This Braided Blueberry Cheese Danish is my newest pastry creation. With golden brown dough, a ton of cream cheese filling, and blueberries that pop with every bite it is a home run.
If you didn’t know already brunch is my favorite meal. I’m not a big eater first thing in the morning so I love when I can just sip coffee until 10 or 11 on the weekends and then sit down to a full spread. My cream cheese egg bake, bacon or taylor ham, fresh fruit, and some kind of pastry is always on the brunch menu.
I’ve been craving another cheese danish since I made my Raspberry Cream Cheese Danishes back in March. I made a plain cheese danish while visiting family for Easter as well. But it can be time consuming to make individual danishes. I thought it would be easier to make one big one and then just cut it into pieces.
The best part is that this amazing looking pastry is gluten and grain free, sugar free (except for the natural sugar in the berries), low carb, and Trim Healthy Mama friendly. This would be an S for my THM friends.
The dough is a mozzarella and cream cheese based dough the works equally well in sweet and savory applications. In my sweet uses of it I add a little vanilla and sweetener.
If you are in need of a nut free version or would like to check out a video of a similar recipe visit the Sugar Free Mom blog.
Dough Ingredients:
8 oz. shredded mozzerella (about 2 cups)
2 oz. cream cheese
1 egg
1 cup local blend baking mix (1/3 each coconut flour, almond flour, and ground golden flax seed)
1 tbsp Trim Healthy Mama gentle sweet sweetener (or my sweetener blend)
1 tsp vanilla
Cream Cheese Filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/4 cup Trim Healthy Mama gentle sweet sweetener (or my copycat)
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350.
Put cheese in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave one minute. Stir. Microwave 30 seconds. Stir. At this point all the cheese should be melted. Microwave 30 more seconds until uniform and gloopy (it should look like cheese fondue at this point). Add the rest of the dough ingredients and the cheese to a food processor. Mix using the dough blade until a uniform color. If you do not have a food processor you can mix in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon but you may need to dump it onto wax paper and knead it by hand to thoroughly incorporate the ingredients. Once it is a uniform color wet your hands and press it out into a 9×12 ish rectangle on a parchment lined baking sheet.
To make the cream cheese filling you can add the cream cheese, vanilla, egg, and sweetener to the food processor (no need to wash) or to the bowl you were using. Mix until smooth in the food processor or with an electric mixer.
Put the filling down the center of the dough. Mine was spreading out a bit so I just pushed it back to the middle with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the blueberries on top. Cut one inch strips down the edges of the dough as shown in the photo. Criss cross one over the other, braiding as you go down. Bake for 40-45 min until the dough is golden and the cheese filling no longer jiggles.
Optional glaze: Mix 1 tbsp of softened butter with 1 tbsp of finely ground sweetener (gentle sweet or my copycat) and 1/4 tsp vanilla. Put in a piping bag and drizzle over the top of the warm pastry (or just spread on top). It will melt and make a shiny glaze. This only makes a small amount of icing. If you would like more you can double or triple it. If you don’t want the icing to melt cool the danish to room temperature before adding the icing.
My braid opened up a bit while baking but I still think it looked pretty enough for company and it was definitely tasty enough.
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Serves 8-12
20 minPrep Time
45 minCook Time
1 hr, 5 Total Time
Save Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz. shredded mozzerella (about 2 cups)
- 2 oz. cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 cup local blend baking mix (1/3 each coconut flour, almond flour, and ground golden flax seed)
- 1 tbsp Trim Healthy Mama gentle sweet sweetener (or my copycat)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup Gentle Sweet (or my sweetener)
- 3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Put cheese in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave one minute. Stir. Microwave 30 seconds. Stir. At this point all the cheese should be melted. Microwave 30 more seconds until uniform and gloopy (it should look like cheese fondue at this point). Add the rest of the dough ingredients and the cheese to a food processor. Mix using the dough blade until a uniform color. If you do not have a food processor you can mix in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon but you may need to dump it onto wax paper and knead it by hand to thoroughly incorporate the ingredients. Once it is a uniform color wet your hands and press it out into a 9×12 ish rectangle on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- To make the cream cheese filling you can add the cream cheese, vanilla, egg, and sweetener to the food processor (no need to wash) or to the bowl you were using. Mix until smooth in the food processor or with an electric mixer.
- Put the filling down the center of the dough. Mine was spreading out a bit so I just pushed it back to the middle with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the blueberries on top. Cut one inch strips down the edges of the dough as shown in the photo. Criss cross one over the other, braiding as you go down. Bake for 40-45 min until the dough is golden and the cheese filling no longer jiggles.
- Optional glaze: Mix 1 tbsp of softened butter with 1 tbsp of finely ground sweetener (gentle sweet or my copycat) and 1/4 tsp vanilla. Put in a piping bag and drizzle over the top of the warm pastry (or just spread on top). It will melt and make a shiny glaze. This only makes a small amount of icing. If you would like more you can double or triple it. If you don't want the icing to melt cool the danish to room temperature before adding the icing.
Notes
My braid opened up a bit while baking but I still think it looked pretty enough for company and it was definitely tasty enough.
Nutrition based on the calculator here: https://www.caloriecount.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php
Want to save money by making your own sugar free sweetener blend similar to Gentle Sweet? Check out my sweetener post here.My affiliates: Amazon
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Jet - save 15% with code TRIPLE15
Thrive Market - free apple cider vinegar
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Can I use the THM Baking Blend instead of your blend. I have that on-hand. If yes, would it be the same amount?
Yes. Use a little bit less.