You are going to fall in love with these Stuffed Puff Pastry Donut Hearts. They’re stuffed with cream cheese and raspberry preserves, baked, and then drizzled with a white chocolate glaze.
January is always a hard month. After all the fun and anticipation of the holidays, January shows up dark, and cold, and so very, very long.
It makes sense then that after surviving January, we all need a holiday with chocolate and treats, right?
These Stuffed Puff Pastry Donuts are just the thing to console yourself with in February. I made them into Puff Pastry Hearts, because Valentine’s Day, but you could just make these circles if hearts aren’t your thing. There is, however, something about eating a delicious heart shaped pastry that adds a little extra sweetness to the experience.
These Stuffed Puff Pastry Donut Hearts are a cinch to make. They’re so easy, in fact, that my kids love to make them all on their own. This is an excellent recipe to get your kids in the kitchen!
You can be really ambitious and make your own puff pastry dough, but honestly, these work just fine with the pre-made puff pastry you find in the freezer section at the grocery store.
These pictures of my kids making puff pastry donuts will show you just how quick and easy the whole process is! Start with puff pastry, thawed, and rolled out into a rectangle.
The number you can cut out may vary depending on the brand of puff pastry you use. This Pepperidge Farm brand made 7 stuffed puff pastry donuts.
Once you’ve cut out all the puff pastry hearts (cut an even number), you stuff them with a square of cream cheese and then gently press two fingers into the cream cheese to make a little indentation.
Then you spoon the raspberry preserves (or your favorite fruit preserves) into the center of the cream cheese. Don’t worry if it gets a little messy – it all works itself out in the oven.
When the stuffing is complete, you top each heart with another puff pastry heart and seal the edges by pressing them together with a fork, as you see below.
After a brief chill session in the freezer, and a quick egg wash, these are ready for the oven.
And when you pull them out of the oven and dig in, they look something like this:
These Stuffed Puff Pastry Donuts are so delicious! They’re crispy and flaky and dissolve in your mouth not unlike a delicious glazed donut. The white chocolate glaze on these little heart babies takes them right over the top.
We’re eating these for breakfast on Valentine’s Day tomorrow (hey, it’s a holiday!). These are also an excellent dessert or sweet brunch/breakfast item any time.
Quick Note: Depending on your brand of Puff Pastry, this recipe will make about 7 or 8 stuffed puff pastry donut hearts. However, you will have a good amount of pastry scraps left over. We always use the scraps to make a few extra hearts, but they do not puff up as nicely because the dough becomes over processed when you roll it out more than once. Still, we don’t like to waste and the kids don’t mind eating the pastries, even if they are a little inferior.
Stuffed Puff Pastry Donut Hearts
Ingredients
- 2 sheets of frozen puff pastry (this is normally one 18 oz box of pastry)
- 3 oz cream cheese
- raspberry or strawberry preserves (or your favorite fruit preserves) - See Note
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons water
For the Glaze
- 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon milk (more as needed)
Instructions
- Thaw the puff pastry according to package instructions. Roll out one sheet into a rectangle, approximately 9x14 inches on a lightly floured surface. Cut out hearts using a 3.5 inch heart cookie cutter (or similar). Then repeat with the remaining puff pastry sheet, making sure you have an even number of hearts.
- Place half of the cut out hearts onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Cut the cream cheese so there is a small cube for each heart pair. Place the cubes in the center of each heart and gently press with two fingers to make an indentation in each cube.
- Put a spoonful of raspberry preserves in the center of each cream cheese cube, then top with the remaining hearts. Use a fork to press the edges of the hearts closed.
- Place the prepared hearts in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes to chill (this will help them hold their shape when they bake)
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Whisk together the egg yolk and water. After removing pastries from the freezer, lightly brush each heart with the egg mixture. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until hearts are puffy and golden.
- While the hearts are baking, prepare the glaze. Combine white chocolate chips and milk in small microwavable bowl. Microwave on MEDIUM (50%) for 50 seconds; stir. Microwave on MEDIUM at additional 30-second intervals until chips are completely melted; stir well after each 30-second interval. You can add a little more milk if needed to achieve desired consistency, just add 1 teaspoon at a time.
- Drizzle glaze on baked puff pastry donut hearts and enjoy!
Notes
I like to use Fruit preserves, like Bon Maman, because they are thicker. Don't use jelly because it will just leak out of the hearts during baking.
Paige Cassandra Flamm says
You totally nailed it with these! They look absolutely amazing!