A smooth creamy filling in a hard crust makes a great breakfast


I love cheese danish. The fruit filled kind are great, but something about that cheesecake-y filling is just so comforting and sweet.
Danish pastries come in all kinds of textures and layers and levels of sweetness. 
I like the soft, multi-layered croissant like kind. But I recently discovered a kind of danish that is more like a hard loaf with the filling baked inside. It's not what you think of as Danish, but it's darned good.
This would be really good with a more savory cheese filling (brie?), some fresh fruit and a nice bottle of wine. But for breakfast, which is what I made it for, it's delish with the cream cheese filling and a strong cup of coffee. You decide...maybe both.
Cream Cheese Breakfast Danish
1 pound of butter, melted
2 packages of active dry yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
1 cup of warm water
2/3 cups of sugar
1 1/2 cups of cold milk
4 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla
8 1/2 cups of flour


  • Dissolve the yeast in warm water; set aside until raised. Mix together rest of ingredients. Add yeast mixture to egg mixture. Refrigerate. Dough will be sticky. Leave in refrigerator about 30 minutes.
  • Remove from refrigerator and gently roll dough out to an 18 x 13 inch rectangle.
  • Gently spread a generous amount of butter across the dough.
  • Fold over and again roll out to about 24 x 12 inches. Spread with more butter.
  • Fold the ends in half, making the fourth layer. Spread with butter.
  • Repeat rolling, buttering and folding twice more.
  • Return the dough to refrigeration for another hour. The dough will rise slightly in refrigerator
  • Divide the dough into eight pieces and return it to the refrigerator while preparing each one with the cheese filling (see below)
Cheese Filling


8 ounces of cream cheese
1 egg
2 egg yolks
3/4 cups of sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla


  • This is enough to fill all 8 pieces. 
  • After filling them, allow the dough to rise for about 30 minutes, then bake. Brush the top with some beaten egg.
  • Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. Watch carefully that the bottom doesn't burn.
Vegetarian.

Popular Posts