Pastry Recipes

Pillowy homemade yeast doughnuts cut into sticks, fried golden, and coated in a cooked maple-brown-sugar frosting. Light-as-air maple bars with a rich, fudgy glaze, made from scratch.

Banana fritters dredge ripe banana pieces in flour, dip in a light water batter, then deep-fry to golden crisp. Hot, crackly Asian-style street snack served with ice cream.

Homemade puff pastry from scratch using a classic six-fold lamination of dough and butter. The base for croissants, palmiers, vol-au-vents, and proper buttery turnovers.

Traditional Sicilian fruit-filled pastries stuffed with figs, dates, chocolate chips, nuts, and warm spices, glazed with a lemon icing. A holiday cookie tray showstopper.

Beignets in the French pate a choux style: light, crispy fried puffs made from a simple water-butter-flour-egg dough, served with apricot preserves spiked with brandy. Classic Parisian cafe sweet.

Whole wheat pie crust made with a blend of whole wheat and white flour for a nutty, flaky pastry. A simple 5-ingredient dough that works for both filled pies and blind-baked shells.

Never fail pastry is a five-ingredient single-crust pie shell with shortening and a touch of baking powder for extra tenderness. Forgiving dough for beginner bakers.

Mini-chocolate eclairs, filling uses chocolate pudding to save time. Rich and delicious chocolate eclairs you can make at home.

Double chocolate cake doughnuts made from scratch with unsweetened chocolate and buttermilk, then fried and topped with cocoa icing. Rich, cakey, and worth the overnight chill.

Homemade fried elephant ears: sour-cream and buttermilk dough rolled thin, slit, fried golden, then tumbled in cinnamon sugar. State fair pastry made in your own kitchen.

New Orleans-style French Market beignets: pillowy yeast-raised squares fried golden and buried in powdered sugar. Mix the dough the night before for fluffier, easier-to-handle pastries.

Cheese puffs made from choux pastry, light and airy bites packed with sharp cheddar, baked golden and crisp outside, tender within. A French gougere-style appetizer for any party.

Old-fashioned cake doughnuts made with cooked winter squash, cinnamon, and nutmeg, fried golden brown. These tender, spiced doughnuts taste like autumn and make about 2 1/2 dozen from a single batch.

Savory pumpkin fritters with canned pumpkin, eggs, and a hint of pepper, deep-fried golden. Serve with ham or bacon for a heritage brunch classic.

Portzilke are traditional German-Russian yeasted fritters loaded with raisins, fried golden in deep fat. A heritage pastry from the Volga German tradition, puffy and sweet.

Drop donuts (no-cut, no-roll) made with buttermilk, eggs, and lemon zest, fried golden and finished with honey and cinnamon. The fastest fried doughnut recipe you'll find.