Who says you can’t have dessert with breakfast? Not us! These easy pastry recipes take less than 15 minutes to prep and are the perfect excuse to indulge in the morning.
While cinnamon swirl bread is a natural for breakfast, we love it so much we enjoy it all day long. This is a nice twist on traditional cinnamon swirl yeast breads. —Helen Richardson, Shelbyville, Michigan
Go to Recipe
Cinnamon Fruit Biscuits
Because these sweet treats are so easy, I’m almost embarrassed when people ask me for the recipe. They’re a snap to make with refrigerated buttermilk biscuits, sugar, cinnamon and your favorite fruit preserves. —Ione Burham, Washington, Iowa
Quick Cherry Turnovers
Refrigerated crescent rolls let you make these fruit-filled pastries in a hurry. My family loves these turnovers for breakfast, but they’re so delicious, they’d be welcome any time of the day. Feel free to experiment with other pie fillings as well. —Elleen Oberrueter, Danbury, Iowa
Chocolate Banana Bundles
Banana with chocolate is such an irresistible combo that I make this quick dessert often. You can also top these tasty bundles with the butter and brown sugar mixture left over from coating the bananas, or sprinkle on a dash of sea salt. —Thomas Faglon, Somerset, New Jersey
Caramel Bubble Ring
Lots of caramel and ice cream topping make this quick pull-apart bread oh so gooey and delicious. It truly is a finger-lickin’ good baked good.—Laura Clifton, Wenatchee, Washington
Lemon Pound Cake Muffins
I make these lemony muffins for all kinds of occasions. My family always requests them when we have a brunch. They’re so good! —Lola Baxter, Winnebago, Minnesota
Cherry Chip Scones
These buttery scones dotted with dried cherries and vanilla chips are so sweet and flaky that I sometimes serve them for dessert. —Pam Brooks, South Berwick, Maine
Chocolate Toffee Biscuits
These sweet, crunchy biscuits are so quick and easy to mix up, they’re my go-to treat with my morning coffee. —Wendy Weatherall, Cargill, Ontario
Ricotta-Raisin Coffee Cake
These few ingredients go together quickly so I can have a warm coffee cake to serve overnight guests for breakfast. If you don’t have or don’t like cardamom, substitute any sweet spice. I recommend ground nutmeg, cinnamon or allspice. —Carol Gaus, Elk Grove Village, Illinois
Raspberry Cheese Danish
After trying a pumpkin scone at a coffee house, I was inspired to look for a recipe to try at home. The glaze nicely complements the pumpkin flavor.
Banana Macadamia Muffins
These muffins taste even better the next day, so to save time, I often make them the night before. They stay moist for days. —Stasha Wampler, Clinchport, Virginia
Banana Beignet Bites
When I was a little girl, my grandmother took me aside one day and taught me how to make her famous banana beignets. Although we made them during the holidays, they’re pretty fantastic any time of the year. —Amy Downing, South Riding, Virginia
Berry-Filled Doughnuts
Four ingredients are all you’ll need for this sure-bet breakfast treat. Friends and family will never guess that refrigerated buttermilk biscuits are the base for these golden, jelly-filled doughnuts. —Ginny Watson, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
Lemon Pull-Apart Coffee Cake
I found this recipe in a newspaper and make it often. I like to bake this coffee cake when unexpected company stops in and I need something speedy to go with a cup of coffee. —Mary Tallman, Arbor Vitae, Wisconsin
Pumpkin Ginger Scones
I made these lovely scones one day when looking for a way to use up leftover pumpkin, and I was so excited with the results. I often use my food processor to stir up the dough just until it comes together. It’s so simple to prepare this way. —Brenda Jackson, Garden City, Kansas
Apricot Cream Biscuits
Melt-in-your-mouth good when warm, these shortcut biscuits with a hint of orange prove that the right mix really can offer homemade taste. —Betty Saint Turner, Attalla, Alabama
Pecan Coffee Cake
My mom serves this nutty coffee cake for Christmas breakfast each year. The simple recipe is a big timesaver on such an event-filled morning. Everyone loves the crunchy topping. —Becky Wax, Tuscola, Illinois
Pumpkin Doughnut Drops
I always have a few special treats handy when the grandchildren visit. These cake doughnuts are one of their favorite snacks. —Beva Staum, Muscoda, Wisconsin
Cranberry Banana Coffee Cake
I make this moist cake for Christmas morning every year. It tastes like banana bread but has a sweet golden topping with a nutty crunch. —Gloria Friesen, Casper, Wyoming
Glazed Doughnut Holes
Here’s a simple recipe to create a colorful and fun breakfast—or snack! For the glaze, use any type of juice you like. —Taste of Home Test Kitchen
Sour Cream Chip Muffins
Take one bite and you’ll see why I think these rich, tender muffins are the best I’ve ever tasted. Mint chocolate chips make them a big hit with my family and friends. —Stephanie Moon, Boise, Idaho
Apple Pear Coffee Cake
A friend gave me this apple pear coffee cake recipe to make for a breakfast I was hosting. The pan was empty before the breakfast was over! It’s one of my most-requested recipes, probably because it’s a bit different. —Joanne Hoschette, Paxton, Massachusetts
Cranberry Nut Muffins
These are delicious, beautiful muffins. I serve them during the holidays or anytime cranberries are available. The leftovers always make good breakfast treats. Through the years I’ve tried many cranberry recipes for bread and muffins, but this remains my family’s all-time favorite! —Flo Burtnett, Gage, Oklahoma
Buttercup Squash Coffee Cake
Cappuccino Muffins
These are my favorite muffins to serve with a cup of coffee or a tall glass of cold milk. Not only are they great for breakfast, they make a tasty dessert or midnight snack. I get lots of recipe requests whenever I serve them. The espresso spread is also super on a bagel. —Janice Schulz, Racine, Wisconsin
Rich Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake
When I was a teacher, this recipe was recommended by one of my student’s parents. I’ve made it so many times, I can’t imagine hosting a brunch without it. Chocolate chips add sweet bursts of flavor to the rich and tender coffee cake. —Michelle Krzmarzick
Torrance, California
Raspberry Breakfast Braid
We also like using blackberries, Marionberries, a mixture of raspberries and blackberries, or all three in this quick and easy pastry. —Tressa Nicholls, Sandy, Oregon
Pecan Pie Mini Muffins
While these are delicious year-round, you could easily turn them into an edible Christmas gift. They look festive on a decorative tray wrapped in red or green cellophane or tucked into a giveaway cookie plate. And don’t forget to include the recipe so your recipient can enjoy this treat over and over again! —Pat Schrand, Enterprise, Alabama
Monkey Bread
Both of my boys really enjoyed helping me make this butterscotch monkey bread when they were young. It seemed to taste twice as good when they helped fix it. It’s one of our favorites for breakfast or as a snack. —Carol Allen, McLeansboro, Illinois
Cherry Almond Streusel Scones
My kids and I love to mix the ingredients together and turn out these delicious scones. The tart cherries and the brown sugar and almond streusel complement the tender scones perfectly. —Teresa Ralston, New Albany, Ohio
Monkey Bread Biscuits
I came up with an easy, savory—instead of sweet—dinner version of monkey bread featuring garlic and Italian seasoning. —Dana Johnson, Scottsdale, Arizona
Cinnamon Doughnut Muffins
Back when my children were youngsters, they loved these doughnut muffins as after-school treats or with Sunday brunch. —Sharon Pullen, Alvinston, Ontario
Lemon Blueberry Drop Scones
I enjoy serving these fruity scones for baby and bridal showers. They’re a bit lower in fat than most other scones, so you can indulge with little guilt. —Jacqueline Hendershot, Orange, California. Check out this drop scones recipe by Queen Elizabeth.
Pretty much anywhere you could travel to will have their own variety of region-specific pastries that they’ve been known for for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. French pastries are some of the most well-known, and we’ve got recipes for all the classics here. Well-laminated dough (meaning it has had butter folded into it several times) is a lengthy, multi-day process, so we’ve admittedly taken some shortcuts to make some of them more achievable at home. Check out our shortcut croissants, macarons, madeleines, beignets, and profiteroles. Looking to expand your pastry knowledge? Try our Middle Eastern ma’amoul cookies, our Italian zeppole, our Jewish sufganiyot, our Mexican concha, our Japanese mochi, or our Chinese mooncakes. Remember—pastry chefs can take years to master these recipes, so if yours don’t turn out perfectly the first time, don’t stress! Pastries are as much about the process as they are about the end result, so enjoy the journey.
And don’t think it’s just sweets. Traditional pastry methods can translate to some very tasty savory options too, like Indian samosas, Turkish borek-inspired scrunch bread, Jewish potato knish, Greek spanakopita, and Chinese baozi (steamed buns). The great thing about these recipes is that once you’ve got their basic concept down, you can get as creative as you like with the fillings.
Want more dessert inspiration? Check out our favorite cookie recipes, our favorite pies, and our top dessert bars too.
Advertisement – Continue Reading Below
Homemade Samosas
We almost never order Indian food without getting some samosas along with it, and good news: They aren’t hard to make at home! The spiced potato filling is quick and easy, and the dough comes together fast using melted ghee. The crust is sturdy, but still fries up extra crisp and shatter-y. 😍
Get the Homemade Samosas recipe.
A danish is a type of laminated dough—in other words, dough that has had butter folded into it several times—but to help make the process a little more straightforward, we borrow from our croissant recipe, which relies on a “rough” puff pastry. These have warm, buttery, flaky layers and a just-sweet-enough cream cheese filling that make the effort SO worth it.
Get the Cheese Danish recipe.
Spanakopita Spinach Pies
Spanakopita is a popular savory Greek spinach pie frequently served as cut pieces from a whole slab pie, but we made individual pockets to save you the waiting time between baking, cooling, then slicing. As soon as they pop out of the oven, they’re ready to be plated and devoured by your hungry guests, no knives necessary.
Get the Spanakopita Spinach Pies recipe.
Walnut and Pistachio Baklava
Sticky and rich, baklava is a Turkish and Greek dessert made of layered sheets of phyllo dough, nuts, spices, sugar, and/or honey. Our version uses walnuts and pistachios, but feel free to use whichever nuts you like the most.
Get the Walnut and Pistachio Baklava recipe.
Sufganiyot (Jelly Donuts)
Get the Sufganiyot (Jelly Donuts) recipe.
Mochi
Mochi is a sweet, chewy rice pastry that hails from Japan. Traditionally made from cooked and pounded rice, mochi are also easily made with rice flour. Here, each ball is filled with a sweet red bean paste, but you’re just as likely to see ice cream, a matcha green tea filling, or black sesame paste inside mochi.
Get the Mochi recipe.
Potato Knishes
Brought to the city by Eastern European (mostly Ashkenazi Jewish) immigrants at the turn of the 20th century, knishes quickly rose in popularity among working class New Yorkers. These hearty pastries—mashed potatoes, studded with bits of caramelized onion, enveloped in a thin crust—accomplished three things very well. They were delicious, they were filling, and they were extremely cheap. Now you can make them at home!
Get the Potato Knishes recipe.
Cheesy Beef Empanadas
This filling is loosely based on a very traditional Mexican (top-secret!) recipe. It’s delicious as is, but if you want to give it even more pizzaz, we highly recommend adding a splash of red wine vinegar, finely chopped capers and green olives, and a good squeeze yellow mustard. Once you’ve got the pastry down, you can pretty much stuff them with anything!
Get the Cheesy Beef Empanadas recipe.
Easy French Macarons
These delicate French pastries are somehow simultaneously crispy, chewy, soft, and light as air. This makes them the perfect blank canvas for creative flavors and colors. Make sure all your ingredients are room temperature to achieve the greatest success.
Get the Easy French Macarons recipe.
Galette De Rois
While king cake is made of a yeasted dough rolled with a cinnamon sugar filling, galette de rois is made of puff pastry sheets filled with almond frangipane and jam. Prior to baking, the puff pastry is scored and egg washed, giving the final pastry a beautiful golden hue.
Get the Galette De Rois recipe.
Tarte Tatin
This classic tart construction relies on fruit being laid over caramel, then topped with puff pastry. The caramel might be a little tricky, but we promise going low and slow and resisting the urge to stir is the way to make sure that you have the perfect caramelized bottom.
Get the Tarte Tatin recipe.
Fruit Tart
The mascarpone filling is light, slightly tart, and just sweet enough to pair well with the apricot preserve-glazed fruit of your choice. Bonus: The shortbread-like crust here gets pressed in rather than rolled out, which makes it no-fuss and stress-free.
Get the Fruit Tart recipe.
This Danish kringle recipe features a flaky pastry crust braided around a sweet, creamy filling.
Danish Kringle Ingredients
Believe it or not, this impressive Danish kringle recipe is easy to make with basic ingredients you likely already have on hand. Here’s what you’ll need:
· Flour: The pastry for this traditional Danish kringle starts with all-purpose flour.· Butter: Butter helps hold the pastry dough together, lends rich flavor, and adds moisture.· Sour cream: Make sure to use full-fat sour cream, not a light version.· Sugar: You’ll need brown sugar for the filling and confectioners’ sugar for the glaze.· Walnuts: Walnuts add nutty flavor and welcome crunch to the filling. You can leave them out, if you like.· Water: Water is mixed with confectioners’ sugar to make a 2-ingredient glaze.
How to Make a Danish Kringle
You’ll find the full, step-by-step recipe below — but here’s a brief overview of what you can expect when you make this traditional Danish kringle:
1. Make the pastry: Cut butter into sifted flour. Stir in sour cream, then cover the dough and chill it overnight.2. Make the filling: Mix softened butter, brown sugar, and some of the walnuts in a bowl. Set aside.3. Assemble the kringle: Assemble, fill, and braid the kringle according to the detailed instructions in step 3 of the recipe.4. Bake the kringle: Place on a prepared baking sheet and bake until golden brown. Mix the confectioners’ sugar and water, then drizzle the glaze over the cooled kringle.
How to Store a Danish Kringle
Store your homemade Danish kringle in an airtight container at room temperature for up to five days.
Can You Freeze a Danish Kringle?
Yes, you can freeze a kringle (before you ice it). Simply wrap it in at least two layers of storage wrap and at least one layer of aluminum foil. Freeze for up to three months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Add the icing after it is totally thawed.
Allrecipes Community Tips and Praise
“What a good recipe (and so easy) for any time of year,” raves Allrecipes Allstar Jan Mowbray. “Made the dough last night; shaped and baked it this morning. I used cherry pie filling instead of the mixture posted — delicious.”
“I made this recipe for Christmas Eve and dessert on Christmas Day — family and friends took slices home for the next day’s breakfast,” says Grace Hill. “Just fabulous and easy.”
“Super delicious,” according to MSelvidio. “After trying a few fillings, I’ve decided that I like fruit preserves the best. Putting a bit of vanilla extract into the glaze also gives it extra flavor.”
Editorial contributions by Corey Williams
I always love digging out my box of sweet bread recipes because so many of them remind me of cooking with my great-grandma on lazy Saturday afternoons.
She was the best bread maker; no bread machine was needed. If I live another 100 years, I’ll probably still not make bread as good as hers, but I’m learning.
Want to save this recipe? Enter your email below and we’ll send the recipe straight to your inbox!
If you love baking bread or are considering giving it a try for the first time, you’ve come to the right place.
These 25 recipes are some of the sweetest, tastiest, loveliest ones you’ll find.
I’ve tried to include a good mixture of “old-school” breads, such as condensed milk bread and homemade Amish sweet bread.
I’ve also added plenty of modern bread recipes, such as the Starbucks lemon loaf and Paula Deen’s cinnamon rolls.
I hope you find a few new favorites while browsing through my choices.
Hawaiian Sweet Bread
If you don’t love King Hawaiian sweet rolls, you may need to get your tastebuds checked. Those rolls are phenomenal – soft, sweet, and as pillowy as a cloud.
With this recipe, you can make Hawaiian loaf bread that feels, tastes, and even smells the same.
With its thin, brown layer of crust and light, white insides, this bread is always a hit.
Homemade Amish Sweet Bread
The Amish do many things right, but one of the things they do best is bake bread.
People pay obscene sums of money for an authentic loaf of Amish sweet bread.
But now that you have this recipe, you won’t have to be one of them because you can make your own. It’s only slightly sweet, but it’s thick, soft, and delicious.
I like to add a bit of melted butter to the top before I eat it.
Cinnamon Sugar Quick Bread
With a lovely swirl of cinnamon and sugar straight through the middle, this quick bread is as pretty as it is tasty, and it’s a whole lot of both.
It’s thick and crumbly, with a delightfully sweet flavor that’s hard not to love. You’ll enjoy toasting a slice or two and having it for breakfast.
Italian Easter Sweet Bread
You can make this incredible, orange-flavored braided bread with only eight ingredients.
Surprisingly enough, one of those ingredients is a russet potato!
You’ll never taste it, though. With this bread, you’ll taste orange, sugar, and just a hint of sweet milk. If you enjoy citrus flavors, you’ll love it.
Twisted Sweet Bread
I wouldn’t care if this bread tasted terrible; it’s so beautiful, I’d still love it, anyway. Luckily, there’s nothing terrible about it.
It’s light and airy, and it has an unbelievably yummy filling of cream cheese and jam. (I like strawberry.)
It tastes a little like a cream cheese danish, but it’s not as dense and heavy on your stomach.
Mama’s Southern Sweet Bread
You can call this one whatever you like, but at the end of the day, this pretty, golden-brown sweet bread is an un-iced cake.
If it makes you feel healthier, calling it bread, by all means, do so. But this is cake.
It’s soft, sweet, and spongy, and I like to pile it high with Cool Whip and sliced sugared strawberries.
Moist Banana Bread
Banana bread is a favorite in my household.
The bread’s softness, the walnuts’ crunch, the bananas’ sweetness, and the lemon juice’s sharp kick – it’s almost perfect.
The only complaint I ever have about it is that it’s sometimes a bit too dry. This recipe, though, takes care of that.
This bread is as moist and flavorful as a slice of fresh-from-the-oven cake.
Honestly, I think it’s the lemon juice and sour cream.
That’s what makes this recipe different from all the rest, and I think that’s why it isn’t as dry as the others.
Orange Glazed Cranberry Bread
This dense, rich bread has chunks of real cranberries and chopped nuts and a decadent streusel topping that’ll have you salivating before you even taste it.
Starbucks Lemon Loaf
You’ll make this fluffy, airy lemon loaf using a copycat Starbucks recipe, and the result is spot-on.
It’s so sweet and soft, and the zesty lemon glaze adds a touch of tartness that’ll tingle your tongue.
Best of all, it’s easy to make. Simply mix all your ingredients in a bowl, then pour the mixture into a loaf pan.
Bake it until your kitchen starts to smell lemon-fresh (a little less than an hour).
Then pour your glaze over it and let it set for half an hour before serving it.
Starbucks Pumpkin Bread
It’s moist and dense; it’s spicy and sweet. It’s a copycat Starbucks pumpkin bread, and it’s even better than their famous Pumpkin Spice Latte.
It takes a little time to make, but once you take that first bite, you won’t regret a single second of effort.
Butter Pecan Bread With Butter Pecan Glaze
This bread cake is butter pecan heaven. The batter is butter pecan; the glaze is butter pecan; heck, even the butter you use in it is butter pecan.
Trust me; if you’re a fan of butter pecan, there is nothing about this tasty treat that you won’t like.
Granny’s Monkey Bread
Pull-apart monkey bread is one of the sweetest, gooiest, and messiest breads you’ll ever eat, and it’s so much better when it’s homemade instead of frozen.
Requiring only five ingredients and 45 minutes to make, it’s also surprisingly simple.
Whether you’re baking for yourself, your friends and family, or a big group of kids, everyone will love this bread.
Chocolate Zucchini Bread
If you enjoy zucchini bread, wait until you try it with chocolate.
This recipe takes everything you love most about zucchini bread – its moistness, sweetness, and chunkiness – and adds Dutch chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips to it.
Each bite is more robust and chocolatey than the last. There’s no sweet-talking or getting around this one.
This is pure, decadent cake, and no one will ever confuse it for bread.
Cinnamon and Spice Sweet Potato Bread
Although it’s sweet and tasty, cinnamon and spice sweet potato bread really is bread.
However, it’s so fluffy, moist, and spongy that most people will swear it’s cake.
It’s a dense, dark bread, and thanks to the sweet potatoes, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and cloves, it’s ideal for the fall and winter months.
Paula Deen’s Cinnamon Rolls
Whether or not you’re a fan, there’s no denying that Paula Deen can cook, and if there were any doubt about it, these cinnamon rolls would quickly dispel it.
They’re a sweet, gooey, sticky mess, and they taste so good, you’ll be tempted to lick your fingers and the plate.
Glazed Strawberry Bread
There is simply nothing bad you can say about this marvelous strawberry quick bread.
It’s tender and moist, and it has big chunks of real strawberries in it.
That right there is enough to convince most people it’s delicious.
However, you’ll also add a sweet, creamy glaze to the top, and that knocks it up into a whole new category of yumminess.
Although I haven’t tried it yet, I’ll bet you could also use this recipe with blueberries, raspberries, or any of your other favorite berries.
Lemon Blueberry Bread
This lemony loaf takes some time to make, but if you like sweets that flawlessly blend the sweet with tart and zesty, you’ll love this recipe.
If you prefer a sweeter taste, you may want to leave the lemon juice out of the glaze.
There’s still enough lemon in the bread to give you that delightful tartness, but adding more to the glaze is a bit too much for some people.
Personally, I say bring on the lemons!
Pineapple Bread
Because you’ll add one and a half cups of pineapples and juice to this bread, it’s one of the moistest quick breads you’ll ever make.
I swear, every time I bite into it, I almost expect pineapple juice to run down my chin.
It doesn’t, but it’s still spectacular, particularly if you enjoy sweets with a more tropical flavor.
Dutch Apple Bread
This soft, thick bread is buttery and full of apples, and I could sit and eat it by the handfuls with just the bread itself.
However, it also has streusel topping made of cinnamon and brown sugar and a generous spread of vanilla glaze icing on top of that.
In short, this is some of the sweetest of all the sweet breads.
You may want to pair it with a cup of black coffee or unsweetened tea to help offset all the sugar.
Braided Sweet Bread
Everything you need to know about this scrumptious bread is right there in the name. It’s braided; it’s sweet; it’s bread.
Put those three things together, and you’ll have a gorgeous, tasty treat.
It’s perfectly golden-brown with a slightly crispy outer crust, but the inside is pillow-soft, light, and airy.
It’s sweet, but not dessert sweet, meaning you can eat it as an appetizer or with dinner.
Grandma’s Portuguese Sweet Bread
This bread is very similar to the braided sweet bread.
The main difference is that you’ll also add milk and butter to it. You’ll also leave out the turbinado sugar.
The result is a richer, denser bread that tastes more natural and less sugary sweet. They’re both beautiful and golden-brown, though.
Condensed Milk Bread
These soft, fluffy rolls feel like clouds, and once you add the butter and condensed milk glaze, they’ll almost literally melt in your mouth.
They’re sweet, but not overly so, and they taste great by themselves, with a tall glass of milk, or served with dinner.
If you want to kick them up a notch, cover them with some homemade cinnamon butter.
Buttermilk Sweet Bread
If you’re looking for genuinely old-school bread like your grandma used to make, check out this recipe for buttermilk sweet bread.
It’s dense, thick, and crumbly, and although it isn’t dessert sweet like many loaves on this list, it’s incredibly yummy.
It’s also easy to make this one a savory treat by adding cheese, chives, garlic, and other tasty ingredients.
Cinnamon Sugar Donut Sweet Bread
This bread is surprisingly filling to be so soft and fluffy. It’s also unbelievably sweet. It’s bread, not a donut, but it certainly tastes like a donut.
It’s sweetened with sugar, vanilla, and molasses, and there’s a generous sprinkling of cinnamon added in, as well.
It’s primarily the coating that makes it instant-sugar-high sweet, though.
You’ll make it from melted butter, white and brown sugars, whole milk, and cinnamon.
It gives it an exquisite flavor, and it also makes it look lovely; the dusting of sugar all over it almost makes the bread sparkle.
Sweet Orange Bread
You can have this incredible orange bread ready for the oven in about 5 to 10 minutes, and it’s so good, it doesn’t need a glaze.
It requires fewer than ten ingredients to make, and all of them are everyday pantry staples.
In addition to looking pretty, this bread is sweet and citrusy, and you can enjoy it as a dessert or as a sweet breakfast option.