11 duff recipes

Italian pastry puffs with lemon-scented biscotti dough wrapped around silky vanilla-almond pastry cream. Baked in a cupcake pan until golden, these old-school treats are worth every minute.

Ginger Puffs are soft drop cookies made with cooked oatmeal, molasses, brown sugar, ginger, allspice, and cinnamon. One bowl, 30 minutes, yields 4 dozen warm-spiced cookies.

Perogie puffs are deep-fried dumplings with cottage cheese dough stuffed with mashed potato, cheddar cheese spread, and optional bacon. A crispy Prairie twist on traditional pierogies.

Puff-top shrimp bisque: individual soup cups crowned with golden puff pastry lids, hiding a creamy shrimp and zucchini bisque. Impressive starter for two.

Fruit-filled puffs made with matzoh cake meal instead of flour, stuffed with fresh strawberries and kiwi, piped with whipped topping, and drizzled with chocolate syrup. A Passover-friendly choux pastry dessert.

Mac and cheese meets soufflé in this puffy baked dish studded with sliced franks. Dijon mustard and sharp cheddar give it grown-up flavor kids still love.

Puff pastry apple turnovers wrap diced apples, plumped raisins, and chopped pecans in flaky golden pastry squares. Sweet hand pies dusted with confectioners' sugar, perfect for breakfast or dessert.

Four-ingredient peanut butter cookies made with yellow cake mix, egg whites, and water. Light, puffy, and ready in under 30 minutes with no butter or oil.

Shrimp puff pastry loaf wrapping a buttery shrimp, tomato and red pepper filling in golden flaky pastry. Elegant make-ahead seafood centerpiece for dinner parties and holidays.

Carrot and onion puff: a lightened soufflé with shredded carrots, cheddar, and oat bran. Egg whites only, no yolks, for a tall, golden, low-calorie vegetable side.

Homemade puff pastry made with instant flour and water, laminated through six folds for flaky layers without the fuss of traditional methods.