Chocolate Cream Cheese Danish (Print Version)

# Ingredients:

→ Pastry

01 - 2 frozen puff pastry sheets
02 - 1 large egg
03 - 1 teaspoon water

→ Filling

04 - 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
05 - ⅓ cup white granulated sugar
06 - 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

→ Ganache

07 - 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
08 - ¾ cup heavy cream

# Instructions:

01 - Place frozen puff pastry on the counter for 30 minutes to thaw.
02 - While waiting for the pastry to thaw, pour chocolate chips into a bowl. Heat heavy cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat until steaming. Pour the hot cream over chocolate chips, let it sit for 1 minute and 30 seconds, and stir gently until smooth. Microwave in 15-second intervals if chunks remain. Let sit for 2 hours at room temperature until the texture becomes pudding-like.
03 - In a small bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the cream cheese on high for 1 minute. Add sugar and beat again for 1 minute. Mix in vanilla extract.
04 - Place thawed puff pastry sheets on a lightly floured surface. Push the seams together using your fingers. Cut each sheet into 3 long rectangles along the seams. Cut each rectangle in half to get a total of 6 rectangles per sheet.
05 - Mix the egg with water in a small bowl. Use a pastry brush to spread the egg wash around the edge of each pastry rectangle.
06 - Place the pastry rectangles on parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 per sheet. Use a sharp knife to lightly score another rectangle inside each pastry, leaving a ½ inch edge. Do not cut all the way through. This allows the pastry edges to puff up around the filling.
07 - Spoon 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese filling onto the center of each pastry. Spread the filling inside the scored rectangle.
08 - Place 1 prepared baking sheet in the fridge and the other in the freezer. Let the one in the freezer chill for 5 minutes before baking. This helps the butter in the pastry firm up.
09 - Preheat the oven to 400°F. Bake one sheet of pastries at a time for 17-20 minutes, until golden brown. Let the pastries cool completely before baking the second sheet.
10 - Once pastries are completely cool, spoon the chocolate ganache over the cream cheese filling, leaving some cream cheese visible around the edges.

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