I love pastry recipes so much and if you do too, you'll love these strawberry jelly-filled vegan Danish pastries which have are made from a mouth-watering flaky puff pastry. You need to give a them a try!
They take just 10 minutes to bake inside the oven, which is super quick. Be careful and check on them while they're in the oven so that they don't burn.
I used pre-rolled vegan puff pastry for this recipe as it makes the whole process far simpler and much quicker which i'm sure most of you will appreciate that. They taste really fresh and you won't believe how crispy they are around the edges!
For all you strawberry lovers out there, you also need to try my vegan strawberry cheesecake bars, vegan frozen yogurt peanut butter strawberry bites and vegan strawberry lemon layer cake. There's no such thing as too much strawberry inspiration.
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Why You Will Love These Strawberry Pastries
- Amazing Texture - These pastries are beautifully golden, as well as being so flaky and crispy around the edges. When a Danish pastries is like this, there aren't many better things. They're even crispier than my vegan Spanish fried cinnamon sugar churros and that's saying something!
- Approachable Recipe - As these treats use a pre-rolled pastry, it makes this recipe much more ability friendly. Pastry lamination is a very tricky skill, so the fact that the process skips that part is definitely a good thing.
- Homemade Jelly - The jam in the center of each of the strawberry pastries is homemade. In my opinion, homemade jelly tastes far better than store-bought ones. This was certainly the case with my vegan raspberry crumble oatmeal bars which taste absolutely wonderful with their thick layer of raspberry jelly.
- Allergy Friendly & Plant Based - This vegan Danish mini pastry recipe is completely vegan and dairy free.
Ingredient Notes
- Fresh strawberries - I don't recommend using frozen strawberries for this recipe. Fresh ones will give you a better texture for the jelly. Frozen fruit is far better for things like cake batter.
- Maple syrup - I chose to use maple syrup as the sweetener for the jam to make them healthier but you can swap it out for granulated sugar (to taste) which is a sweeter option. You can also use a bit of both. Some other recipes that use maple syrup as the primary sweetener are my vegan ferrero rocher truffles and vegan single serve healthy edible cookie dough recipes if you're after some healthier treats.
- Chia seeds - This is a magical ingredient because they have the ability to thicken things. In the case of this recipe, the strawberry jelly is thickened by them.
- Pre-rolled store-bought puff pastry - Buying pre-rolled dough is a HUGE time saver. It tastes great and it is really easy/convenient to use.
See recipe card for full information on individual ingredients and quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- If you don't have time to make the homemade strawberry jelly, you can still use a store-bought one (although this isn't my preference). A pre-packed jelly most likely won't be a chia jam either. Certain recipes like my vegan pudding cake work fine with store-bough jam but it is best to work from scratch with this one.
- When you are making the vegan 'egg' wash, you can actually use any plant milk that you like. I specified soy milk in the recipe card but in reality, you can swap it out for almond milk, oat milk, hazelnut milk or any other type that you like. The 'egg' wash is simply to give the pastry a shine, that's all.
How To Make Vegan Danish Pastry
For the full method, please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
1: Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2: Mash the strawberries inside a large bowl.
3: Add the other jam ingredients to the bowl and combine.
4: Roll out the puff pastry and cut out your shapes.
5: Place the pastry shapes on the lined baking sheet.
6: Make the vegan 'egg' wash.
7: Glaze the unbaked pastries with the vegan 'egg' wash. Bake them.
8: Let them cool down.
Expert Tips
Don't over-bake the pastries - Follow the timings in the recipe card carefully as these pastries will burn quickly if you leave them in for too long. You want them to be golden brown. Also, bake them in the center of your oven.
Use chilled puff pastry - When puff pastry is chilled beforehand, it increases the amount of 'puffing' in the oven. If yours is frozen, thaw fully in the fridge so that it is still chilled.
Recipe FAQs
Here in the U.K, many of the pre-rolled puff pastry brands are accidentally such as, JusRol who also offer a gluten free option too.
Yes, you can! This will be a little sweeter than the jam in this recipe, if that's what you like. You can also make my vegan lemon curd, which makes a great filling.
Traditionally, Danish pastries are not vegan as they contain eggs, milk and butter. My version are (of course) free from animal products.
Danish pastry is a type of multi-layered, dough which is made through a process known as laminating. This layering techniques gives the pastry a puffy appearance. They are usually filled with something sweet such as jam and sometimes topped with a glaze or nuts.
Store these Danish pastries in the fridge for up to 24 hours after making them. Let them come to room temperature before serving. If you wish, you can reheat them at 160 Celsius in the oven for a few minutes
More Vegan Dough-Based Recipes
If you tried this Vegan Danish Mini Pastries Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you go in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
Vegan Danish Mini Pastries with Strawberry Chia Jam Filling (Gluten Free Option)
Ingredients
For the strawberry jam filling:
- 100 g fresh strawberries tops removed & chopped
- 15 ml maple syrup
- 1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1.5 teaspoons chia seeds
For the pastry:
- 1 sheet pre-rolled store-bought puff pastry mine was a 37cm x 26cm rectangle. You can also use a gluten free puff pastry sheet
- Sprinkle of all-purpose flour or gluten free all-purpose flour
For the vegan ‘egg’ wash:
- 2 Tablespoons soy milk
- 0.5 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- 0.5 teaspoon vegan butter melted
- 0.25 teaspoon maple syrup
- Granulated sugar sprinkle on after brushing ‘egg’ wash, to taste
For the topping:
- Powdered sugar sifted to taste, optional
Instructions
Make the strawberry jam filling:
- Add the strawberries to a large mixing bowl. Use a potato masher to mash the strawberries until they become mushy.
- Stir in the lemon juice and the maple syrup, then finally fold in the chia seeds.
- Place the jam into the fridge for at least 20 minutes so that it can thicken a little.
Prepare the puff pastry:
- Preheat your oven to 180 Celsius and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Roll out the pre-rolled puff pastry on a lightly floured surface so that it doesn’t stick. Rub a little extra flour on any parts of the dough that are still sticky.
- Use a 3-inch, round cookie cutter to cut out each of the pastries, then take a slightly smaller 2 ¾ inch cookie cutter of another shape (I used a star in the images, but I now recommend a smaller circle instead, as the shape disappeared) and press it softly into the centre of the first circle. You want there to be an indentation but don’t cut the second circle completely. Place the pastries onto the lined baking sheets. Set aside.
- Spoon some approximately, one teaspoon of the jam into the centre of the smaller shape indentation.
- In a small bowl, mix the soy milk, vegetable oil, melted vegan butter and maple syrup to make the ‘egg’ wash. Brush the ‘egg’ wash around the edges of the indentation shape.
Bake the pastries:
- Sprinkle some granulated sugar onto the glazed pastries and bake them in the center of the oven for 10 minutes. They should be golden brown and crispy. Let them cool a little. In the meantime, bake the other remaining pastries.
- Dust the baked Danish strawberry jam pastries with powdered sugar and serve.
Video
Notes
- Follow the timings in the recipe card carefully as these pastries will burn quickly if you leave them in for too long. You want them to be golden brown. Also, bake them in the center of your oven.
- When puff pastry is chilled beforehand, it increases the amount of 'puffing' in the oven. If yours is frozen, thaw fully in the fridge so that it is still chilled.
Ellie says
Found this recipe on your Instagram. Tried them and they were tasty! 😍