If you've got leftover sweet potatoes, these quick biscuits come together in a flash. No awkward cutting of the butter or difficult pressing and folding, they sweet potato flavor without the hard work. More

Sometimes called a Fly Pie or Fly Cake, this pastry is not a common one in North America, but with a few ingredients and about half an hour you can have a classic British pastry to be proud of. Traditionally, Eccles Cakes are made with currants, which can be difficult to find as well as costly. This recipe substitutes golden raisins, which are a bit sweeter than currants but plump and take on the flavor of the brandy and spices very nicely. More

This classic French pastry is filled with a vanilla scented cream and covered in a smooth chocolate glaze. More

Preparing a homemade version of the popular store-bought pastries is extremely easy, and placing rows of jelly beans in the middle is a vibrant way to make use of any straggler candy. The jelly beans become soft and slightly gooey while still the tarts are still warm; they form into flattened but soft little sugar lumps when cooled. More

Lighter and airier than their street food cousins, these zeppole are a must for St. Joseph's Day celebrations in Italian American communities. More

When it comes to prepping the doughnuts, Long Johns are a snap. After the first rise, just roll out the dough into a large rectangle and cut out the bars. Alas, the lack of scraps means no doughnut holes, but for dunkers, the shape of the Long Johns is ideal. More

These Pop-Tarts boast everything you remember about the originals and even newcomers like me can appreciate their warm, spicy-sweet flavor. Frosting lovers will enjoy their irresistibly lickable icing while purists can opt to go au naturel. The real question is: will you butter yours? More

Crisp on the outside, yet soft and yielding on the inside, pączki may look like ordinary jelly doughnuts, but these rich and dense pastries are far from run-of-the-mill. More

A glassy, caramelized exterior contrasted with an impossibly custardy center. More

This deceptively simple Apple Strudel is made flaky phyllo brushed with clarified butter and confectioners' sugar and a sweet-tart apple-sour cream filling studded with currants, raisins, and walnuts. More

These easy twists taste of everything you want at breakfast: sugar, butter, warming cinnamon and a hint of fruit. More

While buñuelos de rodilla can be found year-round in some areas of México, they are often served as a Christmas treat, either acaramelizados (crisp) or garritos (soaked in a simple syrup) during supper on nochebuena (Christmas Eve). More

To encapsulate the velvety chocolate cream, it could be none other than a chocolate puff. More

Croissants, with their golden brown, crisp exterior and creamy, buttery interior, are always a welcome treat. To make them, you create a yeasted dough, into which you secure a sheet of butter. The flaky layers in the end product are the result of folding the dough many times, a process called lamination. From mixing and proofing, to laminating and resting and shaping, croissants are certainly not a quickie project, but with practice, the results can be amazing. More

Some churro recipes are made as simply as mixing flour and water, but I prefer more texture and richness, so these are made with eggs and milk. I also don't like to rely solely on the cinnamon-sugar coating for flavor on the outside, so I've added cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla to the dough. Churros are often eaten with a cup of chocolate and in some countries, with a dip of dulce de leche; here I make an accompaniment that melds both flavors. More

This is a spin on classic palmiers, made with a simple syrup that contains pumpkin puree and a sugar mixture laced with pumpkin pie spices. Palmiers are simple cookies, basically caramelized sugar and syrup baked into puff pastry. The pumpkin flavor is subtle and the spice is intense. Feel free to use high-quality, all-butter frozen pastry from the store if you don't have time to roll your own. More

Puff pastry, while challenging to make, is a wonderful dough that yields light, buttery, flaky layers of shattering pastry. The layers are created by folding layers of butter between sheets of dough. When it bakes, the butter melts, releasing steam and making the dough puff up as the layers separate. This dough is great for making bar tarts, breakfast pastries, palmiers, and dozens of classic French confections. More

Either Kellogg's now manufactures Pop-Tarts using a reformulated recipe or the tastebuds I possessed as a child had not developed enough to distinguish between crap and yum. As a kid, I thought Pop-Tarts represented the absolute pinnacle of deliciousness. I remember each nibble bringing supreme, no, divine pleasure. My adult palate, however, finds every bite a new adventure in disappointment. More

Palmiers are made from puff pastry, which makes them exceptionally tender and flaky. More

For all of you ambitious bakers out there who have been wondering just how the buttery layers of a croissant come to be, this recipe is for you. Harvard grad Joanne Chang has written a comprehensive recipe that will hold your hand from dough rolling to shaping to proudly pulling lovely, flaky croissants out of the oven. More