Easy Strawberry & Cream Cheese Vegan Danish
If you are a fan of toaster strudels, then I think you will LOVE this strawberry and cream cheese vegan danish. It’s basically a gigantic vegan toaster strudel! It is a store-bought puff pastry filled with a layer of strawberry pie filling and sweet cream cheese filling. I finish it off with a super simple icing. It tastes absolutely DIVINE. Oh, and believe it or not, this vegan danish is also very easy to make! That’s a WIN-WIN for me!
Store-bought puff pastry is my “secret” shortcut!
I know, I know. Some of you may think that using store-bought puff pastry is “cheating.” To that I say, you’re not wrong, but also be my guest and make it from scratch! Sometimes I cannot be bothered with making everything from scratch, and I know I’m not the only one. That’s when a product like this comes in handy! I always use Pepperidge Farm’s puff pastry because it’s accidentally vegan. (I think? I mean, it IS vegan, but I think it was ACCIDENTALLY made vegan. Either way, woo-hoo!)
The rest of the vegan danish recipe is also VERY EASY to make.
There are three recipes you need to make for this vegan danish. They are the strawberry filling, cream cheese filling, and icing. All three recipes require only a few ingredients and combined take only around fifteen minutes to make!
The strawberry filling is essentially the classic kind you would see in a pie. I boil thawed frozen strawberries, sugar, water, lemon juice, and cornstarch together. Once it’s at my desired thickness, I pop it into the fridge to COMPLETELY chill. I emphasize the word COMPLETELY because oftentimes, I find myself getting impatient, and I’ll use it while it’s still warm (AKA in my TikTok video). Because it hasn’t completely set, the liquid oozes out and causes a mess. Do I say, not as I did in the video, haha. I was in a rush, okay!?
The cream cheese filling is even easier to make. I whisk together my favorite store-bought vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar, pure vanilla and almond extract. The almond extract gives the cream cheese filling a lovely, unique flavor. If you HATE almond extract, skip it! But, I think it is super tasty.
Lastly, the icing. The EASIEST recipe of the three! I whisk together powdered sugar, a touch of almond milk, and pure vanilla extract. It’s classic icing. Nothing too fancy-shmancy about it, but it’s the perfect, simple finish to the vegan danish.
Assembling the vegan danish is the funnest part!
I roll out the puff pastry sheet and cut slits on the right and left-hand side. Then I spread across the cream cheese filling down the center and layer the strawberry filling on top. I then essentially “braid” the strips of dough over the filling. This method is SO easy and creates a beautiful look. Next, I bake the vegan danish until it is perfectly golden brown, crispy, and flakey. Once it’s completely cooled down, I drizzle over the icing. This dessert is so beautiful and looks like it takes a lot of work to make when in reality, it is actually so easy that anyone can make it!
Watch my TikTok video if you feel confused while making this recipe!
Although the TikTok is only a minute long, I tried my best to show each step so you can have absolute recipe success. Like I briefly mentioned above, please let your strawberry filling chill entirely before filling the puff pastry. Otherwise, you will have a wet mess! In the video, you might notice I got a little impatient, AKA I was on a time crunch and didn’t let mine completely set. It’s not entirely the end of the world, but it makes a bit of a mess, haha. With that being said, make sure to read my “tiparooskis,” below the written recipe, for essential tips!
Do you have a sweet tooth!? Cool, so do I!
- Easy Vegan Apple Turnovers
- Whipped & Layered Classic Strawberry Cheesecake
- Homemade Vegan Wild Berry Pop-Tarts
If you make my strawberry and cream cheese vegan danish, don’t forget to post a picture to Instagram, tag me @chefsummerstorm, and #gardengrub so I can see your recreation!
Easy Strawberry and Cream Cheese Vegan Danish
Ingredients
- 1 sheet store-bought vegan puff pastry, thawed in the refrigerator. Make sure it is still VERY cold, but not frozen. (I use Pepperidge Farm's. It is accidentally vegan!)
- All-purpose flour, as needed for dusting the counter
Strawberry Filling
- 1 cup frozen strawberries, thawed
- 1/4 cup organic cane sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Cream Cheese Filling
- 3/4 cup vegan cream cheese (I use Kite Hill's)
- 1/3 cup organic powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 100% pure
- 1 tsp almond extract, 100% pure
Icing
- 1/2 cup organic powdered sugar
- 2 tsp plain, unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, 100% pure
Instructions
Strawberry Filling
- Stir the water, lemon juice, and cornstarch together in a small bowl until smooth.
- Add the cornstarch mixture, along with the strawberries and sugar, into a small saucepot. Place the pan over medium-high heat and bring the mixture up to a boil, continually stirring to prevent burning.
- Once it is has come to a boil, continue boiling it for 2 minutes, still stirring constantly.
- Scrape the strawberry filling into a bowl and set it in the refrigerator to thoroughly chill and firm up.
- Move on and make the cream cheese filling.
Cream Cheese Filling
- Sift the powdered sugar into a small mixing bowl.
- Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk them together until the mixture is completely smooth.
- Move on to assemble and bake the danish.
How to Assemble & Bake the Danish
- Line a large sheet pan with a piece of parchment paper.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Lightly flour your counter and then lay the puff pastry sheet on top.
- Gently open the sheet and roll it out with a rolling pin to make it a 12-inch by 12-inch square.
- Cut five 4-inch long slits on the dough's right and left-hand side, leaving the center section completely untouched. I mark every 2 inches down the right and left-hand side to space the slits out evenly, and then I make the slits 4 inches long. By doing that, the center will be 4 inches wide and completely uncut/touched. *This might be confusing, so watch my TikTok video, located above the recipe, for a better visual. Then, carefully lift the puff pastry and place it on the prepared baking sheet.
- Now, spread all of the cream cheese filling evenly down the middle of the dough, leaving about 1/2 an inch around the outer edges to avoid the filling squeezing out. Then spread all of the chilled strawberry filling evenly on top of the cream cheese. *Please read my "tiparooskis," located below the written recipe, for some important tips!
- Gently fold over the outside slits of the dough, creating a criss-cross pattern. Again, see my TikTok video for a better visual. Tuck the top first and top last slit under the danish.
- Pop the sheet pan into the oven and bake the danish for 27 to 30 minutes. Keep a close eye on it around the last 10 minutes to ensure the filling hasn't oozed out and burned. *Read my "tiparooskis" for an important tip.
- Allow the danish to completely cool on the sheet pan before icing it.
Icing
- Sift the powdered sugar into a small mixing bowl.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients and whisk them together until the icing is completely smooth.
- Once the danish has completely cooled down to room temperature, drizzle all of the icing on top!
Tiparooskis
Welcome to my tip section of the vegan danish recipe! Here I provide my top tips to help you perfect the recipe. Sometimes, I also give substitute suggestions that I think you may find helpful.
- I’ve already mentioned this several times, but I’m going to say it once more. Allow the strawberry filling to thoroughly chill before filling the pastry! If not, the strawberry filling will leak out and burn while it is baking. If this happens, I recommend removing the pastry from the oven, carefully lifting it, and placing it on a new sheet pan with a brand new piece of parchment paper. Then finish baking it. Otherwise, the strawberry filling will continue to burn, which in return will burn the puff pastry.
- Feel free to use another fruit for the strawberry filling! I think raspberries would be delicious. Or, blueberries! YUM!
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4 Comments
MacKenzie
SO… I made this with two different vegan cream cheeses and figured I would share how it went.
First time around, I used Daiya. Not great. It liquidfied in the oven and became an oily mess. The pastry itself tasted fine but the gooey remnants never re-cream cheese-ified so it was missing that nice creamy texture. BUT there are two puff pastries in a box so I figured I’d try it again, with Kite Hill this time. Well my local store only had “everything bagel” flavored Kite Hill (gross) HOWEVER they did have miyokos plain cream cheese so I figured I’d try it with that. MUCH BETTER. Didn’t disintigrate into goo and maintained it’s creamy texture. However– the flavor of this cream cheese is much more tart from being cultured. I think it’s yummy but some might prefer a more creamy, sweet taste. Anyway, both times were delicious and I may have consumed it all by myself within 24 hours… who knows. Thanks Summer for your awesome recipes, can’t wait to try more!
garden grub
Hi, MacKenzie! Thank you so much for letting me, and everyone who views this recipe, know how your experience was using the different cream cheeses! That is so interesting. I have never had Daiya’s cream cheese before. I believe I have had Miyokos once, and you’re right; it is quite tart. I’ve been fortunate enough to always get my hands on Kite Hill’s, so it is always my go-to! Regardless, I’m so glad you had recipe success in the end, despite the cream cheese situation. Maybe if you can find Kite Hill’s plain cream cheese down the line, you can give the recipe a third try!? 🙂
P.S. I am so happy you’re looking forward to trying more of my recipes! That means a lot to me 🙂
Emma
Wow Very tasteful strawberry and danish recipe, me and my kids loved it!
garden grub
I am thrilled to hear that, Emma! Thank you for making it and letting me know you and your kids enjoyed it! 🙂