Easy Cheese Danish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F). In a small bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and flour*. Set aside.

Pop open crescent roll dough and unroll, leaving crescents in rectangles. On an ungreased baking sheet, lay the crescent roll rectangles together, with the long sides touching. Dough should be almost the entire length of a half sheet pan.

Press edges together to even out the sides and seal any holes. Carefully spread the cream cheese filling down the center of the dough to be about 2-3 inches wide.

Cut 1/2-inch diagonal strips up each side of the dough. Fold the 1/2-inch dough pieces up over the filling, alternating sides over each other and pressing down lightly to seal. It should look like a braided pattern. You may have excess dough once you reach the end of the danish, so fold them in as best as you can.

Bake for 20-30 minutes or until filling is set and crescent dough is golden in color. Cool before removing from the baking sheet. Once danish has cooled, remove to a serving platter.

In a small bowl, mix together powdered sugar, vanilla and cream to create the icing. You may need to add more cream to get the desired consistency. Drizzle icing over the danish.

Cut into pieces and serve.

*I’ve tested this recipe again and again and I’ve found that the addition of flour helps the cream cheese maintain it’s shape and not spread out of the pastry. It’s optional, but I’d recommend adding it.