Crescent Cheese Danish with Pineapple and Cinnamon

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These super simple Crescent Cheese Danish with Pineapple and Cinnamon are made with prepared crescent roll dough, fresh caramelized pineapple and cream cheese- for a delicious dessert that’s sure to please! A favorite Pillsbury crescent roll recipe!

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One of the best and easiest Pillsbury crescent roll recipes!

What’s not to love about a soft, slightly crisp and gooey cheese danish? If I’m being honest- making the dough! It’s kind of a labor of love, and a bit of a hindrance to me making lots and lots of danish.

That is, until I discovered you can make super easy and delicious danish with prepared crescent roll dough!

Using store-bought crescent roll dough makes the Pineapple Cinnamon Crescent Cheese Danish a breeze to make! And with the flavor combo of caramelized fresh pienapple and cinnamon sugar- these danish will be gone as quickly as they were made!

Looking for more great dessert ideas?

Why not try my Pear and Fig Galette, Banana Chocolate Chip Upside Down Cake, Pear Crumb Coffee Cake, or Coconut Caramel Apple Cake!

Prepping the Pillsbury crescent dough for the danishes

For the crescent cheese danish, you’ll start with 2 cans of prepared crescent roll dough. You’ll want to leave it rolled up and intact, and slice each set of dough into 8 equal discs.

Once you’ve got your discs ready to go- transfer them to a parchment lined baking sheet. Then it’s time to press in the centers with your fingers to make a pocket for the cream cheese filling. Be careful to leave an outer wall of dough intact to help keep the filling in as the danishes bake.

Chef’s notes:

For ease in cutting the discs- I like to first mark the dough lightly with a knife to ensure all my discs are the same size.

I have tried both store brand and Pillsbury dough for this recipe, and while both are DELICIOUS- Pillsbury’s dough makes for a prettier, more uniform danish.

Once all of your dough is prepped for filling, you’ll give it a quick brushing of melted butter mixed with light brown sugar and cinnamon. Concentrate on coating the tops well- it’s OK if the sides are not perfect. You won’t be able to tell when they’re all baked!

Making the filling and topping for the crescent cheese danish

With your dough shells sitting pretty and ready to go, it’s time to make the quick cream cheese filling and pineapple topping.

The cream cheese mixture is almost too easy. Simply whip some softened cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy.

Chef’s notes:

I like to use organic cane sugar for this recipe, but you can use standard granulated sugar if you like. I think the cane sugar is a bit less cloyingly sweet, and makes for a better dessert.

ALWAYS leave your cream cheese out on the counter for at least 30 minutes when whipping/making a recipe that calls for softened cream cheese. If you use cold cream cheese, it will breakup into chunk and it won’t be smooth.

Baking the Pillsbury crescent cheese danish

Once all the components of the danish are ready to go- it’s time to bake ’em in a preheated oven for about 12-14 minutes. Once they are poofed and golden they’re ready!

Finishing touches for the Pillsbury cream cheese danish recipe

When the crescent cheese danish are baked, quickly make the glaze by whisking together powdered sugar, pineapple juice and a bit of ground cinnamon. You can either use the juice leftover from cutting the pienapple, or store bought pineapple juice for this step. After all the danish are glazed, the hardest part is letting them cool before diving in!

Want to give this recipe a try?

If you make my Pillsbury cream cheese danish, please be sure to leave me a comment! I would love to hear from you, and value your feedback! Lastly, if you make the recipe and love it, please tag me on Instagram! I love to see your photos!

Print Recipe

Crescent Cheese Danish with Pineapple and Cinnamon

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time20 mins

Total Time30 mins

Course: Dessert

Keyword: cream cheese, danish, pineapple

Servings: 16

Ingredients

Danish Pastry Shells

• 2 cans prepared crescent roll dough, such as Pillsbury
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp light brown sugar

Cream Cheese Filling

• 1 8 oz block cream cheese, softened 
• 1/4 cup cane sugar, or granulated sugar 
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 

Pineapple Topping 

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup finely chopped fresh pineapple 
• 1 tbsp light brown sugar 

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar 
• 2 tbsp pineapple juice (fresh or bottled)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

  2. Remove crescent rolls from container, but leave intact (DO NOT UNROLL!). Slice each opened, intact crescent roll dough Into 8 equal discs.

  3. Place the cut discs of crescent roll dough onto the parchment lined sheets, and carefully press the inside layers down with your fingers to form a pocket for the cream cheese filling. Be careful to leave one or 2 of the outside rings of dough intact to form a wall to hold the filling in place.

  4. Combine melted butter, light brown sugar and cinnamon with a whisk until well incorporated, and use a silicone brush to coat each crescent cup evenly with the mixture- concentrating on the tops.

  5. Whip softened cream cheese with sugar and vanilla with a hand mixer until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.

  6. Cook the pineapple. Melt the butter over medium heat in a large non-stick frying pan. Swirl in pan to coat.

  7. Add chopped pineapple and sugar to the pan and toss to coat. Cook undisturbed for 3 minutes, until pineapple starts to brown on the edges. Once browned, toss and cook 2 minutes more. Turn off heat and set aside to cool.

  8. Carefully spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly into the centers of dough, being careful not to overfill. A little mound on top is OK because they will expand as they cook-, but if they are too full- they could leak in the oven.

  9. Top each danish with cooled pineapple, and transfer to the preheated oven.

  10. Bake 12-14 minutes until the danishes are plump and light golden brown.

  11. Remove from oven and mix together the powdered sugar, pineapple juice and cinnamon to make the glaze. Drizzle glaze over each danish with a spoon. Allow to cool to room temperature and serve. Store any leftover danish in the refrigerator.

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