There’s something so comforting about a homemade cheese Danish—flaky, golden pastry filled with sweet, creamy cheese and finished with a dusting of powdered sugar. This recipe brings together a rich, buttery dough and a classic farmer cheese filling, creating the perfect treat for breakfast, brunch, or an afternoon coffee break.
homemade cheese danish
These soft and sweet little pastries are so good that you will need to stop yourself from eating the whole batch...in one sitting. They are perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack or any time you want to indulge your sweet tooth.
The dough is fluffy and soft and the outcome is a Danish pastry that is not very sweet so you can add jam, chocolate spread or another sweet topping of your choice. I sprinkled powdered sugar on top of the pastries for the extra sweet taste but they are delicious without any topping too, don’t worry! However you want to whip these up is totally up to you.
Cheese danish filling
The filling is based on farmer cheese which is a bit more dry and won't run from the dough when baking. In Israel, I use "Tuv Taam" cheese that you can get in any supermarket.
I haven’t tried to make these sweet pastries non-dairy, so if you want to try then be sure to switch the butter to coconut oil in the same amount and the milk should be switched to soy milk or any other non-dairy milk. For the filling, use non-dairy cream cheese like Tofutti or some other brand. The filling might not come out as good as this dairy recipe though. If you are looking for other parve non-dairy dessert recipes, you can find them on my parve desserts index.
other recipes to try
Bake these cheese danish pastries today!
While it looks impressive, it’s surprisingly simple to make from scratch and absolutely worth the effort. Follow the steps below to enjoy a bakery-style cheese Danish fresh from your own oven!
Cheese Danish
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 4 cups (500 grams) flour
- 1 tablespoon dry yeast
- ½ cup sugar
- ¾ cup milk
- 1 stick (100 grams) melted butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the filling:
- 16 oz. (500 grams) farmer cheese
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract / paste
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoon melted butter
Garnish:
- 1 egg beaten for egg wash
- 2 tablespoon powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a stand mixer bowl, place all dough ingredients and knead with the kneading hook for 5 minutes until you get a unified dough.
- Grease the bowl and make sure all the dough is greased too, cover with plastic and let the dough rest in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough doubles in volume.
- Set the oven to 180°C / 350°F with the fan.
- In a bowl, mix all the filling ingredients well.
- Roll the dough into a large rectangular leaf, about 3 to 4 mm thick.
- Cut 4 inches squares out of the dough.
- Fill each square with a tablespoon of the filling.
- Close the squares like envelopes and place on a baking pan.
- Brush the envelopes with the beaten egg.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Cool at room temperature.
- Sprinkle powdered sugar on the pastries.
- Have a cheese Danish and enjoy!
Leah
Are you sure its supposed to cook 15 min... I had to leave them in over 30 min to be fully cooked.
Renana
Hi Leah, Thank you for you comment. Yes, only 15 minutes, I use oven with fan, it bakes quicker. What kind on oven do you have?
Michele Levy
Hello , can you provide the nutritional value please . They look delicious & I’m logging my intake on my weight loss journey , but I would like to taste a little bite . Also do you it would work with sugar substitute ?
Renana
Hi, for one pastry the nutritional value would be something like this- 239 Calories 7g Protein 9g Total Fat 31g Carbs. It can work with sugar substitute yes, I haven't tried it with a substitute.