Are you ever dreaming of cheesecake for breakfast? Well, this 5 ingredient shortcut Danish pastry recipe will satisfy that craving. It has flavors and textures like a Danish, but uses a cheesecake filling – the best of both worlds! I like to think of this as a breakfast cheesecake pastry, with only 5 ingredients!
Cheesecake filling is so easy to make so I was dreaming up a way to make a breakfast cheesecake. I’ve had some fun with cheesecake filling in the past with this recipe (<-carrot cake cheesecake coffee cake), so I figured I’d try again!
What do I need for a 5 ingredient danish pastry?
- Cream cheese – the most important ingredient for the creamy cream cheese filling!
- Eggs – you will use egg yolks, but reserve the whites to use a bit later in the recipe.
- Sugar – used to sweeten up that cream cheese with a basic granulated sugar.
- Vanilla extract – vanilla is a key ingredient in all baking recipes. I use a good quality one like this!
- Pillsbury crescent rolls – a great shortcut way to have a flakey pastry dough!
What are danish pastries?
- A danish is traditionally a laminated, layered pastry often with a fruit or other filling.
This recipe is simply a shortcut way to make a danish-type of pastry; simply a pastry layer, filled with a cheesecake layer, topped with another pastry layer.
How do you make a 5 ingredient shortcut Danish?
Cream together (<- this is a cooking term where you are beating together ingredients and they turn into a creamy texture, not necessarily adding any cream) cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla. Spread over a layer of crescent dough crust.
Top with remaining crescent rolls.
If desired, whisk together egg whites and 1 tablespoon water, spread over top crust and sprinkle with a mixture of 3 tablespoons sugar. (you could add 1 tsp cinnamon if you want – this would be a 6th ingredient)
Bake 30 minutes or until set. Cool on rack. Keep refrigerated <- I actually like my pastries cold
If you don’t want a full pan of this hanging around your house (because you WILL want to eat it all!), you can cut the recipe in half and only use one roll of crescent rolls and bake in an 8×8 pan.
This 5 ingredient shortcut Danish pastry recipe is great for the holidays and absolutely perfect with a dark cup of coffee. And if you feel like having a little fun, you can dress up the dish a bit by adding some fresh berries – added freshness and color!
So there you have it, a breakfast cheesecake pastry! And because it’s make with only 5 ingredients and you’re using pre-made pastry crescent rolls, it’s a shortcut recipe which is always a win.
5 Ingredient Shortcut Danish Pastry (breakfast cheesecake)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 pkgs Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
- 2 pkgs cream cheese softened (each package is 8 oz.)
- 2 egg yolks reserve egg whites
- 1 cup sugar divided (3 tbs for topping)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Unroll one package crescent rolls and pat into an 9x13 pan.
- Cream together cream cheese, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla. Spread over crescent crust.
- Top with remaining crescent rolls.
- If desired, whisk together egg whites and 1 tablespoon water, spread over top crust and sprinkle with a mixture of 3 tablespoons sugar. (you could add 1 tsp cinnamon if you want - this would be a 6th ingredient)
- Bake 30 minutes or until set, and top is golden brown. cool on rack. Keep refrigerated.
- Slice along diagonals and cut each diagonal into 2, for a total of 16 pieces (or you could leave it as 8 large pieces!)
[…] for you: when you’re thinking about breakfast, are you thinking about a sweet breakfast (Danish pastry or berry muffin) or a salty/savory breakfast (scrambled eggs and toast or sausage and salsa […]