24 Pastry Recipes That Taste Like They Came from a Bakery
Bring the aromas of your favorite bakery home with our pastry recipes. If you're a beginner, don't be intimidated. Pastry dishes always start with a dough consisting of flour, water, and solid fat (which can be shortening, butter, or lard). Some common examples include pies, tarts, donuts, croissants, Danishes, and scones. Here's a handful of our favorite recipes, including some easy shortcuts, such as frozen puff pastry or refrigerated piecrust.
Blueberry-Cream Cheese Pastries
Attention blueberry-lovers: These flaky breakfast pastries are full of your favorite bite-size berries. Give them a spread made with cream cheese, vanilla, and lemon juice for a sweet-tart kickoff to the day.
Potato Cinnamon Rolls
We're letting you in on the secret ingredient to the most fluffy, delicious cinnamon rolls you'll ever taste—potatoes. That's right, this top-rated recipe from our Test Kitchen uses mashed potatoes to achieve the ultimate soft, pillowy rolls you know and love.
Apple-Cheese Danish
Layers of light and flaky puff pastry sheets, spiced apple slices, and cream cheese fill this Danish pastry recipe. Save yourself some prep time and skip a step by substituting canned apple pie filling for the spiced apples.
Almond and Vanilla Bean Scones
These rich, moist scones get their incredible flavor from almond extract and vanilla-bean paste. To ease cutting the pastry dough, cover it with plastic wrap and freeze for 20 minutes before slicing. You can also freeze the dough up to two months for delicious homemade pastries at a moment's notice.
Cream Cheese Danishes
The key to creating a flaky pastry, like this classic Danish, is all about the puff pastry. Luckily, the frozen version at your grocery store is delicious, and definitely worth buying as a shortcut. Top this easy breakfast recipe with your favorite fruit preserves.
Lavender-Honey Lemon Tart
This delicious pastry recipe is a showstopping brunch treat or dessert that only looks complicated. It takes a mere 10 minutes of hands-on time to get this sweet and tangy tart together. The candied lemons are also easy to make and are an impressive topper.
Chocolate Cannoli
Make easy work of these sweet pastries—a plastic bag quickly pipes a homemade chocolate filling into purchased cannoli shells. Look for the shells at Italian grocery stores and larger supermarkets.
Strawberry-Cardamom Turnovers
Here our homemade strawberry jam is infused with cardamom for a zesty take. Stuffed inside a flaky pastry and drizzled with powdered sugar icing, this is a breakfast recipe that's sweet enough for dessert.
Stuffed Churro Puffs
Some flavors were just meant to be paired, such as the dulce de leche that stuffs these churro-inspired cream puffs. If you've never made choux pastry, watch our video to show you how easy it is to make from scratch.
Danish Pastry Apple Bars
Serve these delicious apple pastry bars to really win over the breakfast guests. You'll love that the recipe can make 32 bars, and they'll love the crunch of the hidden layer of cornflakes.
Best Donuts
This classic pastry recipe from the 1953 edition of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book is our favorite. We've updated the donuts to use butter (and more of it) instead of shortening, but kept its classic cinnamon-nutmeg spice.
French Market Beignets
Originally developed in New Orleans, these elegant, fried French pastries are dusted with a generous coating of powdered sugar. Fun fact: The word "beignet" is actually French for "fritter."
Apple-Toffee Tartlets
Get all the goodness of a caramel apple with this delicious blend of apple chunks, toffee bits, and brown sugar. A buttery pastry shell holds it all together for the perfect bite.
Danish Kringle Pastry
Danish Kringle is a holiday tradition. This homemade pastry recipe is stuffed with almonds and apricot fruit spread. A drizzle of icing and sliced almonds is the perfect finishing touch.
Lady Locks
Instead of heading to the local bakery, whip up this lady lock recipe with just 45 minutes of prep. We'll walk you through exactly how to form the classic shape and make the homemade pastry cream filling.
Gluten Free Coconut Cream and Pineapple Cream Puffs
A dough made with brown rice flour is the start to this gluten-free pastry recipe. Use corn start in the coconut filling to keep the entire recipe compliant. Roasted pineapple rounds out the filling and adds more sweetness.
Shortcut Sugar Buns
Have a homemade pastry for breakfast on the table in under an hour. Roll up swirls of sugary puff pastry to create a flaky sweet that's perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert.
Fried Apple Hand Pies
If you don't want to fry this apple pastry recipe, don't worry! Our Test Kitchen developed an air fryer method that results in crisp, golden pastry pockets. Finish the dessert with a drizzle of vanilla icing.
Spiced Apple Tarte Tatin
This shortcut pastry recipe calls for just five ingredients. We love the flavor of Braeburn apples in this dessert recipe. If you can't find them, try using Honey Crisp or Granny Smith apples.
Jam-Filled Hand Pies
A flaky homemade pastry dough is the start of this easy dessert. Stuff the pockets with either jam or chocolate hazelnut spread. Use cookie cutters to create shapes on the finished pastries.
Apple-Cheddar Strudel
Take on this ambitious baking project and you'll be rewarded with layers of flaky pastry and sweet apples. Shredded sharp cheddar cheese adds a savory flavor element that pairs well with the apples. We'll walk you through the entire process step-by-step.
Crinkle Cake
If you've never heard of crinkle cake, let us introduce you to one of our favorite desserts. It's made with layers of phyllo dough that are "crinkled" and put into a baking dish. Pour on a vanilla custard and finish with honey syrup. It's the perfect combination of crispy edges and a creamy center.
Cream Puffs with Pumpkin Ice Cream
Every part of this pastry recipe is made from scratch. Start with a homemade pumpkin dough and fill with freshly made pumpkin ice cream. Our easy ice cream recipe is no-churn so there's no need for any special tools or machines.
Bakewell Tart
A Bakewell is a classic British dessert that's often made with jam and almonds. Our take on the dessert calls for almond meal, raspberry jam, and sliced almonds. This homemade pastry is a must for your next Bridgerton marathon.