Cherry Breakfast Braid is so easy to make using a store-bought crescent sheet, canned pie filling, plus a handful of simple kitchen staples. In mere minutes, you can prepare the fruity cream cheese mixture and stuff the packaged pastry dough before being braided, baked, and glazed.
Cherry Cream Cheese Breakfast Braid
This Cherry Breakfast Braid is so quick and easy to prepare using a few simple shortcuts that make it look fancy even though it’s truly no-fuss. No one will guess that the pastry came from a refrigerated package because this dough tastes delicious when filled with its sweet and tangy flavors.
This recipe may be a cheat on the classic Danish pastry, but when it’s braided, baked, and drizzled with a pretty glaze of icing, it becomes the perfect puff pastry that belongs in a bakery.
You can customize your braided bread with your favorite sweet or savory fillings, and enjoy it as a morning meal, a tea-time snack, or even an after-dinner dessert.
For more fruit-flavored baked treats, try my Blueberry Breakfast Cake, Sheet Pan Cobbler, and Air Fryer Homemade Poptarts.
Why We Love This Cherry Breakfast Braid Recipe
- Quick and easy to prepare in 10 minutes.
- Uses simple ingredients that come together quickly.
- A versatile recipe that can be made sweet or savory.
- Bakes into the best bite of braided bread.
- There’s no Danish dough or puff pastry to chill.
- Looks beautiful on a buffet table and tastes just as delicious!
- A perfectly impressive sweet treat to serve for breakfast, brunch, or even dessert.
Ingredients
- Refrigerated crescent roll sheet: I used Pillsbury brand.
- Canned cherry pie filling: I used Duncan Hines-Comstock brand.
- Cream cheese
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Egg
- Lemon
- Powdered sugar
- Heavy cream
SEE FULL PRINTABLE RECIPE CARD BELOW
Substitutions and Additions
- Sweet Filling Swaps: You could also use blueberry, apple, raspberry, or peach pie filling in this recipe. You could even double the amount of cream cheese filling and omit the fruit altogether. This is a very versatile recipe.
- Savory Filling Swap: Feel free to swap out the sweet fruit filling and make this breakfast braid savory. You can add meat, eggs, veggies, and cheese instead of fruit.
Recommended Tools
- Large rimmed baking sheet
- Parchment paper or a silicone mat
- Handheld mixer
- Pizza cutter or sharp knife
- Whisk
How to Make Cherry Breakfast Braid
This Cherry Breakfast Braid is quick and easy to prepare using packaged pasty dough to make this recipe so simple. A fruit and cream cheese filling is stuffed inside the braids, then it bakes until golden and topped with a sweet glaze.
- Make The Cream Cheese Mixture: Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, vanilla extract, salt, and lemon zest on medium-low speed until smooth.
- Prepare The Pastry: Unroll the crescent roll sheet onto the prepared baking sheet and flatten it to a 8×14 inch rectangle. Cut 10 (1 ½ inch) strips, at a diagonal, on each side.
Pro Tip: Leave the center solid (about 3-4 inches wide) because that is where you will place your filling. - Add The Filling: Spread the cream cheese mixture onto the center of the cut crescent roll sheet, and spoon your cherry pie filling on top.
Pro Tip: Be careful to not get the filling on the cut strips. - Braid: Fold the ends of the crescent dough up, and over the top of the cream cheese and cherries. Fold one strip across to the other side of the filling, then take a strip from the opposite side and cross it over the top of the opposite strip. Repeat until you have made a criss-cross (braid) pattern on the top of your crescent and fillings.
Pro Tip: Make sure that you go all the way across to the other side when placing your strips. This ensures that your filling does not seep out the sides when baked. - Bake: Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
- Make The Glaze: Whisk together the powdered sugar, heavy cream, and lemon juice until smooth.
- Cool: Allow your baked cherry breakfast braid to cool on the counter for 30 minutes before adding the glaze and serving.
Tips
- Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature to make mixing them easy and ensuring there are no lumps in the batter.
- I find it easiest to use either a sharp knife, pizza cutter, or a pastry wheel to cut the diagonal lines.
- This Cherry Breakfast Braid can be served warm or at room temperature.
Storage Tips
- To Store: Store any leftovers in a covered container, in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.
- To Reheat: Reheat in the oven for best results or in the microwave in 1 minute intervals.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you can not find refrigerated crescent roll sheets at your local grocery store, you can use an 8 oz. container of regular crescent rolls.
You will not separate them, but will push the seams together gently and unroll them into a single rectangle. A sheet of thawed puff pastry would be another good alternative.
If you are serving a crowd you can very easily double this recipe. If you get 1 (21oz.can) of the canned pie filling you can split the contents in half between the 2 breakfast braids and it will yield approximately 3/4 cup for each breakfast braid.
If your glaze is too thick, you can add a small amount of additional lemon juice to thin it. Be careful not to add too much liquid.
Other Easy Cherry Recipes
- Cherry Dump Cake
- Cherry Fluff
- Cherry Bars
- Cherry Dr. Pepper Cake
- Cherry Cheesecake Egg Rolls
- Cherry Yum Yum
Cherry Breakfast Braid
Ingredients
- 8 oz package refrigerated crescent roll sheet (I used Pillsbury brand)
- ¾ cup canned cherry pie filling (I used Duncan Hines-Comstock brand)
- 4 ounce cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 zest of small lemon
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- 1 tbsp lemon juice from the zested lemon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375* F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer on medium-low speed, beat together the softened cream cheese, granulated sugar, egg yolk, vanilla extract, salt and lemon zest until smooth.
- Unroll the crescent roll sheet onto the prepared baking sheet and gently flatten it to a rough 8×14 inch rectangle.
- Using a pizza cutter, or sharp knife, cut 10 (1 ½ inch) strips, at a diagonal, on each side. You want to leave the center solid (about 3-4 inches wide) because that is where you will place your filling.
- Evenly spread your cream cheese mixture onto the center of your cut crescent roll sheet, being careful to not get it on the cut strips.
- Spoon your cherry pie filling onto the top of the cream cheese filling.
- Fold the ends of the crescent dough up, and over the top of the cream cheese and cherries. This helps the filling to stay nice and neat inside the ends of the Cherry breakfast braid when baked.
- Starting at one end, fold one strip across to the other side of the filling. Then take one strip from the opposite side and cross it over the top of the strip you just placed. Repeat until you have made a criss-cross (braid) pattern on the top of your crescent and fillings. **You want to make sure that you go all the way across to the other side when placing your strips. This ensures that your filling does not seep out the sides when baked**
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
- In a medium bowl combine the powdered sugar, heavy cream and lemon juice. Whisk until smooth. If your glaze is too thick you can add a small amount of additional lemon juice to thin it. Be careful to not add too much liquid.
- Allow your baked cherry breakfast braid to cool on the counter for 30 minutes before adding the glaze and serving.
Jenn’s Notes
- To Store: Store any leftovers in a covered container, in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days.
- To Reheat: Reheat in the oven for best results or in the microwave in 1 minute intervals.
- If you do not want to use the cherry pie filling, any fruit pie filling would be delicious instead. You could even double the amount of cream cheese filling and omit the fruit all together. This is a very versatile recipe.
- I used a refrigerated crescent roll sheet for this, but if you can not find them in your local grocery store you can use an 8 oz. container of regular crescent rolls. You will not separate them, but will push the seams together gently and unroll into a single rectangle. A sheet of thawed puff pastry would be another good alternative.
- If you are serving a crowd you can very easily double this recipe. If you get 1 (21oz.can) of the canned pie filling you can split the contents in half between the 2 breakfast braids and it will yield approximately 3/4cup for each breakfast braid.
super easy and tastes great