I’ve been wanting to share this new recipe for Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Danishes for months now, but every time I make them we end up eating them before I have a chance to photograph.  These are a super popular treat at my house!  They have a perfectly flakey puff pastry crust with a fluffy, creamy chocolate chip cheesecake filling and they are sprinkled with decorators sugar for a sweet crunchy finish!  My mouth is watering just writing about them.

Another perk of these treats is how easy they are to make with store bought puff pastry!  While everyone likes to make their doughs and pastries from scratch, puff pastry is one of those dough’s that most home bakers prefer to use pre-made because it cuts your time down dramatically.  If you want to make your own you can try out my easy puff pastry recipe found here.  However, for puff pastry desserts, (and phyllo desserts too), it is generally considered completely acceptable to use store bought dough!

A couple of tips for this recipe:

• You will need 2 sheets of puff pastry for these delectable treats.  I absolutely love the refrigerated Jus-Rol Brand puff pastry, because it is thawed and fresh and super easy to use.  However, there is only one sheet per package and sometimes it can be hard to find, so I’ve also used the frozen which has two sheets per package.
• You want to get your cream cheese out early so it can come to room temperature.  It makes it lighter and fluffier.
• Sparkling coarse decorating sugar is perfect for these because it’s big sparkly chunky sugar, but you could also use turbinado sugar or even granulated sugar in a pinch.

1. Preheat the oven to 400.  Line two large baking sheets with silicone liners or parchment paper
2. Beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour and vanilla, then the egg yolk. Stir in the chocolate chips and set aside.
3. Unroll one sheet of puff pastry. You want it in a rectangle about 9×13 – so roll it out a little if you need to.
4. Cut the dough with a pizza cutter or knife – 3 strips the long way, 4 strips the shorter way, for 12 squares per sheet of puff pastry, 24 total.
5. Divide the squares between the baking sheets.
6. Add a spoonful of the cream cheese mixture in the center of each square, slightly on the diagonal.
7. Fold one corner over the filling, swipe the top of the dough and the opposite corner with the egg wash, then pull the opposite corner over the top to seal.
8. Brush the outside of the pastries with egg wash, then sprinkle with decorating sugar!
9. Bake the danishes at 400 for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Remove from the oven, let cool a little on the baking tray, then serve!