These Apricot Danishes are easy to make, and completely delicious. Chopped fresh apricots on a bed of sweetened cream cheese wrapped in buttery, crispy puff pastry.
Danishes made with puff pastry are some of my favorite breakfast (or dessert) treats. Once you’ve got a taste for these, be sure to check out my Cherry Danish and Raspberry Danish recipes too.
Jump to:
Why Make This Recipe
- With store-bought puff pastry, these danishes are super easy to make.
- If fresh apricots are in season near you, this recipe is a delicious way to enjoy them!
- Once you have this Apricot Danish with Puff Pastry recipe down, you can change up the fruit filling depending on what’s in season.
🥗 Ingredients
- Apricots: Apricots are the the star in this recipe, and cubed fresh apricots are best for this recipe. That said, frozen or canned apricots will work too. Defrost them first (if frozen), and pat them dry as well as you can before chopping and placing on top of the cream cheese. You could also try chopping up dried apricots for the filling.
- Cream Cheese: We usually use Philadelphia brand cream cheese, but you can use whatever brand you prefer.
- Puff pastry: Homemade puff pastry dough is quite delicious. Should you have the time, I highly recommend Cathy Barrow’s quick puff pastry recipe. If not though, store-bought puff pastry dough works just fine!
🥣 Step-by-Step Instructions
Keep puff pastry dough refrigerated until you are ready to use. Cut 2 apricots in half, remove the pits, then cube the apricot flesh (no need to peel).
Add 4 ounces cream cheese, ½ cup powdered sugar, and ½ teaspoon vanilla extract to a medium bowl. Use a mixer to blend until smooth.
Note: taste your fruit to see how sweet it is. If your apricots are quite tart, you may want to add more powdered sugar to your cream cheese filling. In a small bowl, whisk together one egg with a tablespoon of cold water and a pinch of salt.
Now, remove 1 sheet of puff pastry dough from the refrigerator. Sprinkle a little bit of flour over your counter or a large cutting board. Roll out pastry dough into a square, 10.5 inches on all sides.
As you roll, flip the dough over and add more flour to the board if your dough is sticking at all. Dough should be about ⅛-inch thick when done. Cut into 9 squares of 3.5 inches x 3.5 inches in size.
Place a dollop of cheese mixture (a little less than 1 tablespoon) into the center of each pastry square. Top with a few pieces of apricot (about 4).
Now paint a small amount of egg wash on one corner of the pastry square as you bring it up over the opposite corner and squeeze together to seal. Put egg wash in the refrigerator for later.
Next, you need the chill the pastries before baking. If you have a sheet pan that will fit in your freezer, line it with parchment paper and carefully place the pastries on it before moving it into the freezer.
If a sheet pan won’t fit, line a plate with parchment paper, and place the pastries on that. Freeze pastries for at least 30 minutes, until they are quite firm.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. After at least 30 minutes in the freezer, place pastries a couple of inches apart on a parchment-paper lined sheet pan (if they are not already on one). Then paint all exposed pastry with egg wash using a pastry brush.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until pastries are cooked through and golden brown.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar to serve, if you like.
🧐 Recipe FAQs for Apricot Danishes
These pastries are great to make-ahead, since you can keep them frozen until you are ready to bake. Chill them on a plate or sheet pan in the freezer until they are quite solid. Then you can move them into a freezer-safe ziplock bag or other container. Freeze for up to 2 months. No need to defrost before baking. Just remove from the freezer and place on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan. Then brush all exposed pastry with egg wash before baking. Note that you may need to add a few minutes of bake time to the recipe.
Since these apricot danishes have a cheese filling, store them in the refrigerator. They will last 3-4 days in the fridge. Or, you can put them in a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to 2 months. For best results, reheat pastries in a 375-degree oven when you’re ready to serve.
A Danish pastry, or just Danish for short, is a sweet pastry that originated with Austrian bakers but became famous in Danish preparations. Traditional Danish dough uses yeast for leavening and includes flour, butter, milk, eggs, and sugar. Like puff pastry dough, the danish dough is rolled out, covered with butter, and then folded again and again. Danish pastries can be topped with fruit, chocolate, icing or nuts. Typical stuffings include jam, custard, dried or fresh fruit, and nuts. In the U.S., they often appear with sweet cream cheese and fruit on top.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
We find that using a small cookie scoop makes quick work of adding the cream cheese filling to the puff pastry squares.
Puff pastry dough is notoriously hard to work with. If you leave it out too long and it becomes too soft, just put it back into the refrigerator to firm up.
Don’t worry if the edges of your puff pastry apricot turnovers become unsealed during baking—the point is just to make sure the filling stays inside as the pastries bake.
Ever wondered how to defrost puff pastry quickly? It’s best to defrost puff pastry dough in the refrigerator, but if you forget to do that in advance, feel free to put the dough onto a lightly floured counter at room temperature. Turn it over at least once, and check every 5-10 minutes to see whether it is ready. The dough should still be cold, but pliable when it’s ready to work with.
Looking for more ideas for fresh apricots? I love to use them to top Greek yogurt along with our Almond, Pecan, and Pumpkin Seed Granola. Apricots also make a delicious parfait filling—just replace the strawberries in this Strawberry Parfait with Mascarpone Cream recipe or the mangoes in this Mango Coconut Yogurt Parfait. You can also chop them up and freeze them to use later in a smoothie. Or make an apricot salsa, similar to this one in my Old Bay Salmon with Peach-Avocado Salsa. Finally try them in a baked crumble or crisp recipe, either by themselves or mixed with another fruit or berry—see this Peach Blueberry Crisp recipe for inspiration.
Other Puff Pastry Recipes
Got an extra sheet of puff pastry? Puff pastry is fantastic for both sweet and savory recipes. Why not use it to make another one of our favorite puff pastry recipes:
Puff Pastry Magic eBook
20 no-fuss recipes for savory and sweet dishes that will wow your guests!
If you try this Apricot Danish recipe, we would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to us.
And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to our newsletter. We'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
📖 Recipe
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Vanilla Bean Cuisine.
Apricot Danish
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed in refrigerator 8.8 oz
- 2 apricots or 6 ounces frozen or canned apricots
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- ½ cup powdered sugar plus extra to garnish
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg for egg wash
- Flour for sprinkling on cutting board
Instructions
- Cut apricots in half, remove the pits, then cube the apricot flesh (no need to peel).
- Add the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract to a medium bowl. Use a mixer to blend until smooth. Note: taste your fruit to see how sweet it is. If your apricots are quite tart, you may want to add more powdered sugar to your cream cheese mixture.
- In a small bowl, whisk together one egg with a tablespoon of cold water and a pinch of salt.
- Remove puff pastry dough from the refrigerator.
- Sprinkle a little bit of flour over your counter or a large cutting board.
- Roll out pastry dough into a square, 10.5 inches on all sides. As you roll, flip the dough over and add more flour to the board if your dough is sticking at all. Dough should be about ⅛-inch thick when done.
- Cut into 9 squares of 3.5 inches x 3.5 inches in size.
- Place a dollop of cheese mixture (a little less than 1 tablespoon) into the center of each pastry square.
- Top with a few pieces of apricot (about 4), then paint a small amount of egg wash on one corner of the pastry square as you bring it up over the opposite corner and squeeze together to seal. Put egg wash in the refrigerator for later.
- Chill the pastries before baking. If you have a sheet pan that will fit in your freezer, line it with parchment paper and carefully place the pastries on it before moving it into the freezer. If a sheet pan won’t fit, line a plate with parchment paper, and place the pastries on that. Freeze pastries for at least 30 minutes, until they are quite firm.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- After at least 30 minutes in the freezer, place pastries a couple of inches apart on a parchment-paper lined sheet pan (if they are not already on one).
- Paint all exposed pastry with egg wash using a pastry brush.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until pastries are cooked through and golden brown.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar to serve, if you like.
Notes
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this Apricot Puff Pastry recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I'd love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
AnnieMae says
Really enjoyed this recipe! Easy to make and easy to modify the fruit inside to get different flavors. It was a hit!
Molly Pisula says
So glad to hear that! Thanks so much for letting me know!
Sheila says
Could you freeze these overnight, then bake the next day? Would you need to let them thaw a bit before baking?
Molly Pisula says
Oh sure, you could freeze overnight. Don't let them thaw at all--you just may need an extra minute or two of bake time.
Maddie says
I could have eaten all of these Danish, but I didn't. These were a hit and I did make them with canned apricots and your hint for using a cookie scoop for the cream cheese did make it easy to add to the puff pastry.
Molly Pisula says
Glad to hear it! Thanks for commenting!