Danish Pastries – Cream Cheese, Apricot, Raspberry

Danish Pastries – Cream Cheese, Apricot, Raspberry
vegan ~ dairy-free ~ egg-free

Makes: 18 pastries
Total Time: 25 minutes (includes prep)
Difficulty: Easy
Author/Credit: Jessica Williams/Vegan Rescue

Danish Pastries! Your choice of Cream Cheese, Apricot, or Raspberry Danishes! These Danishes are made with puff pastry, which makes for a super easy recipe. Can I just say that any dessert made with puff pastry just always looks so fancy. You can certainly impress anyone with these Danishes. Valentine’s Day is around the corner! Surprise that special someone with these delicious Danishes. Treat your family with these pastries for an amazing breakfast. These are Vegan, Dairy-Free, and Egg-Free.
If you are into puff pastry recipes – you MUST try my Vegan–Quesitos a Puerto Rican dessert treat. Recipe found here – Vegan Quesitos… and yes, these have cheese! I use Miyoko’s cream cheese in this recipe too. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 (17.3 oz) Package Puff Pastry (contains 2 sheets), thawed
1 (8oz container) Vegan Cream Cheese (I use Miyoko’s)
1/4 Cup Raw Cane Sugar, additional for sprinkling
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Tbsp Vegan Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 to 1 Cup Fruit Preserves (Apricot, Raspberry, Strawberry)

For the glaze:
1 1/2 Cup of Powdered Sugar
3 Tbsp of Soymilk (or other non-dairy milk)
1/2 Tsp Almond Extract

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 400°F and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.

-Thaw frozen puff pastry according to package instructions. No longer than 40 minutes to thaw, it should be cold yet pliable.
-Lightly flour your surface and unfold the puff pastry.

-With a rolling pin, roll out your puff pastry sheets into one large rectangle.
-Next, divide this sheet into nine rectangles or square pieces. I follow the fold lines vertically, then section off the remaining – creating a 3×3 grid.

-Place your puff pastry pieces onto your lined baking or cookie sheet.
-Next, score the puff pastry with a butter knife. Use the opposite side, so that you don’t accidentally cut all the way through. Create a square within a square. Or a rectangle within the larger rectangle.
-Gently press down the inner square/rectangle. *Scoring them helps to keep the filling in as these bake up.

-For the cream cheese filling. In a small bowl, mix the vegan cream cheese and sugar. Then add the vanilla extract and heavy whipping cream. Mix all ingredients to combine.

-Fill the center of your puff pastries with the filling of your choice whether cream cheese, fruit preserves, or both.

-For the cream cheese only, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture.
-For the fruit filled Danishes, I still add the cream cheese mixture but reduce it down to 1 Tsp to 1/2 Tbsp of the cream cheese mixture. Smooth this at the bottom first. Then add 1 1/2 Tbsp of fruit preserves on top.

-Once your Danishes have been filled – lightly sprinkle each with a pinch of sugar. This is optional but allows the pastries to get nicely golden brown. Since these are vegan, we are not using a traditional egg wash typically used for puff pastry recipes.

-Bake for about 15 minutes until golden.

-Enjoy!