Cinnamon Cheese Danish

Read more on http://susanhi.wordpress.com

This is a very versatile recipe which can be used for either a breakfast treat or easy dessert.  You can certainly change things up on this – include chopped pecans or walnuts on the topping, for example.  Or leave out the cinnamon sugar topping and go for a cherry cheese Danish or even a blueberry cheese Danish.

I began making these using regular crescent rolls and using the cream cheese mixture as a stuffing in the late 1980s while we were living in Utah.  One day in the mid-1990s I got lazy one Sunday morning and made it the way I now always make it.  It’s so much easier just spreading things out than stuffing 16 crescent roll buns!  =D  And, frankly, we like these better.  The top layer gets pretty crunchy as the cinnamon-sugar mixture caramelizes in the oven.  Yum!!!!

I love versatile recipes that you can serve in different ways and as different functions.  This is also what I call a semi-homemade one.  One thing I really like about Sandra Lee’s recipes are how quick and easy they are.  I find that I use her methodology frequently because it just simplifies things at meal time for my family!

This is always one of the first desserts to disappear at a potluck function or breakfast Danish to disappear at a brunch!

Cinnamon Cheese Danish

• 2 cans Pillsbury Recipe Creations Crescent Roll sheet
• 2 8-oz bricks Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
• 1 C sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice (or orange juice) (can use vanilla extract)
• 1 tsp lemon zest (or orange zest) (no zest if using vanilla)
• 1 egg, separated (reserve white for egg wash)
• Topping
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375.  Spray 9×13 pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Press on can of Crescent Roll sheet in the bottom of the 9×13 pan and press it up the sides a little.

In a large mixing bowl, put the softened cream cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest, 1 C sugar, and the egg yolk.  Whip until smooth and well mixed.  Spread mixture on top of bottom crust in 9×13 pan.

Open 2nd can of Crescent Roll dough and roll it out a little so that it completely covers cream cheese mixture.  Once the dough sheet is in place, mix together sugar, salt, and cinnamon topping in a small bowl.  Once it has the flavor you like, sprinkle it across the top layer.

Bake at 375 to 20 to 25 minutes.  Let sit for 10 minutes before cutting into squares.