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Starbucks Sugar Plum Cheese Danish

Starbucks Sugar Plum Cheese Danish
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Prep 12 min Cook 18 min Serves 4 danishes
Quick answer: To make the Starbucks Sugar Plum Cheese Danish at home: thaw one sheet (about 9×9 inches) of frozen puff pastry and cut it into 4 equal squares. Score a 1/2-inch border around each square without cutting through — this is the step that makes the edges puff up around the filling. Beat 4 oz softened cream cheese with 3 tablespoons powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. In a small saucepan, simmer 1/4 cup dark plum jam with a pinch each of ground nutmeg and allspice for 2 minutes, then cool; this is the spiced 'sugar plum' layer. Spread 1 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture in the center of each square (inside the scored border), then add 1 teaspoon of the spiced plum jam on top. Brush the scored border with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water). Bake at 400°F for 14 to 18 minutes until the borders are deep golden and puffed and the filling is just set. Cool 10 minutes before dusting lightly with powdered sugar.

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Starbucks Sugar Plum Cheese Danish

Make the Starbucks Sugar Plum Cheese Danish at home: flaky puff pastry, sweet cream cheese, and spiced plum jam — the holiday bakery case staple that comes back every November for about $4.50, made for $1 each in 30 minutes.

Easy Prep: 12 min Cook: 18 min Total: 30 min4 danishes servings ~$4.50/serving
Prep12 min
Cook18 min
Total30 min
Servings
4
At home~$4.50/serving
vs
Restaurant~$20.25/serving
You save ~78%

The Story Behind the Recipe

The Starbucks Sugar Plum Cheese Danish returns to the holiday bakery case every November, and it came back on the 2026 holiday menu launching November 5, 2026. It is one of the chain's returning seasonal staples, appearing alongside the Cranberry Bliss Bar and Snowman Cookie — the three sweet items that reliably show up in the display case every holiday season. A single danish runs about $4.25 to $4.75 at US locations. The appeal is straightforward: it is sweeter and more festive than the plain cheese danish Starbucks sells year-round, with a jammy, spiced plum layer on top of the cream cheese that reads unmistakably as Christmas without being as heavy as a cinnamon roll.

The "sugar plum" flavor is simpler than it sounds. It comes entirely from the jam layer — dark plum jam simmered with a pinch of nutmeg and allspice for two minutes. Plums are one of the traditional fruits in the old English sugar plum confection (alongside nuts, caraway seeds, and sugar), and warm spice is what signals the flavor to the palate. Starbucks uses a neufchâtel cheese filling, which is slightly lower in fat than standard cream cheese but otherwise behaves identically in this application. The most common home mistake is skipping the scored border: without that cut, the whole pastry square puffs up rather than creating the classic danish frame of puffed edges surrounding a flat, filled center.

Nutrition Facts

Per serving (4 danishes servings)
Calories330
Total Fat15g
Total Carbs42g
Dietary Fiber1g
Sugars16g
Protein7g
Sodium300mg

* Estimated values based on standard recipe preparation. Actual values may vary.

Ingredients

  • For the pastry
  • For the cream cheese filling
  • For the sugar plum jam

Instructions

💡
Pro tip: This recipe tastes even better the next day. The flavors need time to meld together in the fridge.
❄️
Storage: Keeps in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. Freezer-friendly for up to 3 months.
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The Starbucks Sugar Plum Cheese Danish is one of those rare holiday-season pastries that earns its return every year. Flaky puff pastry puffs up around a cool cream cheese center, the spiced plum jam adds that wintry, jammy sweetness that makes the flavor unmistakably seasonal, and the whole thing takes about 30 minutes from start to finish.

At Starbucks, a single danish runs about $4.25 to $4.75. This version makes four for under $5 total in ingredients — about $1 each — using the same combination of puff pastry and sweetened cream cheese that the original is built on. The item returns to the Starbucks holiday menu on November 5, 2026.

The key step most home recipes skip: scoring the border. Without that shallow cut around the edge of each pastry square, the whole thing puffs up as a block and pushes the filling to one side. The scored line directs the steam so the outer frame rises into a tall, flaky ring while the center stays flat and holds the filling in place — exactly what you see in the display case version.

🥗

Make It Healthier

Love Starbucks Sugar Plum Cheese Danish but want a lighter version? Try these simple swaps:

  • ✓Use neufchâtel cheese (sold as '1/3 less fat cream cheese') instead of full-fat cream cheese — same texture, about 25% less fat per danish.
  • ✓Reduce the powdered sugar in the filling to 1 tablespoon instead of 3 — the plum jam provides enough sweetness, and cutting here saves about 40 calories across the batch.
  • ✓Use a light dusting of powdered sugar at the end only — a teaspoon shared across 4 danishes adds minimal sugar versus the 1–2 tablespoons some recipes call for.
  • ✓Replace half the puff pastry with a single sheet of phyllo (4 layers, brushed with a thin coat of olive oil between them) to cut fat by roughly a third while keeping the flaky texture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Starbucks Sugar Plum Cheese Danish back for 2026?

Yes — it is confirmed as a returning item on the Starbucks 2026 holiday menu, which launches in US stores on November 5, 2026. Multiple outlets covering the 2026 lineup, including Fox 13 Seattle, list it among the returning holiday bakery items alongside the Cranberry Bliss Bar and Snowman Cookie. It is a recurring seasonal bakery staple rather than a one-time novelty, so if you miss the 2026 window it typically comes back the following holiday season.

What is the 'sugar plum' flavor — is it its own fruit?

Sugar plum in this context is a flavor profile, not a distinct fruit variety. The name comes from an old British and American confection (popular from the 17th through the 19th centuries) made from dried fruits, spices, and sugar. In this danish, the sugar plum flavor comes from dark plum jam simmered with warm spices — nutmeg and allspice — which together create a jammy, fragrant sweetness that registers as distinctly wintry. There is no special 'sugar plum' jam to source; any dark plum jam (not jelly, which is too thin) with a small addition of nutmeg and allspice replicates it exactly.

What type of plum jam should I use?

Use a dark, thick plum jam — not plum jelly. Jam retains the fruit pulp, which gives the danish a thicker layer that stays in place when baked. Jelly is too fluid; it runs out from under the cheese and burns on the pastry. Good options include Bonne Maman Plum Jam, Smucker's Natural Plum Jam, or any store-brand dark plum jam. Avoid 'Italian plum' preserves if they have large chunks — process them briefly in a blender or push through a fine strainer for a smooth texture that spreads evenly over the cream cheese.

Why do I need to score a border on the pastry?

Scoring the border is the single most important technique step. When puff pastry bakes without any scoring or scoring that doesn't reach the center, the whole square rises as one solid block and pushes the filling off the top. The scored line creates a structural break: the outer frame rises up and out, forming the puffed ring of pastry you see on any proper danish, while the center stays relatively flat under the weight of the filling. Do not cut all the way through — a shallow score (about halfway through the pastry's thickness) is enough to direct the steam. A scored border that is too wide (more than 3/4 inch) results in less filling per danish; 1/2 inch is the right balance.

Can I use crescent roll dough instead of puff pastry?

Crescent dough works and is even easier since it does not need thawing or scoring, but the result is softer and bready rather than flaky. Puff pastry has hundreds of thin, laminated fat layers that create the shatteringly crisp, layered exterior of the Starbucks danish; crescent dough has a single-layer fat incorporation that gives a soft, pull-apart texture more like a yeasted roll. If you have crescent dough on hand, use two triangles per person and press them into a rough square at the seam, then add the filling to the center and fold the edges up slightly. Bake at 375°F for 11 to 13 minutes. It is faster, but the texture is noticeably different.

Can I make these ahead?

Yes — two approaches. Assemble the unbaked danishes (filled and egg-washed) on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to 4 hours before baking. Cold assembled danishes go directly from the fridge into the preheated oven with no adjustment to bake time. For longer storage, freeze the assembled, unbaked danishes individually on a baking sheet until solid (about 1 hour), then transfer to a zip-lock bag and freeze for up to 1 month. Bake from frozen at 400°F for 22 to 26 minutes. Do not thaw them first — the ice crystals help create extra steam inside the pastry and the flake is actually better from frozen.

How do I keep the cream cheese from getting watery?

Make sure the cream cheese is at room temperature and beat it with the powdered sugar and vanilla until it is smooth and holds its shape — cold cream cheese beaten quickly will look smooth but release moisture in the oven as it warms. Also, add the spiced plum jam on top of the cream cheese rather than mixing them together: a swirled cream cheese-jam filling releases more moisture than the two distinct layers, and the baked danish ends up with a wetter center. Keep the jam layer to about 1 teaspoon per danish — more than that and it runs over the border during baking.

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