These Chocolate Cranberry Pastries are soft and tender with a unique filling of cranberry jelly, dulce de leche, and butter. They are absolutely worth the effort to make.
These Chocolate Cranberry Pastries are a little bite of heaven! With a soft, tender pastry and a unique, luscious filling, they are the perfect balance of sweet and tart. The filling is a delightful combination of cranberry jelly, creamy dulce de leche, and a touch of butter that melts in your mouth. The smooth caramel flavor of the dulce de leche pairs beautifully with the cranberry jelly, creating a deliciously unexpected flavor profile.
They are definitely worth the effort to make, and once you taste them, you'll agree! These pastries are perfect for pairing with a warm cup of coffee or tea, making them an ideal treat for cozy mornings or holiday gatherings. I absolutely love making them for Christmas—they’re one of my personal favorites. And trust me, they’re always one of the first treats to disappear! Once people taste them, they just can’t resist going back for seconds. There’s something about these pastries that keeps everyone coming back for more.
Ingredients:
Pastries:
9 eggs
1 ¾ - 2 cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups butter, melted
1 ½ cups sour cream
3 teaspoons baking soda, dissolved in 1 teaspoon vinegar
4 ½ cups all purpose flour
4 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Filling:
1 (14 oz) can cranberry jelly
1 (14 oz) can dulce de leche
¾ cup butter, softened
How To Make Chocolate Cranberry Pastries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 rimmed half sheet pans (13 inches x 18 inches) with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
In a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, or using a large bowl and a hand mixer, mix the eggs and sugar until they are pale yellow and fluffy, about 8 minutes. 
Add the melted butter, sour cream, the baking soda dissolved in vinegar and mix to combine.
In another medium bowl, mix the flour and cocoa together or sift into the batter. (The cocoa tends to get lumpy, so it helps to give it a good stir.) 
Add to the batter and mix to combine. 
Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared baking sheets. 
Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes. Cool.
Filling:
Filling:Meanwhile, make the filling. Mix all the ingredients in a standing mixer with a paddle attachment or using a hand mixer until evenly combined.
To assemble:
To assemble:You can be as creative as you want at this point, by creating different shapes, etc. I've made them into circles and diamond shaped as well.
I decided to make small squares this time. Cut the pastry sheets into 1 ½ inch squares. (It really doesn't matter on the size; I'm just telling you the size that I made this time.) 
Set aside all the trimmings and pulse them in a food processor to make crumbs. You can also combine the crumbs with finely chopped nuts.
Spread the filling on top of a piece of square and sandwich another square on top of it. Spread the filling all the way around the square and coat it completely in the crumbs. I actually like to cut the squares in half horizontally and put filling in between them, and then place 3-4 thin squares together so that they have more filling, more flavor and are even more tender. 
Repeat with the rest of your little squares. 
I got about 70-80 little squares out of this batch of 1 ½ inch pieces. The squares will bulk up a lot and become much thicker after you dredge them in the crumbs. Keep in mind that you will need to use part of the pastry for crumbs. You will also have some of the filling left over. (I just left the recipe the way it is because it's just a convenient amount to mix. However, if you cut the little squares in half, you may use all the filling.)
You can certainly halve the recipe if you don't want to make such a large batch. Since I need a lot of cookies to give away, I usually make at least one, sometimes two batches.
Even though most of the time I am in the kitchen by myself, I pull up the chair to my awesome dining room table, turn on some of my favorite podcasts, like Focus on the Family, Family Life Today, Adventures in Odyssey or Living on the Edge and the time just flies by. It's also a great time to watch some movies. Spending a few days in the kitchen doesn't have to be dismal and monotonous. Not only will you be creating delicious munchies for your loved ones, you'll have a great time yourself. It's actually kind of peaceful and relaxing:). And totally worth it.
Store the baked and assembled Chocolate Cranberry and Caramel Pastries at room temperature 3-5 days in a closed box or container.
You can also freeze them up to a month in advance in a freezer ziplock bag or an airtight container.
Chocolate, Cranberry and Caramel Pastries
Ingredients
Pastries:
- 9 eggs
- 1 ¾ - 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups butter melted
- 1 ½ cups sour cream
- 3 teaspoons baking soda dissolved in 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 4 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 4 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Filling:
- 1 14 oz can cranberry jelly
- 1 14 oz can dulce de leche
- ¾ cup butter softened
Instructions
Pastries:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 rimmed half sheet pans (13 inches x 18 inches) with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
- In a standing mixer with a whisk attachment, or using a large bowl and a hand mixer, mix the eggs and sugar until they are pale yellow and fluffy, about 8 minutes.
- Add the melted butter, sour cream, the baking soda dissolved in vinegar and mix to combine.
- In another medium bowl, mix the flour and cocoa together or sift into the batter. (The cocoa tends to get lumpy, so it helps to give it a good stir.) Add to the batter and mix to combine.
- Divide the batter evenly between the 2 prepared baking sheets. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes. Cool.
Filling:
- Meanwhile, make the filling. Mix all the ingredients in a standing mixer with a paddle attachment or using a hand mixer until evenly combined.
To assemble:
- You can be as creative as you want at this point, by creating different shapes, etc. I decided to make small squares this time. Cut the pastry sheets into 1 ½ inch squares. (It really doesn't matter on the size; I'm just telling you the size that I made this time.) Set aside all the trimmings and pulse them in a food processor to make crumbs. You can also combine the crumbs with finely chopped nuts.
- Spread the filling on top of a piece of square and sandwich another square on top of it. Spread the filling all the way around the square and coat it completely in the crumbs. Repeat with the rest of your little squares. I actually like to cut the squares in half horizontally and put filling in between them, and then place 3-4 thin squares together so that they have more filling, more flavor and are even more tender.
- I got about 70-80 little squares out of this batch of 1 ½ inch pieces. Keep in mind that you will need to use part of the pastry for crumbs. You will also have some of the filling left over, however, if you cut the little squares in half, you may use up all of it.
Notes
No matter how long I mixed cream together. The butter separated and won't come together to smooth consistency.. should have creamed butter first before adding any dulce dulache and Cranberry jelly
I assembled the pastries and did it the exact way, finished ot to the end.
I was beating the eggs for 10 minutes, added the melted Butter, sour cream , Baking powder and vinegar. And then i added flour,but in 4 portions. Added 1 cup at a time
then mixed it with a wire wisk and then with a spatula.
I think i over mixed it thats why the cake was so gluey
That is possible, Steffi.
Over mixing the flour often causes the cake to turn out tough.
Hi Olga.
When i saw that recipe, I was very excited to try that recipe out. But unfortunately i am very disappointed.
My cake didn't turn out how i expected it to be.
I followed the instruction. my cake tured out really rubbery.And i dont know what. Do you have experience with rubbery or gluey
cakes?
I'm sorry to hear that the pastries didn't work out for you, Steffi. Did you assemble the pastries, or just bake the cake part? The reason I ask is that the pastries will get significantly softer and more tender after they are coated in the filling and then the crumbs.
Hi Olga! I’m planning on making these this weekend so excited to try them! Is the cranberry jelly same thing as canned jellied cranberry sauce?
Thanks!
Yes, Diana. It's the same thing that many people buy in the cans for Thanksgiving.
Can I make these but not add cocoa? Not into chocolate pastry. Do they tasty very chocolate ? Thanks
I have never tried making them without cocoa, Tammy. I don't know how it will turn out and how it will taste. They do taste chocolaty, but not as chocolaty as brownies, if that makes sense.
How in advance can I make these? And how to store them if made in advance ? Thank you
Store the baked and assembled Chocolate Cranberry and Caramel Pastries at room temperature 3-5 days in a closed box or container.
You can also freeze them up to a month in advance in a freezer ziplock bag or an airtight container.
Yummy...cranberry jelly like thanksgiving canned cranberry jelly? Do you think red currant jelly would work?
Yes, that's exactly the kind of jelly I'm talking about. Red currant jelly will work too. Really any kind of jam or jelly that has some tartness in it will work.
Can these be frozen?
I don't freeze cookies very often, Maria. I usually freeze the cookie batter, not the baked cookies. If I do, I usually mention it in the recipe.
Olga I just made these and don't know what I did wrong, they didn't rise in the oven at all, could it be because I mixed melted butter, sour cream and baking soda before adding it to the egg mixture? They came out of the oven 1/2 inch tall.
I'm sorry it didn't work out for you, Natasha. I don't know why they didn't rise. It's never happened to me before.
Olga how tall they should be when just out of the oven? Maybe I'm expecting them to be like 1.5 -2 inch and they are about 1 inch tall, is that how they should be? I'm thinking there is lots of butter in the recipe so they probably wont rise too much in the oven.
They don't rise too much; you can see it in the pictures, Nataliya. Look at the picture of the batter in the cookie sheet raw and then baked. This is not a sponge cake recipe. As I specified in the instructions, the pastries will bulk up a lot more when you add the filling and toss them in the crumbs.