 sheets Puff pastry
Cream cheese mixture
- 230 g Cream cheese
- â…“ cup Granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Strawberries
- 4 cups Strawberries sliced
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
Lemon glaze
- 1 cup Powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoon Lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 200c (400f), and let your puff pastry thaw for about 30-40 minutes or until it's easy to work with.
- Slice your fresh strawberries into thin slices, and place them in a bowl. Add cornstarch and mix well until the strawberries are well coated. Set aside.
- Into a medium mixing bowl, add the room-temperature cream cheese, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix with a whisk until creamy and smooth.
- Lightly flour a clean surface and use a rolling pin to roll the puff pastry slightly and cut it into 12 even rectangles using a pizza cutter. (we used two puff pastry sheets. every sheet is cut into 6 rectangles)
- Use a butter knife to make a smaller rectangle into each danish piece. Top the smaller rectangle with about a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture. Spread it around and keep it in a small rectangle. Repeat until you run out of the mixture.
- Place the strawberries on top of the cream cheese filling.
- In a small mixing bowl, add 1 egg and a tablespoon of water or milk. Mix with a fork. Brush the sides of the danishes with the egg wash. We like topping the danishes with demerara sugar for extra sweetness and crunch.
- Bake the danishes in a 200c (400f) preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden brown on the edges. Keep an eye on the danishes so they won't burn.
- Make an easy lemon glaze by mixing powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract, and top these danishes with a drizzle of the glaze.
- These danishes are not very sweet so I recommend topping them with either the glaze or with powdered sugar.
Notes
- Feel free to make the danishes in whatever size you'd like. You can make these smaller or bigger. We cut ours into 12 danishes.
- Thaw the puff pastry in advance. An hour or two before making this, take the frozen puff pastry from the freezer and let it thaw at room temperature until it's defrosted.
- Make sure that your fruit is super dry. After washing the strawberries, dry them out using paper towels. This will keep your danishes from getting soggy.
- Make sure that you are using room-temperature cream cheese in this recipe, this step makes it easier to mix the cream cheese with no unnecessary lumps, we don’t want that.
- Use high-fat cream cheese or the well-known Philadelphia cream cheese. Using full-fat cream cheese ensures that your filling will be stable and will not crack.
- Keep an eye on the danishes when they are baking! They are easy to burn.
- If you have a cookie scoop, use it to scoop out the filling to the danishes so they will bake evenly.
- Make these danishes your own by adding or topping them with your favorite flavors. Add a teaspoon of jam, chocolate chips, and lemon zest.
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