Monkey-Bread Danish
You’re probably familiar with monkey bread--that sticky-sweet pastry you pull apart to eat (preferably for breakfast). Well, in this recipe, we take that idea and make individual monkey-bread Danish. Each pastry is pieced together so you can pull it apart, but for a twist, we add a rich cream-cheese filling and a coating of cinnamon streusel. Move over, "egg-in-a-hole," monkey-bread Danish is the new head of the brunch table.
Ingredients
Streusel Topping
⅓ cup sugar
⅓ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
Cream-Cheese Filling
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 egg
Danish
One 16-ounce package puff pastry, thawed and diced
¼ cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
¾ cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Make the Streusel Topping: In a medium bowl, stir the sugar with the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon to combine. Add the butter and mix until the sugar mixture is moist and crumbly.
3. Make the Filling: In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese with the confectioners’ sugar, flour and egg to combine.
4. Make the Danish: In a large bowl, toss the diced puff pastry in the melted butter to moisten and coat. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon to combine. Add the cinnamon sugar to the buttered puff pastry and toss gently to coat.
5. Assemble the Danish: Mound heaping ¼ cups of puff pastry onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 1½ inches between each mound. Flatten slightly, but make sure the pieces are all touching. Using your fingers or the back of a spoon, press a slight indentation into the center of each mound to make a little room for the filling.
6. Spoon 2 tablespoons cream-cheese filling into the center of each mound. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons streusel topping.
7. Bake the Danish until the puff pastry is golden brown and the filling is bubbly, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool before serving.
Streusel Topping
85 calories
4g fat
13g carbs
0g protein
9g sugars
Cream-Cheese Filling
95 calories
7g fat
7g carbs
2g protein
6g sugars
Danish
292 calories
18g fat
30g carbs
3g protein
13g sugars