Cranberry Cream Cheese Pastries

Start the day with some festive cheer with these cranberry cream cheese pastries! Crescent roll dough is filled with vanilla cream cheese, tart cranberry sauce and a drizzle of sweet icing. Switch up from the classic Homemade Cinnamon Rolls and make these sweet cranberry cream cheese pastries for breakfast!

Cranberry Cream Cheese Pastries

Christmas is my favorite time of year for so many reasons. One of the traditions I cherish is the huge breakfast we eat as a family. Your family might have a special meal later in the day, but for us it’s breakfast!

Related Recipe – Rugelach or Crescent Danish Wreath 

First, we enjoy a variety of traditional pastries from our Hispanic heritage like Quesitos (cheese filled pastries) with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate. Then the main dish always includes eggs like a breakfast casserole or Papas con Huevos (potato & egg tacos).

This year, it’s cranberry cream cheese pastries on the menu and we can’t wait! I already made them for Thanksgiving and they were a huge hit. This recipe is for 1 tube of crescent roll dough or 8 pastries, but I highly recommend making a double batch since no one consumed less than two. I have to confess to eating 3 myself, they are just that good!

The sweet-tart combo is mouthwateringly delicious and a great way to start the day. Although not overly sweet, they can even pull double duty as dessert if you want.

Ingredients you will need:

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 tube crescent dough sheet or rolls
• 1/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons milk or orange juice

Helpful Kitchen Tools:

• Baking sheet
• Silicone baking mat
• Small mixing bowl
• Measuring cups and spoons

For this recipe, you will need a tube of refrigerated crescent dough. I prefer to use the sheets of dough since they are uncut, but the rolls will also work. When you open the package, don’t unroll the dough. Leave it in a log and slice it into 8 rounds.

You’ll need to create an indentation, sort of like a giant thumbprint cookie. You can use the bottom of a cup, the back of a spoon or your fingers. Whatever works best for you! Once you have the dough shaped, fill it with the cream cheese mixture and cranberry sauce. This is a great recipe to use up leftover sauce since you only need about a quarter cup.

After baking, these cranberry cream cheese pastries get drizzled with a simple icing of milk and powdered sugar. If you want to kick it up a notch, substitute orange juice for the milk to make these pastries really pop with flavor! Want to give these even more of a twist? Try making them with this grapefruit marmalade!

Breakfast with loved ones doesn’t get any sweeter!

Just like this Banana Bread, Blueberry Breakfast Cake, and Quick Orange Rolls, these cranberry cream cheese pastries go perfectly with your morning cup of coffee or tea. A tasty breakfast is the key to starting your day right.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Pastries

These cranberry cream cheese pastries are simple to make and look very impressive! 

5 from 2 votes

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Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Servings: 8

30 minutes mins

Calories: 194

Author: Amanda Davis

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 oz cream cheese softened
• ▢ 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon vanilla
• ▢ 8 ounce tube crescent dough sheet or rolls
• ▢ ¼ cup whole berry cranberry sauce
• ▢ ¼ cup powdered sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons milk or orange juice

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper.
• In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese, granulated sugar and vanilla until well combined.
• Open crescent roll tube, but do not unroll dough. Cut into 8 even slices, as if you are slicing a loaf of bread. Place crescent rounds flat on prepared baking sheets and use the bottom of a small cup to make an indent in the center of each pastry.
• Fill each round with a tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture. Top with a heaping teaspoon of cranberry sauce. Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Let pastries cool 5 minutes.
• While the pastries are cooling, place the powdered sugar and milk in a small ziplock bag and knead until smooth. Make a very small snip in the corner of the bag and drizzle icing over pastries.

Nutrition

Serving: 1pastry | Calories: 194cal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 15mg | Sodium: 270mg | Potassium: 19mg | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 190IU | Vitamin C: 1.1mg | Calcium: 14mg | Iron: 0.4mg

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The recipes on this blog are tested with a conventional gas oven and gas stovetop. It's important to note that some ovens, especially as they age, can cook and bake inconsistently. Using an inexpensive oven thermometer can assure you that your oven is truly heating to the proper temperature. If you use a toaster oven or countertop oven, please keep in mind that they may not distribute heat the same as a conventional full sized oven and you may need to adjust your cooking/baking times. In the case of recipes made with a pressure cooker, air fryer, slow cooker, or other appliance, a link to the appliances we use is listed within each respective recipe. For baking recipes where measurements are given by weight, please note that results may not be the same if cups are used instead, and we can’t guarantee success with that method.