Guys, imagine waking up on Christmas Day to the house smelling like freshly baked goods and biting into a soft, pillowy blueberry danish with a vanilla cream cheese filling and cinnamon crumble – wouldn’t that be a dream? NO! It won’t be a dream if you prepare these in advance and have them with your loved ones on Christmas Day! Not to be confused with the flaky croissant-like danishes, these are milk bun danishes that are soft and fluffy. Let me show you how to make them.

The ingredients you’ll need for these Blueberry Danishes.

1. The dough: the base of the dough is a classic milk bun recipe that consists of plain flour, milk, melted butter, instant dried yeast, sugar, salt, eggs. I do prefer my milk buns to be on the sweeter side so the sugar content is higher than most recipes. If you prefer a less sweet bun, please cut the sugar levels by a quarter.
2. Milk: i used full fat whole cream milk but i’ve also tried these with oat milk – they turned just as amazing! If you would like to substitute out the cow’s milk, oat milk is the way to go – it’s higher in fat than other plant-based milk and will enhance the flavour of your buns.
3. Cream cheese filling: the centers of the buns are filled with a cream cheese filling – softened cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and a dash of milk. Again, use whatever milk you have on hand for this part.
4. Blueberry: whenever it’s fresh or cooked down, blueberries are super delicious in desserts! They are a nice sweet and tangy flavour to the danishes. You could also use other berries, like raspberries, strawberries, blackberries or even cherries! Use what’s available and in season for you. You could use frozen berries but they will bleed differently when cooked and the colour will be much darker compared to fresh berries. If this is not an issue to you and convenience is what you prioritised, then go for it!
5. Cinnamon Crumble: I love a good crumble on my baked goods. This part is made of flour, cold cubed butter, sugar and cinnamon! Make sure your butter is super cold to prevent melting and a wet crumble. Use mostly your fingertips to incorporate the butter into the flour and sugar as the palm of your hands could melt the butter.

Storage Tips!

• Room temperature: 1-2 days while stored in an air-tight container
• Refrigerator: up to 3-4 days in an air-tight container. Reheat in the oven until warmed through
• Freezer: up to 3 months. Reheat in the oven until warmed through

Tips!

1. Stand Mixer: This recipe uses a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. If you don’t have a stand mixer, do not worry! You can still knead the dough by hand but it’ll just take you longer, roughly around 15 minutes. Knead the dough well to develop the gluten that gives for a soft and fluffy bun. It will be sticky and messy at first but keep going until the dough pulls together and be less tacky.
2. Fermentation/Proofing: There are 2 rounds of proofing. Let the dough proof covered in a warm environment until it doubles in size. If it’s cold where you are then it’ll take longer to achieve this but be patient! Otherwise a trick to do this to put the dough near (not super close) to one of your heaters!
3. Storage/ Preparation in advance: If you are looking to make these in advance and reheat on your Christmas day, you definitely can! Once the danishes are out of the oven and have completely cooled, store the danishes in air-tight containers and pop them in the refridgerator. Once you’re ready to consume, pop them out onto a lined baking sheet, and into a 180C/350F pre-heated oven for 5-10 minutes! Or if you’re on a time crunch, you can chuck it into a microwave on high for 20-30 seconds. You can store them in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Ingredients

Dough:
500g plain flour
250ml milk, lukewarmed
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
100g sugar
10g instant dried yeast
80g butter, melter
1 tsp salt

Cream Cheese Filling:
250g cream cheese, softened
50-75g sugar
50ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon Crumble:
20g butter, cold and cubed
25g sugar
50g flour
1/2 tbsp cinnamon powder

Method

1. In a stand-mixer, combine all the ‘Dough’ ingredients and mix on medium speed for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl. Transfer dough over to a lightly oiled bowl, cover and proof for 1 hour or until doubled in size
2. Once proofed, punch out the air and divide the dough into 8 even pieces. Roll each piece into a ball with your hands and place the 8 dough balls onto a lined/buttered baking sheet, spaced out apart. Let proof for another 20 minutes.
3. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 180C/350F and prepare your cream cheese filling and cinnamon crumble. Cream cheese filling: mix all the ingredients together until the mixture is smooth. Set aside or you could also transfer into a piping bag.
4. Cinnamon Crumble: place all the ingredients into a bowl and use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour and sugar until it resembles wet sand. Set aside.
5. Once the dough is proofed, use a small cup or a small rolling pin or even your fingers to make a well in the middle of the dough balls. Fill the well with the cream cheese filling and top with blueberries. Brush the edge of the dough with some egg wash and sprinkle over with the cinnamon crumble.
6. Bake the danishes for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Enjoy them while they’re still warm.