Copycat Starbucks Sugar Plum Cheese Danish
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Don’t head to the coffee shop — make this sugar plum cheese danish at home! It’s easy with frozen puff pastry.
I know I’m not the only one who gets excited when the new season of Starbucks treats and drinks roll out.
Yes, I adore my local coffee shop, but grabbing a treat to enjoy after running errands is one of life’s simple pleasures.
Except, as it turns out, those treats really add up in the budget.
Fortunately, with some frozen puff pastry on hand, it’s easy to make the sugar plum cheese danish at home.
what is a sugar plum?
When the holidays roll around we hear a lot about sugar plums, but it’s not actually a varietal of plum.
Sugar plums are candies, usually seeds or dried fruits and nuts, coated in hard sugar. Their roundish shape resembles a plum, and oftentimes are tinted purple with candy leaves to mimic them even more.
While the candy is not very popular anymore, the phrase has stuck with us, and the sugar plum cheese danish is a riff on that name.
what if I don’t have plum jam?
Plum jam has become a bit harder to find in stores these days, thanks to the wide variety of other jam flavors.
You can make your own plum jam if you have the extra time. Marisa’s spiced plum jam is perfect for this pastry because it has the spices already mixed in.
Other jams can be swapped in as well! I use this base recipe for my red berry cheese danish, and it would also be great with cherry or blueberry preserves.
what kind of puff pastry should I buy?
For this recipe I use sheets of puff pastry, which are more readily available.
There are a few different brands, but you’ll usually find Pepperidge Farm puff pastry in the freezer aisle, near the frozen pies.
Make sure you do not purchase frozen phyllo dough! While it is great for other recipes, you want puff pastry.
Puff pastry is also sold as shells you can fill. I have not tried them for this recipe, but they would likely work well, especially if you enjoy lots of filling.
I love how quick and easy it is to make these sugar plum cheese danishes. Weekend or weekday, they’re a festive breakfast treat.
Copycat Starbucks Sugar Plum Cheese Danish
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
- Flour, for rolling
- 4 ounces cream cheese or neufchâtel, softened
- 1 to 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup plum jam
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Dust countertop and rolling pin lightly with flour and roll out puff pastry gently just so it is slightly extended. You can skip this step if you prefer.
- Cut pastry dough into equal squares — one sheet should make 9. Transfer squares to a muffin tin and press gently into wells, leaving the corners out.
- Mix together cream cheese and powdered sugar. Divide evenly among puff pastry squares, spreading slightly with a spoon.
- Mix together jam, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves, and top each pastry square with a dollop. (You may have extra remaining.)
- Bake for about 20 minutes, until puffed and golden. Serve immediately.
- Leftovers can be stored for up to 2 days and reheated in a toaster oven or microwave.
I just had one of these today, and immediately started looking for a copycat recipe. I’m so excited to try this! I did notice there was course sugar sprinkled on the pastry, giving it a really delightful extra bit of crunch. If I wanted that on mine, would I sprinkle it on before baking, or immediately after? Any tips?
Hi Jenny! Interesting – when I had them before they didn’t have the sugar; I’ll have to try them. You should be able to use coarse/sparkling sugar before baking and it won’t melt. If you put it on after there is a chance it will just fall off the pastry. Let me know how it goes!
So I made this today exactly as instructed, except for one thing that was my own fault. I thought I could use crescent roll sheets as my puff pastry dough. Unfortunately at 400 degrees, they were already over browned at 12 minutes. That was my fault. The spices however were just too overpowering and I love these spices. I will still make this recipe again, but with the correct puff pastry dough and maybe half the amount of spices.
Just made these. They taste great! Should they be stored for up to two days at room temperature or in the fridge? Unsure because of the cream cheese.
Hi Dylan! I would put these in the fridge. The pastry won’t be as crisp for the leftovers but they’re just as tasty!
These sugar plum Danish sound so delish. My mouth watered in just reading recipe. Going to store to buy some ingredients to make tonight.
Could you use the puff pastry shells for this?
Hi Alyssa! I haven’t tried it but I imagine you could. You might need to add more filling.