8 Days Until Thanksgiving!
We are now one week closer to Thanksgiving! I know my last post was a salad, so to make up for that, I have Pumpkin Cream Cheese Danish today!
Sometimes, Cheating is Okay
I’m going to be completely honest and say: yes, I did cheat a little on this recipe. I call these pastries “danishes,” but they’re not really danishes because I didn’t use danish dough. Rather, I took the shortcut and used puff pastry dough. I would go on to explain the differences between danish and puff pastry dough, but I’m not an expert in this field. All you need to know is that they’re different; however, puff pastry is commonly used in place of danish dough when you need a shortcut.
I mainly did this for your benefit. It’s the holidays, and there’s a lot going on. The last thing you want to do is make dough from scratch. Am I right? I figured that using prepared puff pastry dough would be much easier for all of you. Yeah, you’re welcome. It’s like Christmas came early.
Because we’re using store-bought puff pastry, these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Danish are the easiest dessert, breakfast, or snack to whip up for your Thanksgiving festivities.
IMPORTANT WARNING!
Now, I do have to warn you about a few things. Puff pastry dough is supposed to be crisp, flaky, and airy. However, it can absorb moisture very easily, which means that it won’t be as crisp and flaky. Because pumpkin puree holds a lot of moisture, the pastry is going to absorb some of it. It sucks, and there’s not really a lot you can do to prevent this from happening. But we’re not going to let that stop us from living our pumpkin danish dreams are we?
So, what you can do is make the pastries the same day you’re going to eat or serve them. Definitely do not make these a day or two ahead of time. They will be soft and soggy, and we don’t want that. If you want to make them in advance, you can freeze the baked pastries (without icing), store them in a plastic bag, and then reheat them in the oven the day you serve them.
It would also be sh*tty of me to not tell you about this, and have you realize what a disaster your danishes are the second you’re about to serve everyone. When it comes to food, I’ve got your back!
Pump Up the Holidays With Pumpkin Danishes
I’m not going to force you to make these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Danish — mostly because I can’t. But let me just say this. They certainly won’t make your holiday worse. And I don’t think anyone will complain if you make them. I’ll just leave it there, and let you make your own decision. The right decision. *Wink* *wink.*
Now that I’ve said what needed to be said, I sincerely hope that you enjoy whatever plans you have for Thanksgiving! Even if your only plans are to order pizza and watch Netflix, I hope it’s everything you’ve dreamed of. You do you, Boo! Have a great day, and I’ll catch you next week for one last post before Thanksgiving hits!
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Danish
Ingredients
For the Crumble Topping:
- ¼ cup All Purpose Flour
- 1½ Tbsp Brown Sugar
- ⅛ tsp Ground Cinnamon
- Pinch of Salt
- 2 Tbsp Cold Unsalted Butter (diced)
For the Cream Cheese Filling:
- 8 oz Cream Cheese (room temperature)
- ¼ cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Large Egg Yolks
- ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
- ¼ tsp Kosher Salt
For the Pumpkin Filling:
- 1 cup Pumpkin Puree
- 3 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Cornstarch
- 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
- ¼ tsp Kosher Salt
For the Danishes:
- 2 Sheets Puff Pastry (thawed)
- Egg Wash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp milk)
- 2 Tbsp Raw Sugar
Instructions
For the Crumble Topping:
- Add the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt into a bowl. Mix until the ingredients are evenly combined. Add in the cold diced butter and use your fingertips to work the butter into the dough.
- When you squeeze the dough together in your fist, it should stick together. The when you break it apart, it should fall into crumbly pieces. Set it aside.
For the Cream Cheese Filling:
- Add all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix until well combined. Set it aside.
For the Pumpkin Filling:
- Add all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix until well combined. Set it aside.
For the Danishes:
- Preheat the oven to 400˚F and line a few sheet trays with parchment paper. Set aside. Unfold the puff pastry and roll a rolling pin over it to flatten the seams. Cut each sheet of puff pastry into 9 squares.
- Take each puff pastry square and fold in the corners about ¼ inch. Fill the center of the puff pastry with about ¾ tablespoon of the cream cheese filling. Then add about ¾ tablespoon of the pumpkin filling on top of the cream cheese filling.
- Brush the exposed puff pastry with egg wash. Then sprinkle the raw sugar onto the edges. Top each danish with a sprinkle of the crumble topping.
- Bake the danishes in the oven for 30 minutes until the puff pastry is golden brown and flaky. Remove the danishes from the oven and allow them to cool. Enjoy!
