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Danishes, donuts, sweet rolls, quiches, and MORE are found in this collection of our favorite breakfast pastry recipes!

More Collections: Waffle Recipes, Breakfast Smoothie Recipes, Brunch Recipes

Collage of breakfast pastry recipes.

EVERYONE Loves Pastries!

An item is considered a pastry when it contains a higher fat content that yields a flakier texture. Many breakfast pastries are also eaten as sweet desserts, but not all of them are.

Why we love them:

  • Delicious. This goes without saying, there are so many tasty flavor options!
  • Variety. Pastries can be sweet or savory, baked or fried, large or bite-sized.
  • Enjoy any time. Almost a treat, these breakfast pastry recipes can be enjoyed any time of the day, but are especially good to start the day!
Homemade pop tarts with filled with fruit preserves and topped with a pink frosting with pink sugar crystals on a stack of white plates.

10 Popular Pastries

  1. Croissants are made with yeast dough, layered with butter, and rolled into a crescent shape with a light and flaky texture. They can be sliced and filled with sweet or savory ingredients.  
  2. Danishes have several layers of flaky deliciousness. They are often shaped in circles with a fruit jam or cream cheese filling right in the center.
  3. Donuts are fried yeast dough. They can be a ring shape, a solid circle with a filling, or the shape of a rectangle (Long John). They can have a sugar topping, glaze, or frosting. 
  4. Eclairs may look like a donut, but they are made from a choux pastry (a very light egg-based dough), filled with a flavored creme, and typically topped with a chocolate glaze.
  5. Quiche uses the same pastry as pie, but is typically more shallow and is not covered. Quiche is savory and filled with different combinations of eggs, cheese, cream, vegetables, meat, or seafood.
  6. Savory pastries often include eggs, cheese, herbs, and meats to flavor the dish.
  7. Strudels have a thin sheet of flakey pastry dough that is used to wrap around a filling and baked. Most frequently filled with apples, but can be a savory egg and cheese filling to a mixed fruit and creme filling.
  8. Sweet pastries. Berries such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries are often used, but apples and peaches are popular as well.
  9. Sweet rolls are made from a sweetened yeast dough and baked. They can be filled with spices, nuts, and candied fruits. Some are topped with a drizzle of glaze or frosting. Cinnamon rolls and orange rolls are prime examples. 
  10. Tarts have a thick crumbly crust and are much more shallow than a standard pie. They are generally filled with pastry cream and fruit. It is not topped with a crust. 
A slice of ham and cheese quiche on a white plate.

Breakfast Pastry Tips

  • Water. Pastry becomes less tender as more water is added so make sure to keep the correct balance.
  • Flour. Adding too much flour can throw off the balance and create a stiffer dough.
  • Fat. Adding too much fat will cause the dough to crumble. 
  • Handling and rolling the dough too much will cause gluten to overdevelop which then reduces the tender flakiness of the dough.
  • Chilled dough. For the fat to work its magic, it needs to stay cold. Many recipes call for chilling the dough at least once for this reason. 
  • Cut in the fat. Most breakfast pastry recipes instruct you to combine the flour and fat (shortening or butter) by cutting them together. This is a really important step.
    • The easiest way to do this is to use a pastry cutter, but a fork or food processor works too. Simply press the cutter down through the fat and flour over and over until the pieces of fat are the size of a grain of rice or the texture of cornmeal.

Best Breakfast Pastries

Do you dream of making a breakfast pastry worthy of being displayed in a bakery window?? That’s exactly what these are! Skip the trip to the bakery and try these recipes at home.

1 Scones Recipe

Breakfast, Dessert Scones Recipe
Total Time: 30 minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 42 votes
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2 Homemade Donuts Recipe

Breakfast, Dessert Homemade Donuts Recipe
Total Time: 5 hours 21 minutes

Recipe Video

4.98 from 71 votes
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3 Easy Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Breakfast Easy Cinnamon Roll Recipe
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Recipe Video

4.97 from 134 votes
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4 Cinnamon Cream Cheese Crescent Rolls Recipe

Breakfast Cinnamon Cream Cheese Crescent Rolls Recipe
Total Time: 16 minutes
5 from 18 votes
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5 Cream Puffs Recipe

Dessert Cream Puffs Recipe
Total Time: 55 minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 48 votes

6 Chocolate Eclair Recipe

Dessert Chocolate Eclair Recipe
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
5 from 11 votes
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7 Cinnamon Twists Recipe

Dessert, Snack Cinnamon Twists Recipe
Total Time: 15 minutes

Recipe Video

4.98 from 41 votes
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8 Cherry Danish Recipe

Breakfast Cherry Danish Recipe
Total Time: 25 minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 24 votes
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9 Pop Tart Recipe

Breakfast Pop Tart Recipe
Total Time: 50 minutes
5 from 27 votes
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10 Old Fashioned Donut

Dessert Old Fashioned Donut
Total Time: 33 minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 22 votes
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More Breakfast Pastry Ideas + Rolls

Sometimes there isn’t enough time in the morning to produce a beautifully crafted homemade breakfast pastry. Each of these pastries is made quickly (under 35 minutes!) with the help of a canned dough shortcut.

11 Biscuit Donuts Recipe

Breakfast Biscuit Donuts Recipe
Total Time: 15 minutes
5 from 17 votes
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12 Breakfast Hand Pies Recipe

Breakfast Breakfast Hand Pies Recipe
Total Time: 21 minutes
5 from 7 votes
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13 Orange Rolls Recipe

Bread, Breakfast Orange Rolls Recipe
Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
4.91 from 31 votes
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14 Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Breakfast Cinnamon Roll Recipe
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 27 votes
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15 Crescent Rolls

Bread Crescent Rolls
Total Time: 2 hours 32 minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 191 votes
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16 Mini Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Breakfast Mini Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
4.99 from 90 votes
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17 Nutella Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Breakfast, Dessert Nutella Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Total Time: 25 minutes
5 from 9 votes
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18 Maple Bacon Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Bread, Breakfast Maple Bacon Cinnamon Roll Recipe
Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
5 from 21 votes
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19 Puff Pastry Sausage Roll Recipe

Appetizer, Breakfast Puff Pastry Sausage Roll Recipe
Total Time: 25 minutes

Recipe Video

4.92 from 25 votes
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20 Sausage Cream Cheese Crescent Rolls Recipe

Appetizer, Breakfast, Snack Sausage Cream Cheese Crescent Rolls Recipe
Total Time: 18 minutes
4.91 from 21 votes
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21 Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

Bread, Dessert Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls Recipe
Total Time: 2 hours 27 minutes

Recipe Video

5 from 12 votes
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Easy Breakfast Pastries

We love EASY breakfast pastry recipes and hope this list inspires you to make some soon.

One of our favorites (because of its simplicity and how quickly it’s made) is the Breakfast Danish.

Add the cherry filling on top or as is with just the cream cheese, but we think you’ll agree that it’s delicious and SO easy!

Here’s the recipe:

5 from 5 votes

20+ Breakfast Pastry Recipes

By: Lil’ Luna
Danishes, donuts, sweet rolls, quiches, and MORE are found in this collection of our favorite breakfast pastry recipes!
Servings: 8
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes
Total: 25 minutes

Ingredients 

  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp water
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 8 oz cream cheese softened
  • 3 tbsp sugar plus some for dusting
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 (17.3 oz) package frozen puff pastry sheets thawed
  • 1 can cherry pie filling, optional

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 400°F. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper.
  • Crack the whole egg into a small bowl. Add the water and beat together. Set aside.
  • In a medium bowl, add egg yolk, cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix the ingredients together using an electric mixer on medium high speed.
  • On a clean surface, spread out both puff pastry sheets. Cut each sheet into 4 even squares. Make the squares into octagons by folding over each corner about 1 inch.
  • Add a dollop of the cream cheese mixture into the center of each of the octagon shapes. (about 2 tbsp each). Keep the cream cheese in a dollop shape. Don't spread it out.
  • Optional Cherry topping: Add cherry pie filling on top of the dollop of cream cheese.
  • Dip a pastry brush into the egg/water mixture. Brush the top of the exposed puff pasty with the mixture. Add a dusting of sugar over the exposed pastry.
  • Bake for 15-18 minutes until the pastry is an even golden brown. Cool and serve.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 554kcal, Carbohydrates: 54g, Protein: 8g, Fat: 34g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Trans Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 79mg, Sodium: 267mg, Potassium: 166mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 599IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 49mg, Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Making this recipe? Tag us!
Share it with us on Instagram using the hashtag #lilluna, so we can see what you’re creating in the kitchen!

So Many to Choose From!

There are so many tasty breakfast pastries to choose from, you may just want to create a spread and include a few. Enjoy your next breakfast or brunch!!

Make sure to check out all of our Breakfast Recipes.

More Collections: Muffin Recipes, Pancake Recipes, Breakfast For Dinner

About Kristyn

My name is Kristyn and I’m the mom of SIX stinkin’ cute kids and the wife to my smokin’ hot hubby, Lo. My mom’s maiden name is Luna, and I’m one of the many crafty “Lil’ Lunas” in the fam. On this site I like to share all things creative - from recipes to home decor to gifts and home decor ideas. Welcome!

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Recipe Rating




6 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I made the cherry danish recipe and was so happy with how they turned out. It was next best thing to a bakery danish. I’ll be making them again with different fillings.

  2. 5 stars
    We absolutely love pastries for weekend breakfast! This collection is making me hungry. So many delicious recipes to try!

  3. 5 stars
    Oh, my goodness, do I have to pick just one?? Ha! I want to make them all. We started working our way through the list with the danish. Delish!