Easy Cheese Danish

After thinking about it for a good month or more, I finally got off the fence and made the Barefoot Contessa Easy Cheese Danishes. They were pretty good and certainly easy to make.

First, you cream together cream cheese and sugar...then add in a bit of salt, vanilla, and in my case, a teeny tiny bit of almond extract. The recipe calls for ricotto and lemon. I didn't have ricotta on hand and didn't want to buy a whole tub just for 2 tbsp. And those who know me know my hatred of lemon in places where it doesn't belong - like danishes and cheesecakes.

Then two egg yolks...

Which leave you with a more yellowy filling. Ok, filling done (I said it was easy)


I took two sheets of defrosted puff pastry and rolled them out a bit - mainly enough to get rid of the fold creases. Cut each sheet into four large squares, put a heaping tablespoon blob of filling in the middle, then fold over the corners, sealing with egg wash. Then I brushed the whole top with egg wash.


20 minutes in a 400 degree oven later, voila.


These were quite tasty. Things I might change in the future - add a dusting of powdered sugar to the top or a very simply plain white sweet glaze. I may also add in a tbsp or two of sour cream to bump up the "tangy" factor. But regardless, this was a terrifically easy recipe with tasty results.