61 pastry cream recipes

Kolacky cookies made with a tender cream cheese pastry dough filled with fruit spread, pinched into tri-cornered shapes, and baked golden. A Czech holiday cookie tradition.

Layered pumpkin walnut pie hides a buttery brown-sugar walnut praline beneath a creamy, cream-cheese-rich pumpkin custard in a shortbread crust, crowned with baked pastry leaves. A Thanksgiving showpiece.

Miniature cream cheese tassies filled with apricot fruit filling, nuts, and vanilla in a buttery pastry cup. Bite-sized holiday cookies baked in mini muffin tins.

Russian pastries (pirozhki) with a tender cream cheese dough wrapped around savory ground beef, sour cream, dill, and chopped egg. Make-ahead friendly and freezer-stable for up to a month.

Rugelach four ways: a single cream cheese pastry dough turned into raspberry-almond crescents, layered chocolate-pecan squares, apricot pockets and honey-pecan triangles. Holiday cookie tray showstopper.

Cream cheese rugelach filled with cinnamon sugar, walnuts, and raisins rolled into flaky crescent pastries. A classic Jewish bakery cookie with a tender, buttery dough.

Eastern European meat patties with slow-braised veal, mushrooms, and dill wrapped in a buttery sour cream dough and baked golden. A hand-held pastry stuffed with ground meat filling.

Rich chicken and olive quiche with a silky cream-and-egg-yolk custard seasoned with nutmeg and cayenne. An elegant brunch or light dinner baked in a flaky pastry shell.

Lobster tails in patty shells spoons sweet lobster meat in a sauterne-spiked cream sauce with mushrooms, olives, and pimento into golden puff pastry shells. A retro special-occasion dinner straight from the supper-club era.

Raspberry gems are delicate sandwich cookies with a sour cream pastry dough, raspberry jam filling, dipped in semi-sweet chocolate and sprinkled with almonds. A gorgeous holiday cookie tin addition.

Flaky crescent roll pastries stuffed with a sweet cream cheese, vanilla, and lemon filling. Just 5 ingredients, 25 minutes, and 16 golden little bites that vanish the moment they hit the plate.

Mini brownie cups with a cream cheese pastry shell filled with melted semi-sweet chocolate and chopped walnuts. Bite-sized treats baked in mini muffin tins that combine fudgy brownie with a buttery crust.

Classic chicken pot pie with fluffy biscuit topping instead of pastry. Creamy mushroom gravy, tender chicken, and peas and carrots under a golden biscuit crown. Simple comfort food done right.