Cheese Danish

http://www.countrycleaver.com/2013/01/quick-and-simple-cheese-danish.html


Quick and Simple Cheese Danishes

Yield: 6 Danishes
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cook Time: 20 Minutes
Total Time: 30 Minutes

A quick cheese danish made with puffy pastry. Easy for brunches, desserts or just because.
Ingredients:

1 sheet Puff Pastry dough, thawed
8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
1 tsp Lemon Zest
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
4 Tbsp Sugar
1 Egg + 2 Tablespoons water, whisked for egg wash
Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet.

On a lightly floured surface roll out thawed puff pastry into a 12x9" rectangle. Cut in half lengthwise, yielding 2 4-½" strips. Cut those two strips crosswise into thirds, to yield six 4x4 ½" pieces.
With a knife, score ½" border around the edge of each piece of puff pastry. Use a fork to make five or six pricks into the dough within the border of each piece. This will help keep the middle of each piece from rising.

In a bowl, stir together softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest. Spoon about 2-3 tablespoons of mixture into the middle of each piece of dough and spread around evenly, ensuring the mix stays within the borders.
Bake for 20 minutes, on the middle rack and rotate the baking sheet half way through baking. Remove from baking sheet and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or room temperature. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Adapted from America's Test Kitchen Quick Cookbook Easy Danishes