Cherry Danish Croissant Bake

by Sabrina Snyder

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7 Comments

5 from 3 votes
10 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
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Cherry Danish Croissant Bake is the ultimate sweet breakfast bake or dessert to feed a crowd. You can even make it ahead for busy holidays!

The next time you have family or guests staying at your house, an easy Breakfast Recipe like this is the perfect way to make a cherry danish to share. For more easy breakfast bakes try Chocolate Chip Croissant Casserole and Ham and Cheese Croissant Breakfast Casserole.

Sabrina’s Cherry Danish Croissant Bake Recipe

Danishes are a classic breakfast pastry that you can find at most cafes and bakeries. This breakfast bake makes it easy to get the same sweet and tart flavors, without having to make individual pastries. It’s a family-friendly dish that’s easy for everyone to serve up themselves and enjoy. 

Recipe Card

Dinner, then Dessert

Cherry Danish Croissant Bake Recipe

Cherry Danish Croissant Bake is the ultimate sweet breakfast bake or dessert to feed a crowd. You can even make it ahead for busy holidays!
Yield 10 Servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
Cherry Danish Breakfast Bake top down
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

  • 21 ounce cherry pie filling (canned)
  • 6 large eggs
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 5 croissants , stale and cut into 1-inch chunks
  • 8 ounces cream cheese , cubed

Instructions

  • Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8×10-inch baking pan with vegetable oil spray.
  • Separate the cherries from the mixture in the can – leaving about ⅓ cup of the cherry glaze behind (you do not need to remove all the glaze, just ⅓ cup of it) in a small bowl. Set aside or discard the extra glaze
  • In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice until smooth.
  • Add in the croissant pieces and gently combine.
  • Add half the croissant mixture to the pan and dot with half the cream cheese.
  • Gently spoon on half the cherry filling in small clumps (don’t spread).
  • Add the rest of the croissant mixture gently over the top.
  • Dot with the remaining cream cheese and cherries.
  • Bake, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes or until the croissants are lightly browned.
  • Serve with glaze drizzle, pancake syrup, or powdered sugar.

Nutrition

Calories: 346kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 159mg | Sodium: 253mg | Potassium: 243mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 880IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 116mg | Iron: 1mg

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About this Recipe

Just like Cherry Bars, this recipe uses a simple cherry pie filling to get the classic cherry flavoring. The cherry filling and cream cheese both bake together and seep into the croissant pieces to make a moist, flavorful breading. After baking the danish casserole, complete it with classic breakfast toppings like syrup, powdered sugar, or glaze. 

Chef’s Note

Croissants are the perfect substitute for the typical puff pastry you’d have in a cherry danish. Just like a traditional cherry danish, the breading is buttery, soft, and chewy. While the top of the bake gets lightly crisp, the inside remains tender and buttery. Mixing the breading with an egg custard helps it better absorb the cherry flavors around it.

Can this be made ahead of time?

This is a great recipe to prep the night before, so you don’t have to wake up early to prepare this breakfast. Follow the recipe as usual to combine the ingredients. Once you’ve poured the bread mixture and cherry filling into the casserole dish, cover it in tin foil or plastic wrap and put it in the fridge. In the morning all you’ll have to do is pop the dish in the oven. Leaving the danish in the fridge overnight can even make the dish better because it gives the breading more time to absorb the custard. 

Recipe Tips & Tricks

Drying Out Croissants: When you’re making breakfast bakes or bread pudding, it’s best to use bread that is slightly old and stale. Using croissants that are more dried out, makes them absorb the egg custard better. However, if you don’t have any old bread to use, just buy some fresh croissants and dry them out. One option is leaving your croissants out overnight so they get more dried out. You can also toast the bread in the oven at 250 degrees F for 15 minutes on the morning of your breakfast. 

What to Pair With

  • Syrup: Serve your Danish Bake alongside a simple maple syrup for everyone to drizzle over the top of their serving.
  • Powdered Sugar: A sprinkle of confectioner’s sugar over the top of the entire bake will be a beautiful, sweet, tasty topping.
  • Easy Glaze: This glaze tastes just like the vanilla glaze you would find on a cherry danish from the bakery. 
    • In a medium bowl whisk together ¾ cup confectioner’s sugar, 2 tablespoons heavy cream, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. 
    • For some salty contrast with the sweet add in ⅛ teaspoon of sea salt to the mixture. 

How to Store

  • Serve: You shouldn’t leave your breakfast bake out at room temperature for more than 2 hours or it will get dried out. 
  • Store: Once the Cherry Danish Bake has cooled, cover it tightly in plastic wrap or tin foil. It will keep well in the fridge for up to a week. 
  • Freeze: To keep this breakfast longer, you can store it in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let it defrost in the fridge, before reheating it in the oven. 

Variations

  • Bread: If you don’t have croissants there are plenty of different kinds of bread you can use. Try breaking apart Texas toast, Brioche, or French bread to mix with the custard.
  • Different Berries: To completely change the flavor of this danish, try using different fruit. Blueberry, raspberry, or even apple pie filling would make good alternatives. 
  • Add-ins: For some extra crunch, add in some nuts. Chopped almonds, pecans, or walnuts would be great option. you could also top the danish with some semi-sweet chocolate chips for a breakfast bake that calls to a Black Forest taste. 

More Cherry Recipes

Cherry Bake Pin collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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Comments

  1. Hello, Sabrina,
    This recipe sounds fabulous, but I am confused about the cherry pie filling part.
    Once I have separated the cherries from the filling, do I reincorporate the cherries into the 1/3 cup of glaze, and discard the rest, or discard the 1/3 cup of glaze and use the rest with the cherries?

    Reply

  4. This is such an amazing sweet treat, perfect for a crowd. I love how crunchy and delicious the top was and then the inside was deliciously fluffy.

    Reply