Whether you’re hosting a celebratory brunch, have houseguests that deserve special breakfasts, or just want to start your day with a treat, breakfast pastries are always a great thing to have in your repertoire. A baked treat is comforting, portable, and often can be made ahead or even frozen. What’s not to love? Here are twelve show-stopping breakfast pastries that are surprisingly easy to make.
Clone of a Cinnabon
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Cinnamon rolls might just be the single most classic breakfast pastry, and more than 8,000 4.8-star ratings make this Cinnabon-inspired recipe that leans on a bread machine for easy prep one of the best. If you want that truly decadent morning sweet, you can’t go wrong with this version.
Bacon and Egg Breakfast Tarts
Sugarplum
Not all breakfast pastries are sweet. If you prefer savory and want some protein to boot, give these little bacon-and-egg breakfast tarts a try. Similar to a mini quiche, they’re single-serving tartlets that are portable and simple to make.
Giant Cookie Dough Pop Tart
Allrecipes / Sonia Bozzo
If your kids enjoy Pop-Tarts, they’ll love this mega-sized version that uses store-bought puff pastry and a simple cookie dough filling. The best part? Making it in one big sheet saves you time rolling, cutting, and sealing individual hand pies.
Apple Strudel Muffins
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Apple strudel is a wonderful dessert pastry, but it is complicated to make. Muffins, on the other hand, are ideal in the morning and super simple. Which means this mash-up will be popular with your strudel fans.
Best Monkey Bread
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
A pull-apart treat like this monkey bread is an easy-to-put-together centerpiece. Just put it on the table and let everyone pluck morsels to their hearts’ delight.
Baked Apple Roses
Sometimes you need a breakfast pastry that is especially beautiful. If you are hosting a Mother’s Day brunch or want to give someone a special birthday breakfast in bed, these stunning baked apple roses are as pretty as they are delicious. You’ll be surprised at how simple they are to put together!
Danish Kringle
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Breakfast pastries aren’t always meant to be delicate individual portions. Sometimes you want a slice-and-serve pastry for a crowd. This Danish kringle is wonderful when you have people staying over: You can put it out for folks to slice for themselves before you’re out of bed.
Chocolate Babka
The thing about a great breakfast pastry is that it works well with coffee and tea, which also makes it do double duty for afternoon breaks! One of the best “eat it all day” breakfast pastries is chocolate babka, a yeasted dough swirled with chocolate for a sliceable loaf you can enjoy anytime.
Sticky Buns
VRoth
Sticky buns might be the most delicious and messy morning treat imaginable. Pillowy dough covered in caramel and toasty nuts is a lovely treat to make for special guests (or yourself!), and this recipe comes together more easily than you might think. You can also bake these buns ahead of time and pop in the microwave for a quick reheat in the morning.
Biscuit Donuts
Peyton Beckwith
“These biscuit donuts are perfect for when you crave a donut and are short on time,” writes recipe creator Nicole McLaughlin. “Refrigerated biscuit dough is cut, deep fried, and tossed in cinnamon sugar, and you even get donut holes!”
Shortcut Cherry Danish
TheDailyGourmet
Get homemade cherry danishes on the table in just 35 minutes with this easy recipe that features two beloved shortcut products: a tube of crescent roll dough and canned or jarred pie filling.
Cinnamon Roll Bacon Twists
Peyton Beckwith
Just two ingredients are all you need for this sweet-and-salty breakfast treat. Canned cinnamon roll dough is twisted with slices of bacon and baked for a last-minute pastry everyone will be fighting over.