Simple Cheese Danish
These simple homemade cheese danishes are so easy, so elegant and so delicious. You’ve gotta try them right now!
I feel like I’ve been harping on quick, simple recipes and meals lately. Sorry if that offends your gourmet spirit.
I promise that fast food (I’m talking fast food like homecooked fast food, not fast food like dollar menu fast food) can taste delicious even if it is simple and quick to prepare.
Because of my latest fetish with easy recipes, I was thrilled beyond thrilled when out of the blue, America’s Test Kitchen sent me their newest cookbook, The Quick Family Cookbook, because the food in here is seriously talking my language.
No-fail is the word that comes to mind with ATK’s tested, tested, tested recipes and the wonder of this cookbook is that you get classically delicious America’s Test Kitchen recipes with minimal fuss, time and ingredients. Oh, I am in love with this book.
To show how great this book is, I should have made some stellar main course fare that will save your bacon on any given Tuesday night; however, I couldn’t resist these delicious cheese Danish pastries.
They are so easy, so elegant and so delicious, if you close your eyes while eating one, you might just believe you are smack dab on the bustling streets of Paris – oh wait, think of some city in Denmark! – eating an authentic pastry.
Not that I ever have had that experience, but take my word for it – these babies get the job done for a no-fuss pastry. Make them and love them.
Simple Cheese Danish
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cream cheese, light or regular, softened to room temperature
- 4 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoons grated lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed (9 1/2 by 9-inch)
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten with 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla. Set aside.
- Roll the pastry into a 12 by 9-inch rectangle on a lightly floured counter, making sure it doesn’t stick to the counter while rolling. Cut the rectangle into six 4 1/2 by 4-inch rectangles (cut it in half the long way and then cut each strip into thirds). Transfer the pastry rectangles to the baking sheet, spacing about 1 inch apart. Using the tip of a paring knife, score a 1/2-inch border around the edge of each pastry, then brush the borders with the egg wash (no fear – if you don’t have a pastry brush, using your fingers works just as well!). Prick the pastry with a fork every 1 inch or so within the border (see the picture below for a visual). Place a generous 2-3 tablespoons of filling in the center of each pastry and spread it into an even layer leaving the border uncovered.
- Bake the pastries until fully puffed and golden about 12-14 minutes (watching carefully so they don’t overbrown). Serve the pastries warm or at room temperature.
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Recipe Source: adapted slightly from America’s Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook
My most used cookbook is probably The Pioneer Woman (her first one). I’m intimidated by many of the others I have. This one looks great!
I have a binder with receipes that I have collected for years. They are from betty crocker to your receipes to pinterest! I have other cookbooks but i mostly stick to my binder cause they are the ones I mostly use and go to and I always know they will be good!
One of my favorite cookbooks is Nourishing Traditions! I haven’t used it much yet, but it’s packed with so much information, it’s practically like a textbook!
IF it’s not too late to enter — I also would appreciate any quick cookbook — having just had my fourth kid. — The oldest is in first grade — Yep – the less time in the kitchen, the better. My go-to “cookbooks” are actually the online blogs – such as yours and Perry’s Plate. Does that count?
The Joy of Cooking. It’s a good one!
My favorite “cookbook” right now is the internet. I love being able to see beautiful photos on step-by-step instructions. But I was just flipping through an ATK magazine and thinking that I needed to get more of their stuff!
Oh…most used loved cookbook? Honestly, I’d have to say your blog, and my Mom’s recipe box!
Am I too late? I hope not! I have 4 kids one of which is an infant…quick is what I need right now–as well as tried and true! I’d love to win this! Love your blog!
I use a lot of your recipes and they are always delicious! But my favorite used cookbook is one that my Mennonite friend said that I must have called Mennonite Country-Style Recipes & Kitchen Secrets. Growing up Pennsylvania Dutch the Mennonites are a close cousin and have a lot of the same old time recipes that I grew to love.
I go to your blog the most, but after that it’s a toss-up between Betty Crocker & Joy of Cooking.
My favorite cookbook is one that exists in very few kitchens. It is called Body and Soul Foods and was published by my grandparents church, LaVale United Methodist in Maryland, in honor of their 50th anniversary. It has timeless recipes that have withstood generations. I love looking at who submitted each recipe and thinkking about how I knew each of these people. Although they were my grandmother’s age, I knew some from Vacation Bible School, some from an annual night where we would feed a hundred or so missionaries, others from singing in the choir, still others from the crafts they donated for sale for the women’s bazaar (an arts and crafts sale that was their annual fundraiser), some from their Meals on Wheels program, or some from teaching Sunday school. There are also poems and prayers included. Even though it was compilied on a typewritter and the pages are fading and hard to read, it will always be my favorite. Seeing my deceased grandmother’s name beside recipes is a reminder of the hours we spent in the kitchen baking and cooking.
I have some favorites in the Dinner Doctor, Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day, and Saving Dinner. But I have to admit I am a blogoholic. I love the pictures and the person telling me how they liked it once made. So I have a collection of favorite blogs I peruse when in the mood too…and “maybe” Pinterest!
As of right now my favorite book is The Perfect Scoop.
If I’m not trying one of your wonderful recipes then I often grab my Great Good Food by Julee Rosso. These cheese danishes will be perfect for my guests this weekend. Thanks for all the wonderful recipes!
Ooops Marthas magazine is called Everyday Food but Mels Kithchen Cafe is right there in the running with Martha any day!
My favorite “cookbook” is the one my mom made for me and I have added to over the years. A bunch of family recipes mixed with what I find online and love enough to put in there. Many of your recipes have made it in!
Mmmm, cheese danish has always been one of my favorite breakfast treats, I will have to put these on my list of things to try!
I don’t know if it counts as a “cookbook,” but my favorite (and hands-down most used) recipe source is Cooking Light magazine. My mom subscribed to it when I was little, and now that I am grown, I have subscribed to it for several years. I always have great results with their dishes, and they are fast, with no “weird” ingredients.
Thank you for this giveaway! 🙂
I love Carole Walter’s Great Cookies cookbook. Photos are amazing and the outcome are always delicious and pretty.
I have a ton of cookbooks but I use my Betty Crocker (40th Anniversary Edition) at least once a week. My mom had the same edition when I was growing up and it always reminds me of making sugar cookies at Christmas (I will never make a different sugar cookie recipe!). The recipes in there aren’t flashy or trendy but they’re good square meals and great for the nights you don’t want to try anything too risky!
The cookbookI have used for many years is the 1950 edition of Betty Crocker’s Cookbook. Another favorite is The Silver Palate Cookbook.
I don’t really use a specific cookbook. Now that I see all the yummy recipes from blogs I don’t need to!
I don’t use a specific cookbook. I like to read blog’s too much and have a gazillion printed recipes that I try to keep organized in my own “cookbook”. 🙂 I have always loved America’s Test kitchen and have wanted to try out one of their cookbooks. Hope I win!!!
Every month I get a new Martha Stewart Living recipe booklet with seasonal recipes and fresh ideas. Of course, your website is my daily go-to for most things I need such as sauces and quick recipes and the ONLY alfredo my daughter will eat! Thanks for that by the way, she might have starved to death without it :D… Love, Love, Love your blog and recipes and sweet pictures of your family!
Haha…I mean my “go-to”! 🙂
I love, love, love Barefoot Contessa’s first cookbook. Sometimes I just “reread” it for fun!
Your site is my do-to for recipes! I also refer to my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook a lot for classic recipes.
Besides my iPad I use the basic Betty Crocker old school cookbook. No need for fancy.
Hi, Mel. I absolutely love your blog. I have been following it for a while now, but have never left a comment. I don’t know how you do it all with your 5 children. I am so impressed. I am a cookbook fanatic. I have a collection of cookbooks, but actually do not have one from America’s Test Kitchen. I have watched the show many times, though. Right now, I can’t really name a favorite go-to cookbook. Just like you, we have moved numerous times in the past few years. So some of my cookbooks are still stashed in a box. Knowing we will be moving once more, I haven’t taken the time to unpack everything. That’s probably why I check your blog every day for recipe ideas!So, this cookbook would come in really handy right now.
Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook – tons of helpful stuff and yummy recipes!
I haven’t had a Danish in years. It is lookin’ good. Barb
That sounds like a cookbook I need to read! Thanks for the give away!
I have to say my go to “cookbook” is my iPad now. Your blog, Tasty Kitchen, and Allrecipes are my favorites. I also store my recipes on Evernote once my family votes a recipe a keeper. I love ATK and would be beyond thrilled to win one of their cookbooks!
I’ve never found one cookbook that I keep going back to, so I just combine my favorite recipes into a family favorites cookbooks that we use all of the time!
Pioneer Woman Cook!
I love my King Arthur baking handbook. I cut my bread baking teeth on it and it hasn’t treats me wrong yet. Thanks for the great giveaway!
My most-used cookbook is a collection of favorite family recipes that I put together and published for an extended family reunion a few years ago.
With this cookbook and your blog..I’d be set for dinners for life!!
I love BHG Bridal Edition and Cook’s Illustrated Best of Everything.
I love my Better Homes and Gardens “Grill It” cookbook. It might be because my husband and I just moved into a house and have started grilling this summer, but I just can’t get enough of grilled meats, vegetables, pizzas, and desserts!
My favorite cookbook is YOURS!! I have at least 30 of you recipes printed and I swear I think I will just put them in a separate binder, because they are my most used and best loved recipes!! I know there are lots of bloggers with cookbooks now, but I would buy yours in a heartbeat if you ever came out with one! My problem with most cookbooks is that I am generally only interested in a couple recipes and can’t justify buying the whole book -but your cooking style and tastes are right in line with mine, so I love just about everything you post! 🙂
Betty Crocker. Not used much, mostly the Internet. Yeah for trying new recipes!
This cookbook could be my most favorite! Right now my most used “cookbook” is my iPad for online recipes. {elletoo [at] gmail [dot] com}.
Southern living
Having only been married and running my own kitchen for a year, my most used cookbook thus far has been a giant Taste of Home Cookbook… and I’m continually trying to Master the Art of French Cooking with Julia Child! 🙂
I am going to try the cheese danish this weekend. Thank you.
I think my most used cookbook would be one of the Barefoot Contessa books. Pinterest and Annie’s Eats, yours and What Megan’s Making are my favorite internet sources. I subscribe to the Cook’s Country magazine.
Thanks to your recommendation I bought and ATK cookbook and love it. Everything I have made is so delicious.
My favorite is a community collection of “best recipes.” There are nearly 1000 and there’s a great variety.
1968 Bette Homes and Gardens New Cookbook
Most of my recipes come from on-line.
Good morning! The cookbook I use the most is America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. It is the ‘Joy of Cooking’ equivalent for me!