Vegan Danish Recipe + Easy Cream Cheese Filling!

With rich cream cheese filling in each delicious bite, this homemade vegan Danish recipe is perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert!

Easy vegan cream cheese Danish

Baking your own Danish pastries at home may sound intimidating, but this five ingredient recipe makes the entire process so easy.

And the best part? You can turn the base into any flavor you choose, and all of the flavors are completely vegan.

Whip up a batch for Sunday family breakfast, or serve them to guests at your next brunch party or book club.

From strawberry cream, to lemon, to blueberry or dairy free Nutella, once you get the basics down, the flavor possibilities are endless.

Leftover dough? Make Sopapilla Cheesecake Bars

Vegan Danish flavors

Plain: Double the cream cheese filling recipe below, and omit the pie filling. It tastes like cheesecake in the form of a pastry!

Vegan blueberry Danish: Swap out the cherry pie filling for blueberry pie filling. Or add apples and a sprinkle of ground cinnamon to create apple Danishes.

Chocolate: Just before serving, drizzle the dairy free Danish with melted plant based chocolate chips or sprinkle mini dark chocolate chips on top.

Nutella: Instead of pie filling, use half a cup of Homemade Nutella or another vegan chocolate hazelnut spread. Garnish with powdered sugar after baking.

Cinnamon roll: Double the cream cheese filling, leave out the cherries, and stir a half teaspoon of cinnamon in with the cream cheese. Whisk half a cup of powdered sugar with a fourth teaspoon cinnamon and one tablespoon dairy free milk to make a glaze.

Strawberry cream cheese: Add diced strawberries to the tops instead of pie filling.

Banana: Use an equal amount of ripe mashed banana instead of the blueberries or cherry filling.

Pumpkin pie: Combine half a cup of pumpkin puree with three tablespoons of brown sugar and a pinch each of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Use as a replacement for the pie filling.

Raspberry: Substitute raspberry jam for the fruit. You can also try plum, orange, blackberry, grape, or apricot jam. Add different flavors of jelly to the Danishes and give your guests a selection from which to choose.

Lemon: Use lemon jam or an equal amount of Vegan Lemon Curd.

Step by step recipe video

Above – watch how to make the vegan Danish from scratch.

Ingredients

You need just five ingredients for these simple vegan pastries.

Vegan cream cheese – Use your favorite packaged nondairy cream cheese, such as Violife, Kite Hill, Trader Joe’s vegan, or Tofutti.

If you wish to experiment with different fillings, such as vegan custard or coconut cream, be sure to leave a comment and let us know how it goes.

Sugar – The recipe calls for just a fourth cup of sugar, which is much less than many other traditional or vegan Danish recipes.

Options that work include regular white sugar, unrefined coconut sugar, pure maple syrup, or xylitol for sugar free Danish.

Crescent roll dough – You can use homemade or store bought crescent rolls.

Most brands of plain refrigerated crescent rolls are accidentally vegan, including Pillsbury, Trader Joe’s, Immaculate Baking Company, and Annie’s. Some generic grocery store brands, like Giant, Aldi, Wegmans, Walmart, and Safeway, are also vegan.

To create healthy Danish with no hydrogenated oil or artificial flavors, choose Immaculate Baking or Annie’s.

For keto or gluten free options, make your own homemade dough and use just the filling recipe below.

Lemon juice – This ingredient imparts an extra cheesy tang. If you do not have any on hand, you can omit the lemon juice. A fourth teaspoon of pure vanilla extract for flavor is also optional.

Pie filling – For fruit filled Danish, you need half a cup of canned or homemade pie filling. I chose to use both blueberry and cherry.

As mentioned earlier, you can substitute another fruit, such as apple pie filling. Or double the cream cheese filling and leave out the fruit filling.

Pure maple syrup – To create a shiny golden vegan egg wash without eggs and add sweetness to the rolls, brush each pastry with agave or pure maple syrup before baking in the oven.

Can you use homemade pastry dough?

I chose crescent roll dough because I wanted a quick and easy recipe that even novice bakers can follow.

If you prefer a more traditional recipe, go with one of the many classic vegan Danish recipes available online or in vegan cookbooks.

Especially for those adhering to a gluten free or keto lifestyle, you can absolutely make your own dough from scratch and still use the filling recipe and flavor ideas I’ve provided in this post.

The same goes for readers wishing to substitute puff pastry or sourdough. You may use any store bought or homemade pastry dough. Just change the baking time as needed.

How to make the best vegan Danish

Start by gathering all of your ingredients.

To whip up the vegan cream cheese filling, blend the cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and optional vanilla extract until smooth.

I recommend using a food processor, a stand mixer, or hand beaters for the smoothest results. However, you can technically do this step by hand if you let the cream cheese come to room temperature first and employ a lot of arm strength and patience.

If you are making your own berry pie filling, prepare it at this time as well.

When ready to bake the Danish, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Open the crescent roll containers but do not unroll them.

Instead, slice widthwise with a sharp knife into six sections per container.

Press the dough with a spoon and clean hands to create a well in each center. You want the wells to be as deep and wide as you can get them, to allow room for all the filling.

Brush the surface area of each roll with pure maple syrup or agave. This step adds sweetness to the actual dough to compliment the sweet fillings.

Place about a tablespoon of vegan cream cheese in each well. Save extra cream cheese for drizzling on top after baking.

Finally, spoon a few teaspoons of pie filling over the cream cheese.

Place the dairy free Danish pastries on a greased baking pan or an oven safe tray lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.

Bake on the preheated oven’s center rack for eighteen minutes.

Carefully remove from the oven and let cool.

Garnish with remaining cream cheese icing before transferring to individual plates to enjoy for breakfast or dessert.

Tips for storing leftovers

Keep leftover Danish in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to five days, and reheat in the microwave or on the stove top before serving.

You may also freeze this recipe in an airtight container if you do not mind that freezing may result in a somewhat icy cream cheese and fruit filling texture.

It is fine to leave the dairy free and egg free Danish on the counter for a few hours at room temperature, such as when serving at a party or to overnight guests.

When cut into twelve servings, each filled vegan pastry is under 200 calories.

Fancy vegan Danish

For the ultimate breakfast or brunch addition that guests will talk about for months, turn your basic Danish into cute heart shaped pastries.

Either form the unbaked dough into heart shapes with your hands, or use large heart cookie cutters to cut out hearts before making a well in each heart’s center for filling.

Hearts are a fun choice for Valentine’s Day or a girls brunch or sleepover party. And the same method works with other shapes as well.

Try bunny cookie cutters for Easter, pumpkins for Halloween, turkey shapes for Thanksgiving, and Christmas trees or snowflakes in the winter.

This recipe was inspired by my Vegan Cinnamon Rolls and Vegan Pop Tarts.

Dairy free breakfast ideas

Chocolate Overnight Oats

Applesauce Muffins

Vegan Pancakes

Baked Apple Cider Donuts

Blueberry Banana Bread

Vegan French Toast

Oatmeal Muffins