Raspberry Creme Cheese Crescent Danish

Coffee Cake

• 1 can (8 oz) refrigerated Pillsbury™ Original Crescent Rolls (8 Count)
• 4 oz (from 8-oz package) cream cheese, softened
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
• ¾ cup fresh raspberries
• 2 tablespoons raspberry preserves
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted  

Glaze

• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon milk

☝️ NOTES:  

I made this for Christmas brunch 2024.  It was soggy on the bottom and the dough seemed uncooked.  It was just too wet - maybe it was because there was too much butter and/or too much raspberry goo.  Maybe the 16-20 minute cooking time is not enough.  Who knows.  Next time I will try elevating the whole thing on one of my cookie risers.  The parchment could go on the baking sheet to catch the drippings.  The cookie riser could sit on top on the parchment.  I might also experiment with using the convection setting on my oven.

Prep the Pan and Arrange the Dough Pieces

Heat oven to 375°. 

Line a large cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper and spray it generously with cooking spray. This ensures any filling that leaks out from the candy cane during baking won’t stick to the cookie sheet. It also makes it easy to remove the baked coffee cake from the pan. 

Cut the crescent triangles in half lengthwise. Then line up the triangles on the cookie sheet, with the wide edges overlapping slightly, all pointed in the same direction. Press together the overlapping parts to seal them together.

Layer the Fillings

Mix the softened cream cheese and 2 tablespoons of sugar and spread it in a 1/2”-wide strip down the dough at the widest part. 

Mix the raspberries and preserves and spoon it on top of the cream cheese layer.

Make a Cane Shaped Coffee Cake

Fold each tip of dough over the filling and pinch it to the opposite edge. Gently curve one end of the coffee cake to form the top of the cane. Brush the dough on the top of the coffee cake with the melted butter and sprinkle the remaining 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar over the top.

Bake, Cool, and Add the Glaze

Bake 16 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.  

Allow it to cool on the cookie sheet 5 minutes, for it to become sturdier and easier to move. 

Using a pancake turner, carefully slide the Danish from the parchment onto a serving platter. Mix the glaze ingredients and drizzle it with a spoon over the top of the coffee cake. 

Serve the coffee cake when it’s warm, for the best flavor and texture.

☝️ If this will be transported, choose a platter that will fit in my carrier to keep it warm!!!

How to Store Candy Cane Crescent Danish

Place any remaining crescent Danish on a plate. Cover it tightly and refrigerate up to 2 days. To reheat leftover Danish, place a serving on a microwavable plate. Cover it loosely and microwave on low (30%) 30 seconds to 1 minute or just until slightly warm. Do not overheat, or the filling will run out from the pastry.

Variations on Raspberry-Cream Cheese Danish

With just a change of an ingredient or two, you can have a new flavor for this Pillsbury raspberry cream cheese coffee cake, if you wish:

Swap the Fruit: Rather than use fresh raspberries, try 3/4 cup of fresh blueberries with blueberry preserves, fresh blackberries with blackberry preserves or chopped fresh strawberries with strawberry preserves. Or use a medley of any of these fruits with the berry-flavored preserves of your choice, for a mixed berry coffee cake.

Add Some Crunch: Before wrapping the dough around the filling, sprinkle 1/4 cup finely chopped nuts, such as walnuts, pecans, or almonds.

Swap the Glaze: Make a chocolate glaze by mixing 1/4 cup powdered sugar with 1 1/2 teaspoons each unsweetened baking cocoa and melted butter. Stir in a drop or two of milk until it’s drizzling consistency. Use this glaze instead of the white glaze called for in the recipe.

Love the candy cane shape of this Danish? Try one of our other holiday recipes:

Mini Cherry Cheesecake Crescent Danishes makes four breakfast pastries, so everyone can have a candy cane all to themselves.

Spinach-Artichoke Crescent Candy Cane is a festive, party-ready appetizer to bring to your next holiday party.

Can I Make This the Night Before?

No!  But you can do a little prep ---

While we love a great breakfast recipe you can make the night before, a delicate pastry such as this one, isn’t a great candidate. The fillings soften the dough, creating a pastry that isn’t as light and flaky as when baked up fresh. This recipe takes only 20 minutes to get into the oven, but if you need a jump start on the prep, there are some things you can do to make it easier on you when it's breakfast time:

Prep Your Ingredients: 

You can mix the sweetened cream cheese ingredients and raspberry filling ingredients as directed in step 2. Cover and refrigerate them overnight. In the morning, take them out of the fridge and uncover them to stand at room temperature while you heat the oven. Make the glaze while the coffee cake is cooling 5 minutes (in step 4).

Make But Don’t Bake the Coffee Cake: You can prepare the Danish through Step 3. Cover and refrigerate it no longer than 2 hours before baking. When you’re ready to bake, uncover it and bake as directed in step 4.

Recipe Inspiration Source/s:  

Pillsbury. (includes a short video)

Christmas Tree Spinach Dip Breadsticks

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a bowl, beat together the spinach and cream cheese.

• 12 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 6 oz cream cheese,  softened

Add garlic, salt, onion powder, chili powder, pepper, and Italian seasoning and beat to combine.

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Add parmesan cheese and 1/2 of the cheddar or mozz. and beat to combine. (The other half of the cheese will be sprinkled over the filling when you shape the Christmas tree.)

• ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup grated cheddar OR mozzarella cheese

Shape into Christmas tree - 

Unroll the pizza crust on a piece of parchment paper. Using a pizza slicer, cut the crust as shown below. This gives you one large triangle and two smaller ones. 

Transfer the smaller triangles to a second piece of parchment paper, placing the long side edges together, to make another large triangle. The dough will stretch out a little as you move it around – no biggie, just gently tug it into the shape you want, pressing the two halves together in the middle. This will be the base of the breadsticks. Use bits of extra dough to create a short little trunk at the base of the tree.

• 1 tube refrigerated thin crust pizza crust

Spread the spinach dip over the base. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese.

Then, top with the first triangle of dough. You’ll likely have to tug at the dough a little bit to make sure it completely covers the base triangle.  

Make cuts on either side as shown.  Don't go all the way across.  Leave a bit uncut in the center.

Grab each “slice” and twist it to form a tree shape, as shown below. For the top slice that’s very short you’ll just give it a half twist; as you go further down the tree and hit longer slices you’ll give them two or three full twists.

Bake for about 22 minutes until quite golden brown on top and cooked through on the bottom. The top is going to get nice and browned, but make sure to check that the bottom is cooked through. If you are cooking on a heavy cookie sheet, you may want to cook this on the lower rack in your oven.

Once out of the oven you can move the breadsticks onto a pretty wood cutting board or charcuterie board for serving. Melt butter and stir in garlic salt and seasoning, then brush over breadsticks.

• 2 tablespoons butter
• ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
• ½ teaspoon garlic salt

Serve warm.

Recipe Inspiration Source:  It's Always Autumn - The instruction video is below the printable recipe.
I am attempting to make this for the holidays exactly as her recipe.  It looks wonderful.  I take zero credit for this recipe.  Go to the link and watch the short video to make the whole thing a cinch!  I'm adding the recipe to my collection because hoping it will be a keeper.  Also note - this can be made in other shapes as well.  

Pizza Dough Cinnamon Rolls

Recipe Source:  Just a Taste

MAKE THE CINNAMON ROLLS:

• 4 TBSP butter, melted, plus more for greasing pan
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 pound pizza dough - easier to roll out when it's at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. 

Grease an 8x11-inch baking dish with butter -OR- line it with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, stir together the cinnamon and sugar.

Lightly flour work surface then roll out the dough into a rectangle. Brush the dough all over with melted butter then sprinkle it with the cinnamon-sugar mix. Starting at the long end, tightly roll the dough into a log. Cut the log into 12 rolls, about 1 1/2-inches each. Arrange each roll in the prepared baking dish about 1 inch apart.

Bake the rolls for 20 to 25 minutes until the dough is fully cooked. Pizza dough gets crispier on the edges than traditional cinnamon roll dough so when in doubt, underbake the rolls to guarantee they remain soft.  Remove the rolls from the oven and let them cool slightly while you make the glaze.

MAKE THE GLAZE:

This glaze could be used on so many desserts.  It's fast, easy, and really good!

• 4 TBSP butter, at room temp
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 Tablespoons hot water (until desired consistency)

Stir together the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk in the hot water 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches your desired consistency. Drizzle the glaze over the slightly warm cinnamon rolls and serve immediately.

Dip - Strawberry Dip

Source:  Inspired by Charm

CHEESECAKE DIP WITH STRAWBERRIES:

INGREDIENTS
1 (8 ounces) package cream cheese - softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 pints fresh strawberries
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs


INSTRUCTIONS
In a bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sour cream, confectioners' sugar, milk, almond extract, and vanilla extract; mix until smooth.

To serve, add the cheesecake dip to one bowl and fill another bowl with the graham cracker crumbs.

Serve with whole strawberries for dipping. To eat, dip the strawberries into the cheesecake mixture and then into the crumbs.



SIMILAR RECIPE
This is one I used to make.  It came from my friend, Cassandra.  I like it just as well as the one above.       I had never tried this one with graham crackers, but that would work, too.  The graham cracker addition seems to make the whole thing a bit more special.   No matter which dip version is used, this recipe is a winner!  IMPORTANT - If the strawberries are too tart, the recipe won't be as much of a hit.

Blend:
1 8oz pkg cream cheese, room temp
1 jar marshmallow crème

Sausage Balls

• 2 cups Bisquick mix
  (or 2 cups flour + 3t baking powder + 1/2 t salt - not quite as good)
  Can even use stovetop stuffing! - haven't tried that yet
  A few recommend 3 cups of flour mix.
  
• 2 cups cheese (sharp, hand-grated is best)
• 1 lb sausage, uncooked - spicy is best!!! - 

NOTE:  The cheese and sausage needs to be very flavorful.  The flour dilutes the taste.  Spicy sausage ends up almost mild.  Mild sausage gets completely lost and makes for a very bland sausage ball.  Same with the cheese.  Sharp is best.

Optional: 

• paprika, chives or onions, garlic, bell pepper, celery, splash of Worcestershire sauce, parsley garnish

1. Let ingredients sit out for an hour before mixing. Everything will mix much better!!!
2. Can prepare the night before and store ready to go in fridge.
3. Mix all ingredients. Mix sausage and flour in mixer first.  Then add cheese.
4. Shape into balls. Wear disposable gloves and do this by hand.  The warmth of your hand will warm up the sausage and the moisture will make the balls stick together better.
5. Put balls on parchment paper (easiest to remove - just put on paper towels after cooking) OR on Pam-sprayed cooking rack (less grease but harder to remove).  
6. Bake at:

450 degrees for 10-15 minutes.
375 for 18 minutes
or 350 for 25 minutes <— this is most recommended

I was able to put the entire batch on one large baking pan.

1. Can serve in a crock pot to keep them warm.
2. Can freeze the extra!!!   If Cooked: Thaw a few minutes and reheat at 350 for around 6-8 minutes. OR Can keep zip lock bags full of uncooked balls in the freezer. Freeze balls (not touching each other) on cookie sheets, and then transfer to bags. Write the cook time and temp on the outside of the bag so you don't have to hunt down the recipe.