47 chocolate pastry recipes

Whole wheat cookies shaped like cat poop, rolled in Grape-Nuts, and served in a litter box. Two dough options: chocolate or gingerbread. The ultimate gross-out Halloween party hit!

Boston cream pie from scratch: tender vanilla butter cake split into four layers, filled with a homemade vanilla pastry custard, and crowned with a glossy milk chocolate glaze.

Smooth chocolate glaze made by melting chocolate and butter in a double boiler, then stirring in powdered sugar. Pours silky and sets glossy on cakes or pastries.

Buttermilk chocolate hazelnut cake bakes whole wheat pastry flour with cocoa, brown sugar, and a layer of toasted hazelnuts. Lighter, healthier chocolate cake with no butter and no whole eggs.

Homemade chocolate cannoli with beer-leavened fried shells filled with sweetened ricotta, chocolate chips, toasted walnuts, and orange and lime zest. An Italian pastry shop classic made from scratch.

Boston cream pie with two split sponge layers, thick vanilla pastry custard, and a warm chocolate glaze that drips down the sides. The Massachusetts state dessert built from scratch.

Mocha meringue pie with a chocolate-pecan meringue crust standing in for pastry. Coffee ice cream fills the crisp shell and freezes solid, topped with whipped cream and chocolate curls. A pour of Kahlua over each slice finishes it.

Chocolate hippenmasse: thin, crisp German pastry wafers made with almond paste, cocoa, and cinnamon. Spread paper-thin, baked until glossy, and cut or shaped while still warm.

Rugelach four ways: a single cream cheese pastry dough turned into raspberry-almond crescents, layered chocolate-pecan squares, apricot pockets and honey-pecan triangles. Holiday cookie tray showstopper.

Raspberry gems are delicate sandwich cookies with a sour cream pastry dough, raspberry jam filling, dipped in semi-sweet chocolate and sprinkled with almonds. A gorgeous holiday cookie tin addition.

Classic vanilla meringue kisses filled with silky chocolate ganache: crisp shells piped from star-tipped pastry bags, slow-baked low, then thumbed open and spooned full of melted bittersweet cream.

Cucidati, the traditional Sicilian Christmas fig cookies, with a rich filling of figs, raisins, nuts, chocolate and rum wrapped in tender pastry, shaped into slashed horseshoes and dusted with sugar.

Authentic Sicilian cannoli made from scratch with Marsala wine shells, ricotta filling, candied orange peel, and chocolate. Fried golden and dusted with powdered sugar for a true Italian pastry shop experience.

Mom's black bottom pie with a chocolate custard base and vanilla chiffon top in a baked pastry shell. Old-school two-layer dessert from the heyday of American diner pies. Walnut garnish optional.

Mini brownie cups with a cream cheese pastry shell filled with melted semi-sweet chocolate and chopped walnuts. Bite-sized treats baked in mini muffin tins that combine fudgy brownie with a buttery crust.