Pastries

Biscuits and gravy, traditionally heavy on dairy and pork, is no one’s idea of a heart-healthy meal. This vegan version swaps out the sausage for fiber-rich beans.

This rose-scented kuih lapis is popular in the Malay community, served either as an evening snack or for breakfast and making an appearance at special events.

Kunafa is one of the most ubiquitous pastries across the Middle East and is such a simple dessert to make that it can be on the table in an hour.

Maamoul are delicate pastries—filled with pistachios, walnuts, or dates—that are served on special occasions like Eid Al-Fitr and Easter.

Warbat is a popular snack during the month of Ramadan. The flaky pastry is drizzled with rose water syrup and sprinkled with vivid green crushed pistachios.

A jazzed-up version of the classic honey buns, with caramelized edges and pillowy-soft centers.

This cream cheese pastry recipe is as simple to make as it is versatile. Tender, flaky, and delicious, it’s perfect for quiches, tarts, and even rugelach.

Sweet potato purée and banana bind the ingredients together (so you can skip the eggs), while adding a light, natural sweetness to the batter.

It’s nothing fancy or complicated, simply a jumbo Brie wheel topped with sautéed apples and honey and wrapped in butter-brushed phyllo. But when baked, the combination of textures matched with apple and honey flavors fused with gooey Brie never fails to please a crowd.

Encased in these mooncakes are a filling of coarsely ground pistachios, fragrant honey, and a generous sprinkling of salt.

If you’re lucky, you’ll find mooncakes with an egg yolk or two, which means there’s more of the best part to share with your family.

Up your toaster pastry game with this homemade version: Store-bought puff pastry filled with bright, lemony, honey-sweetened blueberry compote and iced with a yogurt glaze.

These buns employ raspberry jam spread on top of the rolled-out dough so that when you roll it up, the jam is spiraled
throughout the individual buns.

Halloumi and mint are a classic Cypriot flavor combination and they meld so perfectly together. This recipe is inspired by my hosts at the Bougainvillea Guesthouse in North Nicosia, who greeted me with a plate of these when I checked in, tired and weary, after an international flight.

These fermented griddle bread have the comforting flavor of an English muffin with a touch of whole grains. The nooks and crannies make them a perfect vessel for sweet and savory spreads.

This easy recipe skips the yeast in favor of baking powder and baking soda to create soft, pillowy, flawlessly sweet wheels that get topped with a tangy buttermilk glaze.