Make a Gluten-Free Starbucks Cheese Danish right at home with a few simple ingredients in less than 30 minutes! These danish pastries are a perfect brunch option or easy sweet treat for breakfast! Made with Schar gluten-free puff pastry, cream cheese, lemon, vanilla, and sugar; topped with a simple powdered sugar glaze.
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Why This Recipe Works
- Quick and Easy: Traditional danish dough can take a long time to make. With the help of store-bought puff pastry sheets, this cream cheese danish is a quick and simple recipe to make! It's a new spin on the classic gluten-free danish pastry recipe.
- Cost Effective: This Starbucks copycat recipe is a much cheaper option than Starbucks, even considering the price of gluten-free puff pastry!
- Small Batch: This recipe makes 6 cheese danishes from one roll of puff pastry.
- Easy to Reheat: You can refrigerate the leftovers and reheat about 10 seconds in the microwave to enjoy throughout the week!
- Perfect with a Cup of Coffee: Enjoy this pastry with your favorite homemade Starbucks drink, like an Iced Shaken Espresso or Iced Chai Latte! Top it off with Starbucks Vanilla Sweet Cream or Pumpkin Cream Cold Foam!
- No complicated ingredients: Baking gluten-free can get exhausting. Ditch the gluten-free flour blend, xanthan gum, and psyllium husk just this once and take a little help from your local grocery store!
If you're gluten-free, check out my full guide to dining gluten-free at Starbucks! Also check out my gluten-free Starbucks birthday cake pops recipe!
Ingredients
- Puff Pastry: Since I have celiac disease, I used Schar gluten-free puff pastry. If you're not gluten-free, feel free to use regular puff pastry for this recipe.
- Other options to look for: Sweet Loren's Puff Pastry, Jus Rol Gluten Free Puff Pastry Sheet, or GeeFree Pastry dough.
- Cream Cheese Filling:
- Cream Cheese: I used regular, full-fat cream cheese. The Starbucks version uses Neufchatel cheese, although I did not test that with this recipe. Cream cheese is gluten-free.
- Sugar, Vanilla Extract, and fresh Lemon Juice: Pure vanilla extract is gluten-free.
- Egg Wash: One beaten egg for brushing on the pastry. This helps with browning.
- Powdered Sugar Glaze: A simple mixture of powdered sugar and milk. The Starbucks cheese danish does not have a glaze, so you can leave that off if you prefer a more savory treat. I enjoyed the extra touch of sweetness the glaze added.
*Refer to the recipe card for full ingredient information.
Other Cheese Danish Variations
- Sugar Plum: Try my Starbucks Sugar Plum Danish recipe, spiced and fruity!
- Pumpkin: This gluten-Free pumpkin danish is perfect for fall.
- Chocolate Chips: If you like chocolate, add some mini chocolate chips to the cream cheese.
- Fruit: Add a small bit of your favorite fruit jam on top of the cream cheese for a fruity option. For the best results, swirl about ½ teaspoon of jam into the cream cheese mixture on top of each pastry before baking. Otherwise, the jam will just melt and run off the sides.
- Lemon Zest: If you love lemon flavor, also add some lemon zest to the cream cheese mixture. You could also make a lemon glaze as seen in these gluten-free lemon poppy seed muffins.
- Homemade Puff Pastry: The idea I had was to create a super easy recipe, but if you have your own puff pastry recipe that you love to make from scratch, feel free to use that here instead of the store-bought version. A gluten-free crescent rolls recipe might also work here as well.
How to Use Schar Gluten-Free Puff Pastry
If you're unfamiliar with Schar gluten-free puff pastry, it is a frozen product available in many grocery stores or online. The product sets out to mimic that flaky pastry we all miss! While this product is great, it is not without its faults.
I find that the pastry cracks no matter how you defrost it; it's essentially unusable as is, which in my opinion somewhat defeats the purpose of this type of convenience product.
The good news is, you can re-roll the dough and you will still have flaky puff pastry, it's just more work than I would prefer. Here's how I use the product:
- Defrost the puff pastry dough. You can do this in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or at room temperature until soft. Once defrosted, unroll the dough. You will likely find that it is cracked.
- If your dough is cracked, you can try to pinch it back together with wet or greased hands, but I have found it is easiest to just stack it up and roll the dough out again on a flat surface with a rolling pin and a dusting of flour. I also do this on the piece of parchment paper it came in to prevent sticking.
- Next take your rolled-out dough and use a sharp knife, pastry wheel, or pizza cutter to shape up the edges.
- Then cut into squares or whatever shapes needed for your recipe.
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How to Make Easy Cheese Danish
- To prepare the cream cheese filling, with a hand mixer, blend together the softened cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.
- Take one sheet of defrosted puff pastry and cut it into 6 squares or rectangles. Place the squares on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Poke holes in the center of each pastry.
- Spread a dollop of the cream cheese filling on each piece of prepared puff pastry.
- With a small pastry brush, brush the exposed edges of each pastry with egg wash before baking. Then, bake until golden brown.
- After baking, mix up the powdered sugar glaze and place it in a ziploc bag. Clip the corner and pipe lines of the icing on top of each pastry.
Storage
Enjoy the freshly baked pastry slightly warm or at room temperature. Any leftover danishes will last for several days. Place them in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat them briefly in the microwave or air fryer.
Recipe Testing Notes
*A quick glance at some of the methods and variations I experimented with before landing on this final recipe.
- I tried making a variation on the filling which included egg yolk. The idea was that the egg yolks may help the filling set. While it worked, I felt it gave the filling a much more savory taste and yellow hue. After testing the filling without the yolk, I didn't feel the egg yolk really added much benefit to the end result.
- On the same note, I tried adding cornstarch to help the filling set, I found it wasn't necessary.
- One round, I forgot to poke the holes in the pastry. The entire pastry puffed up and in turn the filling slid off as well.
Top Recipe Tips
- Re-roll the dough if needed. As mentioned above, the Schar gluten-free puff pastry may be cracked and need to be re-rolled in order to create these pastries.
- Don't forget to poke the holes! If you don't poke the holes in the center, the center will puff up and your filling will run off the pastry.
- Score the perimeter if desired. If you wish, you can score a rectangle in the dough about 1 inch in from the edges of each pastry to further control how the pastry puffs up. Take care not to cut through the entire pastry. I didn't score my pastries, I just poked the holes. I found it a bit tricky to score without going all the way through because the pastry was thin.
- Use frozen puff pastry, not gluten-free pastry or pie dough. I've noticed Target is currently selling a frozen gluten-free multipurpose dough. This is not the same as puff pastry and more similar to gluten-free pie dough, so I do not recommend that for this recipe.
- Use a mixer. If your cream cheese is extremely soft, you can probably mix the filling with a wire whisk. If it is firm at all, a stand mixer or hand mixer will make the filling a breeze to whip up.
Recipe FAQs
Traditional puff pastry typically contains gluten because it is made with wheat flour.
Gluten-free puff pastry alternatives are available from Schar or GeeFree. You can find these products in the freezer section of some grocery stores, online specialty food stores such as Gluten-Free Mall, or directly from the manufacturer.
The Schar puff pastry does have a tendency to crack when unrolling it, but you can re-roll the dough and still get considerable flakiness from the product.
Schar gluten-free puffy pastry sheets are wheat free! The product page on Schar's website indicates they are wheat free. Wheat starch is not listed as an ingredient.
Recipe
Easy Gluten-Free Cheese Danish (Starbucks Copycat)
Ingredients
- 4 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 2 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of table salt
- 1 sheet Schar gluten-free puff pastry (defrosted and brought to room temperature)
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tablespoon milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, granulated sugar, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and salt.
- Unroll the puff pastry sheet and patch any cracks or re-roll if needed.
- Cut the pastry into 6 equal rectangles and place them 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Prick the centers of each pastry with a fork.
- Spread a dollop of filling in the center, avoiding the edges.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg. Brush the exposed edges with the egg wash.
- Bake at 400°F for 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly before adding the glaze.
- For the glaze, mix the powdered sugar and milk together until smooth. Place the icing in a small zip-top bag. Cut a small corner for piping.
- Pipe lines of icing across each danish. Allow them to cool slightly before serving.
Notes
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Estimated Nutrition
* Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and should be used as an estimate only. See the nutrition policy for more information.
Jay says
This was the first recipe I made from this site. It's such an easy recipe to make and it tastes delicious! The cream cheese filling is my new go-to! I make it all the time for different recipes. A couple things to keep in mind. Schar puff pastry can be difficult to work with. And it doesn't come with much pastry. It was almost impossible to get 6 small pastry squares from one sheet. Also 400° degrees was way too hot. I burnt my first batch. I turned the best down to 350° degrees, which was much better. Cook time at that temp was about 10 minutes. I had to stand there and watch it bake because it could quickly burn.
Katie Olesen says
Hi Jay! So glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe! I agree, Schar is very difficult to work with. Have you tried Sweet Loren's yet? It's much better and easier to work with. I might suggest getting yourself an oven thermometer. It may be the case that your oven runs hot. If so, you can adjust future recipes accordingly. Even so, I'm glad you were able to improvise and make it work in your kitchen.
Gretchen says
I made this recipe this morning using the Sweet Loren puff pastry. They turned out great by following the box baking instruction- 425 for 12-15 minutes. I was able to get six nicely sized pastries without rolling out the dough. I also didn't put anything on to brown the pastry- it turned out nice without. My husband said it was a little too lemony, but I thought it was fine. The recipe was easy to make and will be made again!!
Evie says
I used the new gluten free Dufour puff pastry dough. The dough was fantastic, but my cheese filling burned. Any ideas why this could have happened? Thanks!
Katie Olesen says
I'm guessing you just over-baked it a bit? I've never had mine burn. All ovens are a bit different so yours might run a bit hotter than mine. What part of the oven did you bake it in? Try moving the pan to the center or lower rack if you baked higher than that, and consider dropping your oven temp 15 to 20 degrees or just baking a few minutes less next time.
Sassykat says
Hell yeah
June says
I have made this recipe many, many times and the danishes always come out perfect. It’s the reason I would buy frozen GF puff pastry in bulk (if my local grocery store carried them consistently).
I have also made the Sugar Plum danish from this site, but with homemade pear jam instead.
I figure a recipe is perfect if you can make it over and over again with no issues. This recipe and the Sugar Plum danish are those recipes!
Shoshonee says
Please be aware that this puff pastry is not wheat free so if someone has a wheat allergy they cannot use this puff pastry. I’m still trying to find a good wheat free puff pastry dough. Any suggestions? The rest of the recipe and the substitutions sound yummy!!!
Katie Olesen says
It is wheat free. This is the list of ingredients: water , margarine (palm oil, water, sunflower seeds oil, citric acid, sodium citrate, salt) , corn starch , rice starch , rice flour , chicory inulin , dextrose , modified cellulose , soy flour , sunflower oil , guar gum , potato flakes , psyllium seed husks (vegetable fiber) , rapeseed oil , ammonium bicarbonate , natural flavor. Schar's website also has a label indicating it is wheat free.
Paige says
Looks delicious. Have you tried making these with the new Sweet Loren's puff pastry dough? Also do you know if these freeze well? Can't wait to try
Katie Olesen says
I haven't found the Sweet Loren's puff pastry yet but I will absolutely be trying it when I do! I hope it's easier to use than the Schar is. I didn't try freezing them but I don't see why you couldn't.
Meagan H says
I just made this tonight with the Sweet Loren’s dough and :chefs kiss: SO good!
When I make these again, I’d probably fold the dough over so it’s thicker. Mine were kind of crunchy
Katie Olesen says
I have been waiting to get my hands on that dough! Glad to hear it was good!
Amy says
Thank you for making Christmas morning magical! I’m dairy-free too, so I used Kite hill vegan cream cheese, added a little more lemon juice and potato starch (since vegan cream cheese doesn’t always remain stable when heated) and they were DELICIOUS!!! My first cheese danish in 14 years!!! Thank you!
Barbara Porter says
You are a genius in the kitchen with gluten free food! Can’t wait to try the puff pastries!
Kathy says
These look so good and easy. Thanks for the recipe!
elizabeth says
Where do you get the scharr puff pastry? I haven't been able to find it in my area.
Katie Olesen says
I got it from my local Hy-Vee grocery store. I've also seen it at Meijer in the past. Schar has a store locator, if you google Schar store locator it should come up!