Yield: 16 blueberry cheesecake brioche danish pastries // Total Time: 2 hr. 30 min. // Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links.
These blueberry cheesecake brioche danish pastries feature the softest, and fluffiest brioche dough. Topped with a vanilla cheesecake filling, fresh blueberries, and vanilla streusel. The perfect breakfast or afternoon treat!
Quick and important notes
Measuring the ingredients
My recipes are all written in grams because it is a more accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! Here is my favorite kitchen scale, and here’s an article about why I use a kitchen scale, and why you should too!
Room temperature ingredients
It is important that the ingredients in this recipe are at room temperature so that they all incorporate properly with one another. Take out the butter, eggs, and cream cheese at least 30 minutes before starting the recipe. If you are in a hurry and need some tricks to getting room temperature ingredients quickly, you can check out this post here!
Ingredients and Substitutions
All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness. We will use all purpose flour in both the brioche dough and in the streusel.
Instant yeast: for making the dough rise. You can easily substitute in active dry yeast in place of the instant yeast, you will just need to make some slight adjustments to the recipe. Those adjustments are listed later in this post!
Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness of the brioche. Salt also “controls” the yeast to make sure that it does not overly expand.
Granulated sugar: for sweetening the brioche and for helping the yeast with rising. We will use a little bit of sugar in the brioche, cheesecake filling, and in the streusel.
Eggs: for binding and adding moisture. We will use two eggs in the brioche dough and 1 egg yolk in the cheesecake filling. Make sure that you save the extra egg white, we will use it for the egg wash!
Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the danish pastries and giving them a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth feel. We will also use a bit of unsalted butter in the streusel. I would not recommend substituting in salted butter since salt is important to controlling yeast growth and the amount of salt in salted butter is quite variable.
Vanilla bean paste: I love using vanilla bean paste because you get to see those nice vanilla bean speckles without paying the crazy cost of vanilla beans. However, you can do a 1:1 swap with vanilla extract. I used this vanilla bean paste. We will use vanilla bean paste in the brioche dough, cheesecake filling, and in the streusel!
Whole milk: for tenderizing and hydrating the dough. Whole milk will provide the softest rolls because the extra fat helps tenderize the dough. You can however swap in 1%, 2% or your favorite non dairy milk alternative! Just note that the dough may be a little less soft and fluffy.
Cream cheese: for making the cheesecake filling. I recommend using full fat cream cheese, but you can substitute in neufchâtel cheese!
Blueberries: for some freshness to compliment the brioche and cheesecake filling. I can confirm that these are delicious with fresh, frozen, and wild blueberries. Notes on how to use frozen berries are listed later in this post.
Yeast dough and temperature
Yeast dough has a reputation of being temperamental, which is true but it’s not as bad as everyone thinks!
Milk temperature
Heating the milk is important for bringing the yeast to an optimal temperature for rising. The milk should be heated to ~100°F / 38°C but it does not have to be exact. As long as the milk is between 95°F – 110°F, it is good to be used. If the temperature exceeds 110°F, wait for it to cool down before using so that you do not kill the yeast!
Proofing environment
Yeast doughs like warm environments, it’s where they thrive! Most often you will be able to get away with letting the dough rise at room temperature. However, on particularly cold days, I like to turn my oven on to the lowest temperature it can go, and let the dough rise on top of the stove near the back where it gets warm.
Blueberry Cheesecake Brioche Danish Q&A
Can I use active dry yeast instead of instant yeast?
Yes! You will just need to make a few adjustments to the recipe. When heating the milk in the beginning, you will mix the yeast and sugar into the warm milk. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes or until it begins to foam. The foam means that the yeast is alive and ready to be used. If the mixture doesn’t foam, it means the yeast is dead and you need to remake the mixture.
The dough will also take longer to rise. For both rising periods, you just need to wait until the dough has doubled in size. With active dry yeast, it may take 1-2 hours for the first rise, and up to 1 hour for the second rise.
Can I use frozen blueberries instead of fresh blueberries?
Yes! You can easily substitute in frozen blueberries or frozen wild blueberries. I would just recommend that you wait to top the cheesecake filling with the frozen berries and streusel until right before you bake them. This will help prevent some (but not all) bleeding from the frozen berries.
Can I make the brioche dough ahead of time?
Yes, and I highly recommend it! Brioche dough is a very enriched dough that can be hard to work with when warm. There are two ways you can go about making these ahead of time:
- Make the dough the night before. This is the method I recommend. Simply knead the dough together, cover it, and leave it to rise in the fridge overnight. When ready to make the dough, simply take it out of the fridge and proceed with the recipe.
- Assemble the pastries the night before. After assembling the pastries, they can be covered and placed in the fridge overnight. When ready to bake, simply take them out of the fridge and let them sit for 30 minutes at room temperature before baking.
Tools and ingredients
For a full list of tools, equipment and ingredients that I use and love, you can check out this page here.
Did you make these blueberry cheesecake brioche danish pastries?
If you made these blueberry cheesecake brioche danish pastries I would love to see them and know your thoughts! Please leave a comment and review down below, and tag me on Instagram @freshbeanbakery. If you have any questions about the recipe I will gladly do my best to answer them in the comments below!
Blueberry Cheesecake Brioche Danish
Ingredients
Brioche Dough
- 305 g all purpose flour
- 1 tsp. instant yeast
- 1 tsp. salt
- 30 g granulated sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 95 g unsalted butter room tempereature
- 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
- 120 mL whole milk
Vanilla Cheesecake Filling
- 113 g cream cheese room temperature
- 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 25 g granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
- 200 g blueberries
Vanilla Streusel
- 25 g unsalted butter
- 50 g all purpose flour
- 25 g granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp. vanilla bean paste
Instructions
Brioche Dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add all of the brioche ingredients except the milk.
- In a microwave safe measuring cup, heat the milk to 100°F / 38°C. Add it to the rest of the ingredients.
- Start kneading the dough on low speed for 1 minute to allow the ingredients to come together. Increase the speed to medium and knead for an additional 12 minutes, or until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl and is no longer sticking to the bottom.
- Cover the dough. Preferably, put the dough in the fridge to chill and rise overnight. If making the danish pastries all in one day, let the dough rise in a warm environment for 30-40 minutes or until doubled in size.
- While the dough is rising, make the cheesecake filling and streusel.
Vanilla Cheesecake Filling
- In a small bowl, mix up the cream cheese to make the mixture smooth. Whisk in the egg yolk, sugar, and vanilla paste. Set aside.
Vanilla Streusel
- In a small microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. Mix in the flour, sugar, and vanilla paste until everything is evenly coated. Set aside.
Brioche Assembly
- Once the dough has doubled in size, lightly punch it down to remove excess air. Divide the dough into 16 equal pieces (~40g each) and roll each piece tightly into a ball.
- Tear out two sheets of parchment paper the size of a large baking sheet. Evenly space out 8 of the pieces on each parchment sheet.
- Lightly flour the bottom of a cup that is ~3 inches wide. Press the cup down onto each of the pastries to form a divot for the cheesecake filling. (You may want to go through every pastry twice if the dough is bouncing back!)
- Place ~1/2 tbsp. of cheesecake filling in each pastry divot. Evenly distribute fresh blueberries over the cheesecake filling.
- Make an egg wash by whisking together the leftover egg white with 1 tbsp. of milk.
- Brush the sides of each of the pastries with the egg wash, then top each pastry with the streusel.
- Leave the dough to rise in a warm environment until doubled in size, ~40-60 minutes.
- Once the pastries have doubled in size, preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the edges of the pastries turn golden brown.
- Serve and enjoy!
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