It’s time to take brunch to the next level with a sweet Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish, filled with fresh berries, cream, and almonds!
Make a well rounded brunch spread complete with Hash Brown Egg Cups, a Breakfast Fruit Pizza, and of course these yummy danishes!
Deceivingly Simple!
It’s officially brunch season. Is that even a thing? It is in food blog world. Spring/Easter/Mother’s Day means lots of delicious fruity breakfast recipes, like this flaky, sweet pastry.
It starts with a puff pastry layered with cream filling, fresh berries, and chopped almonds all topped off with a drizzled glaze. It’s a cinch to make but looks like you spent all morning whipping it up. My kind of treat!!
If you’re looking for a sweet treat to make for brunch, you’ve gotta give these a try! They only take 30 minutes to make and taste like they came straight from a bakery!
Ingredient Tips
Blueberries: If you need to use frozen blueberries or this dish you should let them thaw and then rinse and dry the blueberries. This prevents any extra liquid from bleeding into the pastry.
Lemons: If you want a sweet lemony taste I recommend using Meyer lemons. They are naturally sweeter than average lemons. This way your danish won’t be overly tart!
Almonds: I decided to use lightly salted whole almonds and chop them coarsely, but you could use plain almonds, slivered almonds, or even candied almonds if you want.
How to Make Blueberry Danishes
PASTRY. The base is made from puff pastry. I’ve only used it a few timeS, but you know what? I kind of love it! It’s just a matter of taking it out of the freezer, letting it thaw, then cutting it into individual servings or in this case, rectangles. Magic.
CREAM MIXTURE. Next, you need to beat the cream cheese mixture. It’s sort of like a light lemony cheesecake filling. Mmm. Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature, because you don’t want to over-beat everything or it’ll rise/expand too much.
BAKE. Spread the filling in the center of each piece of puff pastry, then top with fresh (or frozen) blueberries, brush the edges with egg wash and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
ALMONDS. Chop a handful of lightly salted almonds (Blue Diamond are my favorite), and gently press into the baked cream cheese mixture.
GLAZE. In a small bowl mix up the glaze and drizzle over top. Trust me, you’ll want to glaze these babies.
Variations + Storing
Want to change it up? Here are a few ideas:
- Use raspberries, blackberries, or sliced peaches instead of blueberries
- Use strawberry, blueberry, or cherry cream cheese
- Instead of cutting the puff pastry dough into rectangles, make one large braided pastry. Do this by leaving the dough sheet whole, and adding all the filling ingredients to the center lengthwise. Use a pizza cutter or knife to cut strips perpendicular to the filling, and then fold the strips in a criss-cross pattern over the filling to make a braid.
Storage Tips
Keep leftovers STORED in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. You can either eat leftover danishes cold or you can warm in the microwave.
To FREEZE, first flash freeze the danishes on a baking sheet for several hours. Then gently wrap each danish in parchment paper and place them in a freezer-safe bag for about 3 months. Thaw overnight and then warm in the oven or microwave.
For more breakfast sweets, check out:
Easy Blueberry Cream Cheese Danish Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- 8 oz cream cheese - room temperature
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks - room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
- 1 tsp lemon juice - fresh
- 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1/4 tsp kosher sea salt
- 3/4 cup blueberries - fresh blueberries or frozen
- 1 egg - lightly beaten with the milk
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1/3 cup almonds - chopped, we like Lightly Salted Blue Diamond Almonds
For the Glaze
- 1 tbsp butter - melted
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/8 tsp almond extract
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbsp milk - OR cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 degrees Celsius). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat; set aside.
- Let the puff pastry thaw, then cut into 6 rectangles.
- Using a knife, score a ½-inch border around the edge of each piece. Prick the inside of the border with a fork several times.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt. Using a hand mixer, beat until smooth and creamy. Spoon 3 heaping tablespoons into the middle of each piece of dough (inside the border) and spread into an even layer. Press the blueberries into the cream cheese mixture.
- Brush the edges (or border) of the puff pastry with the egg wash using a pastry brush. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, place in the oven, and bake for 20–22 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and top with chopped almonds, pressing gently into the cream cheese.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the glaze and whisk vigorously to combine. Drizzle with a spoon or pastry bag over the tops of each danish in a zig-zag pattern.
NOTES
Nutrition
This post is sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds, all opinions are my own. Thank you for helping me work with brands I love!
These were AMAZING! The flaky texture and rich cream cheese filling were perfect. Everyone loved them!
This is a delicious breakfast!! It was everyone’s favorite.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Nothing like a sweet “dessert” for breakfast! 🙂
The pairing of blueberry and almond works so well! This is the breakfast and dessert that everyone asks for.
Yes, and I’m all about breakfast for dessert! 😉
My hubby will be so excited! He loves anything with blueberries. This would be great for dessert or breakfast!