• Eat Your Books

  Errata sheet: https://www.thevanillabeanblog.com/100-afternoon-sweets-errata-sheet/

  Notes added to each recipe. General errata: On page 25, the sheet pan dimensions are 18 by 13 by 1 in [46 by 33 by 2.5 cm]. This pan size is important to recipes on 171 (Coffee Blondies), 172 (Rocky Road Brownies), 174 (Raspberry Almond Coffee Cake Squares), 176 (Raspberry Mascarpone Cheesecake Tart) 178 (Blueberry Crumble Bars), 180 (Pumpkin Bars), 182 (Cherry Pie Bars), 185 (Strawberry Shortcake Cake), 188 (Lemon Streusel Squares), 190 (Pretzel Shortbread Fingers), 192 (Caramel Rhubarb Shortbread Bars), 194 (Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake), and 196 (Minnesota Sheet Cake).

Notes about Recipes in this book

• My perfect afternoon snacking cake

  • rmardel on May 31, 2025

    Too sweet for me.

• Straight-up yellow snacking cake

  • dbuhler on January 22, 2026

    Absolutely delicious! I am at high altitude (4700 ft) and the only adjustment I made was that I reduced the baking powder to 1 1/4 tsp. I baked in a 9" square pan and it was done at 42 minutes. Straight away the cake is very moist, and the smell is divine! I am interested to see how long it stays moist.

  • Emily Hope on March 13, 2026

    I unfortunately missed the errata note the first time my daughter made this cake (by herself) -- it was a total disaster. She wanted to try again and after looking at the recipe and realizing something was amiss, I found the errata and the resulting cake was pretty good. Not the most amazing yellow cake ever, but sturdy and pretty moist, with good flavor. Might repeat.

  • stef on March 29, 2026

    Nice quick cake to make which I iced with the bitter chocolate buttercream. I would bake it again.

• Raspberry poppy seed cake

  • BachranBears on July 23, 2025

    Made a slight variation with freeze-dried sour cherry in place of raspberries in the glaze, as well as adding almond extract to both cake and glaze to further compliment the cherry flavor. The cake took much longer to bake than stated and came out on the dense side, but the overall flavor was still delicious and the whole family loves it. Will definitely make again and see if the texture was user error.

• Blueberry muffin cake

  • cookingbychapter on December 06, 2024

    can't really say why, we just didn't love this cake. Needed an extra flavour boost from something.

  • AllisonML on April 12, 2026

    My family ate this in one day and keep asking when I’m making it again

• Honey sesame cake

  • Astrid5555 on January 26, 2025

    Who would have thought that adding a little toasted sesame oil can have such an impact, delicious! On a side note, just found the errata remark for this recipe telling you to use vegetable oil instead of melted butter. I can happily report, butter works just as well.

• Jam-filled doughnut cake

  • Astrid5555 on January 06, 2025

    As promised a quick and easy cake reminiscent of a baked donut, but with a layer of jam (in my case raspberry). A perfect snack for a cold winter day.

  • pattyatbryce on May 11, 2025

    An easy, solid, little cake. I used strawberry jam because that's what was in the house. Nice to use up some more of the creme fraiche and buttermilk from other recipes. My only thought is that the jam was a little thin on my cake and might add more next time.

  • stef on August 07, 2025

    As said a nice easy recipe that makes a lovely cake. Used quince spread. I baked it in a 9x5 loaf pan and it took 60 minutes. Definitely will bake again.

• Coconut chocolate chip cake

  • pattyatbryce on May 16, 2025

    Very yummy! It's one that I would definitely make again.

• Double chocolate cake

  • stef on August 01, 2025

    This is a very moist chocolate intense cake. My frosting was milk chocolate sour cream with a sprinkle of mini chocolate crispies. A 9x13 was big enough to feed 8 people for 2 days. Everyone loved it. An easy way to get an iced cake.

  • cookingbychapter on March 10, 2026

    We love this cake!

• Brownies 2.0

  • heatherjoh on March 05, 2026

    Had to cook them for an extra 10 minutes. Probably could have gone even longer

• Milk chocolate swirl brownies

  • mtnbaker5280 on April 19, 2025

    These are rich but they are so good! I used King Arthur Double Dark Cocoa and a Trader Joe's pound plus bar for the milk chocolate. I'd recommend swirling the milk chocolate to the edges of the pan.

• Banana bread brownies

  • anya_sf on June 24, 2025

    Checked after 34 min in the oven, I feared I'd overbaked the brownies as the tester came out clean, but the brownie layer was still very fudgy so I'm glad I didn't bake them less. If you love chocolate and banana together, definitely try these. They did not last long in our house.

• Brown butter banana blondies

  • Jviney on January 29, 2025

    Very good, the flavor of banana bread and consistency of a blondie. I baked mine in a metal pan for the full 28 minutes, maybe even a minute longer, and would call them mostly raw in the middle. I almost wonder if it was tested in a 9x9 pan but I do like the thickness in the 8x8.

  • alinutzamica on June 15, 2025

    I used 200 g of sugar in the batter and 1 tbsp of sugar and 1 tbsp inulin in the cream cheese. Next time I will reduce the sugar to 150 g. The cake is very good, but as Jviney said, the cake came out a bit raw in the middle but I suspect that's the cream cheese.

• Bourbon blondies

  • jay.moe on October 04, 2024

    This blondie recipe is not like the dry, crumbly bars from your school cafeteria. With the first bite of these gooey blondies, the taste of butter immediately hits your tongue, followed by chocolate, and a then just a hint of caramel from the bourbon. Mine baked for 28 minutes, which is a couple of minutes longer than the high end of the baking range, and they were still soft and gooey with a crackly top. Easy to make and so delicious.

  • stef on October 13, 2024

    You definitely can taste the bourbon . I reduced the brown sugar to 250 grms and added 50 grms chopped toasted pecans. Baking time 22 minutes and they are nice and chewy. Family loved them.

  • rmardel on May 18, 2025

    These were quite good. The bourbon and vanilla played nicely together and although you can taste the bourbon, overall it yielded a complex flavor that balanced the sweetness of the blondies. Even so I think I would reduce the brown sugar next time around, and perhaps add some pecans as suggested by Stef. Mine did take slightly longer to bake, but that could be due to the gluten-free flour I used, as well as my oven,

  • anya_sf on November 24, 2025

    Great flavor and texture, if quite sweet and rich. The dark brown sugar, bourbon, and vanilla gave these butterscotch vibes. I like stef's idea to add pecans.

  • debakken on December 03, 2025

    I loved both the texture and flavor of these bars. They're wonderfully rich but somewhat less dense than the old blondie recipe I've used forever--probably the amount of baking powder in this recipe. I used bourbon vanilla rather than bourbon and vanilla extract and we all agreed that the flavor was perfect. The bourbon vanilla scent and taste intensified the second day, which, IMO, made them even better. Update: I made these again at Christmas with dark rum and took them to a family dinner. They were a big hit, and next year I'll make two pans of them rather than just one.

• Scotcharoo blondies

  • Jviney on May 23, 2025

    These are really interesting and unusual - they have the crunch of Rice Krispies but the top is a blondie. I think I’ll cut back my cereal to three cups next time so the bottom isn’t so crispy… but they received race reviews. Felt like pretty low effort for the outcome.

• Sugar cookie bars

  • stef on June 01, 2025

    Made half recipe in 8x8. It really is a sugar cookie bar. A bit of a crunch and tastes like a sugar cookie. Cream cheese buttercream is also from 100 Afternoon Sweets. Sounds sweet but really isn't. A little bar is just right with coffee.

• Lemon cake squares

  • bwhip on November 21, 2024

    These were okay, but I've got several other lemon cake recipes which I prefer. Quite lemony, which was nice, but texture was a bit dense, and they wound up being quite sweet with all of that glaze on top.

• Chocolate chip bars

  • stef on October 24, 2024

    A good basic recipe. Made half in an 8x8

  • mimisingh on November 13, 2025

    I cooked at 325 in convection for 24-25 minutes. I only checked it when I took it out and the toothpick was completely clean so I maybe could have taken it out earlier. I thought this tasted really good and had a nice texture and thickness. I used dark brown sugar for a deeper flavor. Baked half the recipe in a 8x8 like the other user and had no issues halving the entire recipe. Easy to halve since it calls for 2 eggs. Will make again

• Pumpkin streusel pie

  • EatinSnax on November 05, 2025

    I would consider this a bar rather than a pie, as the title suggests. The flavor was very much like a traditional pumpkin pie, but milder. A little too mild for me, but everyone I served them to ate them up quickly with compliments.

• Banana cream pie

  • anya_sf on September 25, 2025

    Quite good. Not actually pie, but rather pudding parfaits using traditional banana cream pie components - much easier to scale down for 2 servings. I used Dorie's pastry cream as it's less sweet and rich; it was plenty rich for this and just sweet enough. I chilled the pastry cream prior to assembly, but should have folded in the bananas before the cream stiffened. Made 1/4 (rather than 1/3) of the mascarpone whipped cream (with cream cheese instead of mascarpone) and thought that amount was sufficient. My ramekins were 4" wide and nearly full; servings were generous.

• Kitchen sink crispy treats

  • Kinhawaii on November 27, 2024

    This was nice- I’m not a big fan of rice crispy treats, so may have rated it higher otherwise. I like the add ons & added extras on top. Not too sweet.

  • dbuhler on April 03, 2025

    We are big fans of rice crispy treats and these were just okay for us. My biggest gripe is that there is either an error in the recipe instructions or the food stylist didnt make the recipe as written because the way it's written did not result patches of gooey white marshmallows as seen in the recipe photo. Since the recipe states to melt the mallows completely, I opted to use an equal weight of larger mallows, which is my preference (less starch). I did like that they were less sweet than most. Despite these gripes, the whole pan was consumed within a few days.

• Coffee blondies

  • bwhip on October 09, 2024

    Oh man, for those of us who love coffee and chocolate, these are delightful! The toasted pecans are a nice touch as well. I made half a batch, using a quarter sheet pan. Can’t wait to make them again!

• Raspberry almond coffee cake squares

  • jay.moe on December 28, 2024

    The almond extract paired with the raspberry jam really puts this coffee cake over the top delicious! I strained the raspberry jam to remove most of the seeds. The recipe stated to pour the batter and the filling into the pan, but both were so thick that it had to be spooned into the pan and spread with an offset spatula. Spreading the cream cheese filling over the jam, made the two layers mix together, but it still tasted good. A toothpick inserted into the cake is the method used to test that the cake is done, but the jam and cream cheese layers stuck to the toothpick, making it hard to tell if the cake was completely baked. I inserted a knife into the center and pulled back the toppings slightly to make sure the cake was done. I made this recipe for a holiday party and multiple people asked for the recipe. The cake is very moist and the flavor is delicious. Leftover cake freezes well.

• Blueberry crumble bars

  • Astrid5555 on April 20, 2025

    According to my co-workers, one of the best sweets I brought to the office this year!

• Pretzel shortbread fingers

  • pattyatbryce on June 01, 2025

    These were addictive. She mentions a different texture with the addition of pretzels and it was true. These are a bit chewy which is unlike a typical shortbread. I'm not sure if I prefer it to a regular shortbread, but I definitely can't stop eating them.

• Tiramisu cake

  • anya_sf on October 23, 2024

    Scaled down to 1/2 recipe in an 8"x8" pan; baking time was the same. Lacking marsala, I used Bailey's Irish Cream in the topping - different but still good. I preferred this 1-2 days after assembly when the cake was more moist and flavors had melded more. I'd still rather have regular tiramisu with a greater ratio of cream to cake, but this was very enjoyable.

  • bwhip on February 10, 2025

    Really good! Not at all difficult to make, and the proportions (cake/syrup/topping) seemed quite perfect. Excellent flavor.

• Mascarpone whipped cream

  • anya_sf on September 25, 2025

    Cream cheese worked instead of mascarpone. Easy to make and very good, with a nice tang.

• Lemon curd

  • pattyatbryce on May 25, 2025

    Solid lemon curd recipe. Great way to use up the yolks leftover from the coconut chocolate chip pie. I used it to make the lemon cream pie from Pie Squared - delish.

• Pumpkin no-churn ice cream

  • anya_sf on October 18, 2025

    Easy to make, like all no-churn ice creams. Very creamy. Good spices, but I wanted more pumpkin flavor.

• Pecan streusel

  • dbuhler on June 22, 2025

    Very good streusel and super easy to make. Same recipe that is found in 100 Morning Treats.