Skinny Mini Cheese Danish

I think I was around 7 years old when I had my first taste of cheese danish. When visiting my grandmother, we'd head to her Senior Citizen meeting in the avocado green Chevy Capris, which was so large it felt it could take up a 1/2 block. I remember the smell of the interior, it smelled a little like gasoline and then had an almost powdery fragrance from the pine scented air freshener that dangled from the backseat overhead door handle. I was a small child and was in the same size of clothing for what felt like forever. The Chevy Capris had velvet bench seats and I was buckled into the passenger seat. My small frame didn't clear the dashboard so I couldn't see anything until we parked and I was out of the car.

I remember being so bored at my grandmother's senior's meeting, as she called it. The ladies would fawn over my red hair and porcelain skin. I wanted to go home to where my mom was but knew that wasn't going to happen. Halfway through the meeting a cart would jumble down each aisle and my grandmother would buy me a cheese danish. I remember distinctly how much I loved the cheese filling and sweet glaze. I would eat all the dough parts to save the cheese center for last. Then in tiny bites I'd savor the cheese filling.

But that was then and this is now. When puberty hit my tiny frame packed on pounds more easily than I hoped. As someone who relishes every bite, it was disappointing to realize that I needed to limit myself to pretty small portions if I wanted to stay "small". By college cheese danish was eliminated and I hadn't touched it until creating this recipe. It was one of those enigmas for me. Danish pastry dough is high in calories and then when cheese is added, it made this breakfast indulgence a thing of the past. I'm almost 40 now and my mother once told me, "You'll see, Jill, as you get older your resolve to stay thin will give way to your insatiable desire to eat. Eating will be more important than being thin." Well I don't know about you but my mom has always been right and she was really right about that! I want cheese danish and the idea of living without it isn't feasible anymore. Yet I still value fitting into my skinny jeans. I worry that I only have a few good years left to enjoy them! Mom warned about that too but I'm going to save that wisdom for another post.

Here's a promise I made to myself a few years ago: to live each day being thankful for it and to strike a balance between indulgence and denial.

Here's a sketch of a recipe I hope helps us strike the balance. It's a sketch because I rarely measure ingredients. Instead I cook with what I have available and sometimes I have more lemon and sometimes I have less. Sometimes I want a sweeter filling and sometimes I don't. So I recommend tasting the cheese filling and adding more swerve and tasting the glaze. Use all fresh lemon juice, none or a mix. Make this your own way.

RECIPE:
Makes 2 danish.
Per danish: 69 calories/2g total fat/1.5g saturated fat/11.5g carb/2g protein/.5g sugar/1g fiber/211mg sodium

• This video that shows how to shape danish.
• Sometimes I sprinkle each danish with white sugar before baking. This will change the calorie count.
• These are great the next day. Store in fridge and warm in microwave for 10 seconds or until the chill is off. Avoid overheating.

"DANISH"
[This amount will give you enough dough to make 5-6 danishes. Leftover dough keeps in fridge for 7 days. Make air fryer donut holes with the leftovers.]

3/4 cup of MyBizzyKitchen's skinny pizza dough
1 tablespoon granulated swerve
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
or instead of egg wash - 1 teaspoon light butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pinch in swerve into the skinny pizza dough. Cover and let rise until 75% increase in size. (Approximately 1 hour in an oven with the oven light on.)

To make each danish pinch off 1 ounce of dough and roll into a 10 long x 2 inch wide strip. Start by rolling into a log and then flatten with rolling pin. On one end dock 1 inch of the dough (prick with tines of fork). This will be the center where the cheese goes. Then twist the dough and wrap around the middle to form a nest. Using your fingers push the dough that may be encroaching in the 1inch dock center apart so you have room for the filling. Add 1/2 tablespoon of cheese mixture (recipe below) to the center. It's ok to keep pulling the dough apart in the center to make room for the cheese filling. Brush the dough with egg wash (beat egg and water together) or a little melted butter. Bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or silpat for approximately 20 minutes, rotating pan halfway and bake until the top and bottom are golden brown. Allow to cool and then glaze (recipe below)

CHEESE FILLING
[Makes enough filling for 2 danishes]
1 tablespoon light cream cheese (60 calories for 2 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (literally 2 squeezes of a lemon half)
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons granulated swerve

Mix everything together with a fork. This recipe is more like wisdom. You can add a little more lemon juice and zest if you want more of a lemon flavor. Sometimes I add more if I'm in the mood for a little summer zing.

GLAZE
Note: if you don't want a very lemon flavor use a little unsweetened almond milk or water instead.

2 tablespoons powdered swerve
tiny drip of vanilla extract (I use a clear extract for this)
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon water
1/8 teaspoon lemon zest, minced.

Mix the swerve and enough lemon juice to form a glaze that drizzles in ribbons and then drizzle over the danish. Allow to set.