No need to mess with bread dough for this impressive breakfast pastry! This Easy Apple Cream Cheese Danish is made with packaged crescent rolls making it a snap to get on the table.
Fall is in the air.
The weather is starting to change, bringing us warm days followed by cool nights. My house smells like cinnamon and apples. That combination can bring a smile to anyone’s face, especially when it involves this Easy Apple Cream Cheese Danish. Each bite is filled with apples, cinnamon, and cream cheese making it the perfect sweet addition to any breakfast or brunch.
Entertaining doesn’t have to be stressful. I love recipes that look impressive enough to serve to guests but are easy enough that I make them for my family on a regular basis. This Easy Apple Cream Cheese Danish is the perfect example. When my family oohs and aahs over the apples and cream cheese oozing out of the danish and asks if there is any left, I know I have a winner. Now when we have out of town guests or it’s my turn to host brunch, this danish is always part of the spread. Add a make ahead egg casserole, some fruit, and a fun cocktail and your menu is set!
Easy Apple Cream Cheese Danish
Ingredients
- 1 package of 8 crescent rolls or crescent roll sheet
Cream Cheese Filling
- 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Apple Filling
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 3 apples, peeled and diced (I used Granny Smith)
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 - 4 tablespoons water
Frosting
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 - 3 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
To make the cream cheese filling:
- Mix cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla until smooth and set aside.
To make the apple filling:
- In a medium pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add apples, flour, sugar, cinnamon and 2 tablespoons water and cook until apples are soft, about 7 minutes. Add more water one tablespoon at a time if apple mixture gets too thick. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
To make the danish:
- Place crescent roll dough on lined jelly roll pan, making a rectangle. Use a rolling pin to seal seams and thin dough out slightly. Make 2 inch diagonal cuts about an inch apart on the long sides of the dough.
- Spread cream cheese filling in the center of the dough. Spoon apple filling on top of cream cheese filling.
- Pull the top and bottom of dough over filling and then pull the dough from the sides, creating a braided look. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for at least 20 minutes.
To make the frosting:
- Mix powdered sugar with water in a small bowl until smooth. Add additional water if needed to get to desired consistency. Drizzle over warm danish.
Recipe Notes
Serve slightly warm, at room temperature or cold.
More Delicious Breakfast Pastries from Bloggers we love:
Strawberry Strudel- Shugary Sweets
Pumpkin Nutella Cheesecake Danish- Inside BruCrew Life
Guava and Cheese Pastries- Life,Love and Sugar
Chocolate Cheese Danish- Crazy for Crust
So easy and delicious looking! Looks like Granny Smith is the essence of the recipe, but I guess I can replace it with any sort of apples, right?
Absolutely, Amber! Use whatever apple is your favorite. It’s a definite keeper of a recipe. 🙂
Hey Ladies,
We just wanted to let you know that we are featuring one of your recipes on our blog tomorrow.
Janette and Jordan
The 2 Seasons
If one uses canned apples do you just use the apples right from the can and not add anything?
If the apples are already sweetened for apple pie, you don’t need to add anything! Enjoy!
How much cinnamon and where do you add it?
Oops! Recipe is amended now to include the cinnamon. Thanks for your keen eyes, Alice!
Can you use puff pastry instead of crescent rolls?
Hi Maggie, I haven’t tried it with puff pastry, but I’m sure it would work!
How many cans of pie filling per recipe. I will be making 4 of these. Would I be able to prepare 2 of them on one jelly roll pan? thanks!
Hi Sue, I make my own pie filling for this recipe, but I would imagine that you could use 3 cans between the 4 danishes. I can only fit one on my jelly roll pan. Good luck!