This Pumpkin Cream Cheese Danish recipe has a creamy sweet cheese filling swirled with a cozy pumpkin pie topping. These danishes make the perfect dairy free and vegan fall treat or breakfast.
Originally Published: October 7, 2020 | Updated: November 11, 2023
Why You’ll Love These Vegan Pumpkin CHeese Danishes
If you’re feeling a little fancy, but you don’t want to exert a ton of effort, I have the perfect brunch or breakfast recipe for you! As a kid, I loved cream cheese danishes. I remember them being sweet, creamy, and flakey.
Since becoming vegan, I haven’t had any cream cheese danishes…and you know what it’s about time that’s changed. And now you’ll be able to have them too! Today, I’m sharing a delightful little recipe for the perfect Vegan Pumpkin Pie Cream Cheese Danish. Here’s why I love this recipe and you will too:
- Fast and Easy: This recipe looks fancy, but is actually quick and easy.
- Store-bought Puff Pastry: Buying your puff pastry from the store is a lifesaver and a time saver. The brand I’m using is accidentally vegan (Pepperidge Farm brand). If you’re not able to find an accidentally (or intentionally) vegan puff pastry at the store, you could substitute store-bought crescent roll dough. It will have a bit of a different texture (less flakey and crisp), but delicious nonetheless.
- Pumpkin Pie + Cheese Danish: It’s a mashup of all the best parts of a pumpkin pie and all the best parts of a cream cheese danish…all made vegan. It’s wonderful!
Ingredients
This recipe is super simple with just a handful of ingredients. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets: I used Pepperidge Farm’s Puff Pastry as it’s accidentally vegan.
- Vegan Cream Cheese: I used Trader’s Joe’s Vegan Cream Cheese in this recipe.
- Powdered Sugar: This helps sweeten the cream cheese filling.
- Cornstarch: This acts as the binder to help the filling set when baked.
- Pumpkin Puree: For the pumpkin pie filling. I used Libby’s Pumpkin Puree.
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: To help add cozy fall flavor.
- Vanilla Extract: For more flavor.
- Brown Sugar: This helps sweeten the pumpkin pie filling.
- Oat Milk & Apricot Preserves: These act as the vegan egg wash and help create a beautiful golden glaze on the baked puff pastry.
Substitutions
- Pumpkin Pie Spice: This is a blend of ground cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and clove. You can sub in the individual spices if you’d like.
- Vegan Cream Cheese: If you’re not dairy free this can be subbed with a 1:1 ratio for regular cream cheese.
Helpful Equipment
- Large Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Pastry Brush
Step by Step Instructions
Exact ingredient quantities are in the recipe card below!
STEP 1: Let your puff pastry defrost from the freezer at room temperature for about 20 minutes. This will help the dough be more workable and will prevent it from cracking when you try to shape the danish.
STEP 2: Make your cream cheese filling. I use vegan cream cheese (I prefer the Trader Joe’s brand if you live in the US), powdered sugar, vanilla, and cornstarch.
📌 TIP: Some vegan cream cheeses are runnier than others. The mixture should be relatively thick, like in the image below, otherwise, it will run too much when baked. If you find that your mixture is on the runnier side, you can add another tablespoon or two of cornstarch to thicken it up.
STEP 3: Make your vegan pumpkin pie mixture. To make this you’ll combine pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, cornstarch, brown sugar, and vanilla.
STEP 4: Mix until smooth. If making ahead of time, place the filling mixtures in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble.
Assembly Time
Then all that’s left is assembling the danishes! Store-bought puff pastry usually comes with 2 large sheets of dough.
STEP 5: You’ll want to unfold these sheets and cut each one into 4 squares. You should have 8 total squares of dough.
STEP 6: You’ll then brush some oat milk (or other dairy free milk) on the tops of all the squares. This will really help the dough stick to itself as you fold over the corners to shape the danish.
STEP 7: After folding the corners into the center of the square (to form an octagon), you can dollop some cream cheese mixture into the center.
📌 TIP: Be careful not to spoon too much cream cheese into the center because it spreads a little bit as it bakes in the oven. I’ve found that 2-3 tablespoons is the ideal amount.
STEP 8: Next, you can add the pumpkin pie mixture on top of the cream cheese. You can swirl it on top with a piping bag, or you can dollop it into the center of the cream cheese. Lastly, you just need to pop them in the oven and watch them puff up!
Serving the Danishes
These Vegan Pumpkin Cream Cheese Danishes are:
- Creamy,
- Sweet,
- Spiced,
- Fast,
- And so flaky!
This pastry tastes pretty much exactly as the name describes. They feel fancy, but at the same time, they’re super fast and easy to whip up. These danishes make for a perfect fall weekend treat alongside a cup of coffee or tea.
Once they cool, you can drizzle them with a little bit of simple icing or sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar. They would also make a delicious dessert for your Thanksgiving menu!
Storage
They store great in the fridge for up to 5 days, so you can eat them all week long! Keep them in an airtight container or wrapped well in plastic wrap. Reheat them in a toaster oven for the best texture.
MORE vegan BRUNCH RECIPES:
- Maple Pecan Pumpkin Pancakes
- Pumpkin Biscuits with Whipped Maple Butter
- Cozy Spiced Maple Coffee Cake
- Vegan Just Egg French Toast
- Baked French Toast Casserole
DID YOU MAKE THese vegan pumpkin cheese danishes?
I’d love to know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star rating and comment below!
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Danish {Vegan}
Fast and fancy, these vegan pumpkin cream cheese danishes make the perfect fall breakfast or brunch that will impress your guests!
Ingredients
- 1 Package Frozen Puff Pastry, Pepperidge Farm is accidentally vegan
Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 ounces vegan cream cheese, softened (I used Trader Joe’s Brand)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Pinch of salt
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
Pumpkin Pie Filling
- 1 cup (300g) pumpkin puree
- 2 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Vegan Egg Wash
- 1 tbsp oat milk
- 1 tbsp apricot preserves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Remove your frozen puff pastry from the freezer and let it defrost at room temperature for 10-20 minutes.
- In the meantime, make the cream cheese mixture by combining the vegan cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla, salt, and cornstarch together in a medium-sized bowl. Mix with your hand mixer or whisk until well combined.
- Make the pumpkin pie mixture by combining the pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, cornstarch, brown sugar, and vanilla into a medium bowl.
- If you’d like to pipe the mixture onto the danishes, transfer it to a piping bag or a medium-sized plastic ziplock bag. If using a ziplock bag, cut the bottom corner off at a diagonal. If you prefer to spoon the pumpkin pie mixture onto the danish, leave it in the bowl.
- Once the puff pastry has thawed, unfold the sheets and cut each one into 4 squares. You should have 8 total squares.
- Brush a bit of the oat milk onto the tops of the squares. Fold the corners of the square into the center and lightly press them down to make them stick.
- Dollop about 2 tbsp of the cream cheese mixture into the center of the dough, leaving a 1" border.
- Dollop about 1-2 tbsp of the pumpkin pie mixture into the center of the cream cheese mixture. Or if using a piping bag, pipe the mixture in a spiral shape on top of the cream cheese.
- Brush the exposed folded corners of the danish with the apricot preserves.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes. The pastry should be puffed up and golden brown.
- Let cool completely on a wire rack before icing (see below).
Optional: In a small bowl, mix together the icing ingredients (see the notes section below). Drizzle on the cooled pastry. Combine the ingredients for the cinnamon sugar topping together and sprinkle on top of the danishes.
Notes
*The cream cheese mixture should be relatively thick, otherwise, it will run too much when baked. If you find that your mixture is on the runnier side, you can add another tablespoon or two of cornstarch to thicken it up.
Optional Icing Drizzle
Optional Cinnamon Sugar Topping
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 320Trans Fat: 0gSodium: 95mgCarbohydrates: 29gFiber: 1gSugar: 25gProtein: 6g
Nutitional info is an estimate.
⭐️ Want to save this recipe for later? pin this image to pinterest! ⭐️
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this post might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting my blog so I can continue to provide you with free content each week!
I’M NOT A VEGAN PERSON AND I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD PUT A SUBSTITUES FOR THE VEGAN INGREDIENTS PLEASE , MARVELOUS LOOKING RECIPES!!
Hi there, I haven’t tested this recipe with non-vegan alternatives so I can’t recommend exact quantities or guarantee results with non vegan ingredients at this time. However, in most cases, vegan cream cheese can be substituted 1 for 1 with dairy based cream cheese. Dairy cream cheese (from the block) is firmer than vegan cream cheese, so I suspect you can omit the ‘egg’ in the filling.
I’m not sure what I did wrong. The cream cheese filling is so good. I followed the pumpkin filling as you wrote it buuuuuut I used coconut sugar. Aaaand I used an air fryer lol I answered my own question. BUT it’s so good. My pumpkin filling dried up a bit. I used some left over icing and mixed it with a bit of pumpkin and added some oat milk and drizzled it over the danishes on top of powdered sugar topping to make like a glaze. I’m new to making danishes but I’m interested in trying something like this again since I looooove them. I don’t have an oven btw that’s why I used my air fryer 😭😭
I’m glad you enjoyed them! And yes, I haven’t tested this recipe with an air fryer before. I suspect they’d need to be cooked at a lower temperature (probably 375F) for less time. My guess is they’d need about 10-15 minutes.