Notes about Recipes in this book

• Blueberry muffins

  • jay.moe on May 11, 2023

    This is one of the best blueberry muffin recipes I have ever tried. It is easy to make the batter: mix wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. The muffins are really moist with a touch of lemon that pairs well with the blueberries. I used sugar in the raw instead of granulated sugar for the topping. The streusel topping from page 291 would also be good in place of the sugar topping.

  • bwhip on May 28, 2023

    My new favorite blueberry muffin recipe. Super tender crumb, with lovely flavor. Lots of ingredients, but they all contribute nicely to the excellent results.

  • Rachaelsb on May 28, 2023

    These were delicious and thought for sure would replace the Smitten Kitchen blueberry as my favorite but SK still holds the #1 spot. Lots of ingredients-and sone confusion as to # of muffin tins. Recipe calls for 2 but I think that is to spread them out so rise higher as further apart. No way recipe will yield 24-a sold 12.

  • stef on August 11, 2023

    Oh these were good. Will be my go to recipe. Nice and moist and the sugar and nutmeg topping adds a nice touch.

  • Zosia on August 15, 2023

    These are as good as everyone has said even with my substitutions of whole wheat flour for white flour and yogurt for sour cream.

  • anya_sf on August 19, 2023

    To make them slightly healthier, I used part white whole wheat flour and yogurt instead of sour cream. I baked all 12 together, so they baked somewhat unevenly and took a few extra minutes (plus I'd made the batter the night before). Half the sugar topping (1 tsp per muffin) was plenty for us. Next time I will use paper liners as a few berries stuck to the pan and caused the muffins to be slightly unstable.

  • Shewi128 on August 21, 2023

    These were pretty good, but didn't really stand out to me. One note is that I used cake flour instead of almond flour due to food allergies. The muffins turned out really tender. I also felt like there wasn't quite enough blueberries for my liking.

  • katylynnf on January 13, 2024

    A new favorite blueberry muffin recipe! All of the ingredients shined through, the crumb was so light and tender, they stayed moist for days in the fridge. I was impressed! Next time I'll try her instructions for increasing the berry flavor of out of season/frozen berries which involves warming them with freeze dried berry powder, etc. YUM.

  • jvozoff on February 20, 2024

    Delicious! Made 1/2 batch. Reduced sugar by about 10-15% because I’m at high altitude (6000ft). Used tulip parchment cups - again because of altitude - the parchment cups provide more structural support. Was immediately asked to make more. Complex flavor, tender. My new go to.

  • mtnbaker5280 on August 03, 2025

    yum! I used tulip liners and sprinkled the tops with turbinado sugar. I also forgot to buy a lemon so I added 1/4 tsp fiori di silicia. Can easily cram more berries into this recipe.

  • debakken on August 23, 2025

    Muffins are my favorite weekend/late night bake. I've mainly used three recipes over many years--one from a Gold Medal Flour booklet, one from Yankee magazine, and one from a Williams Sonoma cookbook. These are next level good and my new favorites. The crumb is both light and moist, thanks to the almond flour and the butter/oil/buttermilk/sour cream combination. The lemon juice and lemon zest are important--the acidity balances the richness of the muffins. The instructions to bake these in two pans with 6 muffins in each are also important---the batter fills the tin and the muffins rise and create quite an edge. This is a new cookbook to me and I'm so excited to try more recipes.

  • Saltbun on March 27, 2026

    Really yummy! The texture and flavor were phenomenal. I skimped a little on the nutmeg sugar (it was getting late and I was getting impatient), but the flavor still came through really well! By the third or fourth day, the sugar did absorb into the muffin so it wasn’t as crunchy, but again, still so yummy. Will definitely keep this recipe in the rotation

• Almond poppy seed muffins

  • stef on May 14, 2023

    Wow what a lovely almond flavored muffin this is. Very moist but then there's melted butter, oil and sour cream in it. To save time make the topping and almond cream(not to be missed) ahead.

  • anya_sf on August 24, 2023

    Delicious muffins, richer than I'd usually make. To make them slightly less rich, the almond cream could be omitted, although you'd lose some flavor. Half the topping was enough. My muffins took a couple extra minutes to bake (batter had been made the night before).

  • Zosia on September 06, 2023

    These were delicious! They had great texture, tender but with lots of crunch from the topping and poppyseeds, and lovely almond flavour. I made them with whole wheat flour, yogurt in place of sour cream, and frangipane from Joanne Chang's book, Pastry Love. I'd like to try these with lemon curd or jam as suggested.

  • dbuhler on June 24, 2024

    Yum! I omitted the poppy seeds since I didn't have any. I also used toasted slivered almonds, and instead of the sugar called for in the topping I used 1/2 teaspoon turbinado sugar on top of each muffin. I made the batter the day before baking and I baked them in tulip liners so none of the almonds would fall off. I loved the texture and the flavor of these. I will definitely make these again!

  • jay.moe on August 14, 2024

    These muffins were very tender and moist. The sugar and almond topping made more than could possibly be used. Half as much would be plenty. I used cherry preserves in place of the Almond Cream. The recipe notes suggest 1/3 cup. Next time I would use more as it didn't seem like quite enough. Lemon curd would go well with the almond extract and poppy seeds, too. Overall, this is a good recipe.

  • jvozoff on September 11, 2024

    Made as written except ~35% less sugar, fewer poppy seeds (I only had 2T) and used homemade Concord grape jam instead of almond cream, as per suggested jam substitute in recipe. As previously mentioned, really nice texture and almond flavor. I loved the almond topping. I used all the topping since I baked in tulip parchment cups, which held it all in place. Next time I would cut down a bit on the topping sugar but not the nuts. Will likely also further cut down on muffin batter sugar to offset increased jam as suggested by jay.moe

  • taraanddavid_6uvt62 on March 16, 2026

    These fell a little flat in the oven, but still delicious and moist. I’d pack more almonds on next time, but didn’t miss the coarse sugar topping.

  • taraanddavid_6uvt62 on March 25, 2026

    Skipped the toppings entirely, equally tasty!

  • Saltbun on May 19, 2026

    Very yummy! It’s got a clear almond flavor that isn’t overpowering at all and the texture is soft and moist. The batch I made was done in 18 minutes. For the sugar/almond topping, I found a lot of the sugar fell off when I moved the muffins to the cooling rack. Had better luck with the second batch, where I used less sugar and pressed it into the batter with the spoon to try and secure it.

• Mixed berry muffins

  • anya_sf on July 31, 2023

    Really good, if a little less healthy and more cake-like than my usual muffins. The generous amount of berry swirl caused the muffin tops to slump in places. Regular liners worked fine instead of tulip liners, using only 1 cup streusel, which seemed like plenty.

  • dbuhler on June 22, 2025

    Excellent muffins! I used frozen berries for the berry swirl that I thawed in the saucepan before cooking. I simmered them at medium heat for 6 to 8 minutes to drive off some of the liquid and to get it to a more jam-like state. I used tulip liners and only filled 10, but if I had been using regular liners I would have probably had more muffins. These were delicious and I will make them again!

• Caramel apple muffins

  • anya_sf on January 05, 2025

    White whole wheat flour worked nicely instead of AP; texture wasn't heavy. I mixed the batter the night before baking and chilled it; the muffins (I got 9 rather than 8) baked in 25 min. Skipped the glaze as we had them for breakfast and they were plenty sweet with decent apple flavor. The super picky eater gave them a thumbs up.

• Double chocolate banana muffins

  • Zosia on June 15, 2023

    Very rich and deeply chocolatey, a little too much so for a morning treat for me but chocolate lovers enjoyed them. The banana was noticeable as a background flavour. I used whole wheat flour, omitted the turbinado topping and made them slightly smaller than instructed for a yield of 16.

  • jvozoff on September 11, 2024

    Wasn’t expecting much from this recipe – my family is not a huge fan of chocolate muffins. But they were surprisingly delicious. Very soft and not too rich. I agree they’re a bit much for breakfast, but great as a dessert or indulgent snack. One of my tasters suggested more banana, but that’s a matter of personal taste. The balance is fine as is. I did not add a sugar topping, cut back about 30% on the sugar in the batter, and used about 1/2 the amount of semisweet chocolate in the form of mini chips. I also added a teaspoon of espresso powder, which added a nice depth. Will definitely make again when the inevitable overripe bananas are calling.

• Rhubarb cream cheese swirl muffins

  • KCKB on May 24, 2023

    These are delicious! The tart rhubarb and tang of the cream cheese, sour cream and buttermilk nicely balance the sweetness of the streusel. There seems to be a minor error in the recipe, though? It says the yield is 10 muffins, but it directs you to prepare two pans. It has you portion out a scant 1/3 cup batter per muffin - I got 18 muffins (so I did need the two pans). I freely admit that my measurements may not have been the most precise, but two pans and a 30-minute bake seemed about right. I checked the other muffin recipes in the book: they give yields of 8, 9, 10, 12, 14 and 16, depending. The Mixed Berry Muffins recipe looks like a variation on the same base recipe, lists a yield of 10 and only calls for one pan, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it also actually yields closer to 18 and needs two pans.

  • EmilyR on May 28, 2023

    I used a #16 scoop and ended up with 14 muffins. I'd recommend being very gentle in stirring in the rhubarb as it ended up slightly towards the bottom of the muffins when scooping and filling the cases.

  • stef on June 04, 2023

    Loved these. Got 9. Baked 22 minutes. Will repeat.

  • Jviney on July 05, 2023

    Really delicious. I did not have the tulip liners, but I would seek them out for next time as I couldn’t get all the streusel on top of the muffins. I got the called-for ten by measuring the scant 1/3 cup. So so good.

  • dbuhler on January 14, 2024

    These were delicious in my entire family loved them. I especially loved the flavor and the texture of these muffins. I used rhubarb from my freezer and added a few frozen raspberries for a more intense red color. My muffin batter was quite stiff, probably to offset the moisture in the rhubarb swirl, and so was my cream cheese mixture and I was worried about getting large clumps of cream cheese instead of a swirl so instead I mixed the cream cheese into the rhubarb mixture and swirled that into the batter. It made my swirl a muted rosy pink which was fine. I had leftover streusel in the freezer which made these muffins come together quite quickly. I also mixed the batter and then stored it in the fridge and baked the following day. I used the recommended tulip liners and that worked really well for me. My yield was 10 muffins. I will definitely make these again!

  • anya_sf on January 25, 2024

    The rhubarb swirl was quite noticeable in the batter, but somehow wasn't visible in the baked muffins (the cream cheese was). The muffins were tender and delicious, if sweeter than I'd usually make. 1 Tbsp streusel per muffin seemed sufficient. Next time I will reduce the sugar a bit and add some whole chunks of fruit - raspberries might be nice.

  • kris.mundt on April 19, 2026

    Used blueberries in place of rhubarb and swapped out AP flour with Heartland Craft Grains Italianesque

• Carrot cake muffins

  • Zosia on November 02, 2023

    Tender and spicy and really delicious even without the icing. I used whole wheat flour, reduced the granulated sugar by 50g (will reduce by another 50g next time) and, inspired by the optional Triple Sec, added orange zest.

• Whole-wheat yogurt muffins

  • anya_sf on August 13, 2023

    Made 1/2 recipe and used slightly more (not less) than 1/3 c each to yield 6 muffins. Quick and easy to bake in the morning, especially with the batter mixed the night before. Very good muffins with a relatively light texture for whole wheat. Perhaps sweeter than necessary - next time I'll reduce the sugar by 25%.

  • Zosia on August 18, 2023

    Very nice texture and flavour. I used all whole wheat flour, mashed banana that I mixed into liquid ingredients rather than chopped (due to an aversion to cooked banana pieces), pecans and walnuts, chocolate chips and leftover nutmeg sugar from the blueberry muffins in the book.

• Apricot white chocolate overnight scones

  • Jviney on July 10, 2023

    These are delicious. I was lazy and used Ghirardelli white chocolate chips without really chopping them…next time I would chop them finely as the recipe calls for. My scones baked closer to 25 minutes and I cut them smaller than the called-for 2.5”. I’ll make them again!

  • katylynnf on January 13, 2024

    These are incredible! I've made them twice, put in the fridge overnight and baked in the morning. They are so delicious, so light and tender, just perfectly sweet. I've used a ghiradelli white bar and chopped it up.

• Banana bread scones

  • Zosia on September 18, 2023

    These were delicious, tender scones with mild banana flavour. The liquid portion was quite viscous and didn't mix into the dry ingredients very well. It took almost all of step 4, kneading, then rolling and folding a few times, before the dough finally came together for me. But it did and it baked up nicely into distinct layers. I had some almond and sugar topping mix left from the almond poppyseed muffins so I used that instead of pecans and reduced the sugar in the recipe to 2tbsp. After shaping them as directed, I cut them in half again to make 16.

  • pattyatbryce on October 19, 2023

    Good, but took a lot longer to bake and the dough took a bit to form.

• Traditional scones

  • anya_sf on March 02, 2024

    Sadly, these tasted more like small cakes than the scones I was hoping for, as they were overly sweet and tasted of vanilla. Cut to the specified size, I got 18 scones. I baked the first batch after 1.5 hours at room temperature, and the second batch after being refrigerated overnight. The first batch baked 13 minutes, the second 15 minutes (presumably since they were cold). The difference wasn't very noticeable. In both batches, several scones "toppled over" in the oven. I would cut them wider if I made them again, but would actually choose a different recipe.

• Ginger orange carrot bread

  • Lepa on May 21, 2023

    This is delicious. Not too sweet, perfect for breakfast.

• Apple brandy bread

  • fultre on April 09, 2025

    Delicious recipe! Rough chopped apples (maybe cosmic crisp? with peel) and used calvados rather than applejack. Yum!

• Brown butter banana bread

  • Rachaelsb on October 06, 2023

    I have been in search of the perfect banana bread for many years….and happy to say I have finally found it. Not surprised as Ms Kiefer’s cookie recipes are perfection. An incredibly moist, rich and full banana flavored loaf. The brown butter adds just the right touch of nutty richness.

  • anya_sf on February 11, 2024

    Very moist, delicious banana bread. My son thought it was rather salty (and it does call for quite a bit of salt), but in a good way.

  • Xyz123 on April 19, 2024

    I used coconut oil. Bread was done in my oven at 42 min not 50-60 as suggested so check temp. Nice and moist. I didn’t find it salty and thought the standard tsp of salt was just right.

  • pattyatbryce on August 08, 2024

    Solid recipe -- very moist and full of banana flavor. I think I like the rum kick in the Midwest Made book better, but I wouldn't hesitate to make this one again.

  • heyksquared on January 25, 2026

    My go-to banana bread recipe. I baked in a Pullman pan, and it found it took about 70 minutes to cook through.

  • Saltbun on May 12, 2026

    I think this may be my favorite iteration of banana bread. The browned butter and salt give the banana bread a fantastic caramel note, and the recipe is one of the easiest ones I’ve seen. I didn’t have the 8x4 pan called for by the recipe so I tried it out in a 9x5(ish) pan and it still turned out great. Decent rise, structurally sound, and very tender throughout.

• Maple poppy seed bread

  • Zosia on June 14, 2023

    Very nice cake with a fine, tender crumb and subtle maple flavour. I would happily make it again though I would use a 9" pan next time.

  • stef on November 12, 2023

    A nice buttery taste with a crunch of poppy seeds. I would like to use dark maple syrup next time. It comes together quickly. Baked after 55 minutes and I used a 9"inch loaf pan.

  • Jviney on February 21, 2026

    Lovely and cozy. I don’t know that I would have identified maple in it, but I’d definitely make it again. Baked for 65 minutes in the recommended 8x4 loaf pan and it needed another five.

• Milk chocolate rye bread

  • katylynnf on January 13, 2024

    The texture of this was lovely, but for me the flavor was a bit boring. It was incredibly moist, but the rye didn't shine through. It was generally sweet, but I suppose I prefer a darker hit of chocolate.

• Pumpkin bread

  • Zosia on October 10, 2023

    No pumpkin flavour in evidence in this cake. It did have a pleasant spice flavour though that we did enjoy. It was quite dense but the texture was better on the second day as was the flavour. I reduced the sugar by 50g and drizzled the cake with cream cheese icing left over from the cinnamon rolls I made from this book.

  • averythingcooks on December 29, 2024

    This cake is moist with lots of warm spices coming through & we love the cream cheese frosting. She gives a big range for baking time (60 - 75 minutes) and at 67 minutes, I thought I was good but the ends are a bit hard/over baked. I used my pullman pan (she calls for this specific pan alot) and my father-in-law will be thrilled when thick slices of this arrive :)

• Sour cream chocolate chip bread

  • ChefLeen on February 06, 2024

    I had two issues with this bread. Sarah called for an oven temp of 375 for 55-70 minutes. My oven was the correct temp and by 50 min the top had burnt and the middle never cooked. 375 is also really high for a quick bread. Typo? Sarah also called for an 8x4 or 9x4 pan. I used a 9.5x4.5 and it felt too small. The taste was bland. Perhaps more salt or replace sour cream with Creme fraiche?

• Streusel coffee cake

  • anya_sf on February 27, 2024

    I made 1/2 recipe in an 8"x8" pan. As Sarah warns, the cake took 53 min to bake. I missed the instruction to glaze while warm and didn't glaze until the cake had cooled for an hour, but it seemed fine. The cake was moist and fresh tasting the next morning. Delicious but quite sweet, I would have liked berries and/or lemon zest to add some tang; the occasional bits of cream cheese weren't enough.

• Passion fruit crème fraîche breakfast squares

  • Zosia on September 18, 2023

    This was a delicious cake with good fruit flavour though most of that came from the icing. The cake batter was very thick, not pourable as described in the book, and baked into a cake with a dense, fine crumb. The icing layer wasn't as thick as it appears in the book photo. I substituted sour cream for creme fraiche and reduced the sugar in the batter by 50g. This was served for dessert at room temperature with fresh passionfruit.

• Creamy jammy coffee cakes

  • dbuhler on April 20, 2024

    I really liked these! I used blackberry jam, and I would love to try these with lemon curd. Yum!

  • Kinhawaii on June 22, 2024

    These were yummy. Made 8 in jumbo muffin pans with raspberry jam. I liked them best slightly warm- they were most plush then.

• Simple citrus breakfast cake

  • Zosia on August 24, 2023

    Lovely tender cake with lively citrus flavour - lime in this case. I substituted yogurt for sour cream as per the recipe notes and baked in a regular 9" cake pan.

• Everything bundt cake

  • dprostrollo on December 13, 2024

    Fiddly one. Delicious but did not manage to successfully turn it out of the pan! Probably user error as others have clearly managed beautiful bundts.

• Confetti bundt cake

  • dbuhler on July 17, 2024

    This did not work for me at all. There is a lot of sugar in this cake and adding an additional 3/4 cup of sprinkles just made this cake unbearably sweet. I didn't have the pan that she recommended but she does say that it can be baked in a 12 cup bundt pan, however, when I got the batter in the pan it rose almost to the very top. Unfortunately I didn't have any more baking spray so I just put it in the oven and hoped for the best. Fortunately for me I had the foresight to put some foil down on the tray below the cake which I'm glad I did because the cake completely overflowed the pan and then collapsed. If I do end up trying this again I will absolutely use a larger bump pan and possibly reduce the sugar. The original everything Bundt might also taste fine on its own, so perhaps I'll try that variation first. Just don't bake this in a 12 cup bundt pan.

• Tiramisu bundt cake

  • pattyatbryce on October 15, 2023

    I wanted to love this, but the coffee just didn't come through. Thinking of eating the rest for dessert later in the evening and pouring a shot of Kailua over it. Be careful checking for crumb - if you get a cheesy section, it may make you want to put it back in the oven. Mine ended up overtaking

• Cardamom bundt cake with coffee glaze

  • anya_sf on December 24, 2024

    I made 1/2 recipe in a 6-cup Bundt and it barely fit. Baking time was the same. I was skeptical that it would rise properly with such a small amount of leavening, but it really did. Maybe due to the smaller pan size or use of Pam baking spray, the cake stuck in the narrow ridges of the pan, but at least those parts were covered with icing. The cake had a fine, soft, pound cake-like texture and very fragrant cardamom aroma. My family loved it.

  • taraanddavid_6uvt62 on April 11, 2026

    Used espresso for the coffee in the glaze, turned out nice and rich in a way that really complimented the cardamom in the cake. Cake itself was dense and somehow a little dry, even after fearing I might’ve undercooked it. Pretty good, but probably don’t need to repeat this one.

• White chocolate and fig pound cake

  • Jviney on November 17, 2025

    Made and sent home as a next-morning breakfast treat for dinner party guests. The recipe notes said that it is reminiscent of a fig newton, and I'm not sure about that, but everyone loved it. My bake time was at least ten minutes longer than the long end of her estimate, I lost track as I kept adding five minutes at a time. I'll make it again, was a fun recipe.

• Pumpkin doughnut bundt cake

  • anya_sf on October 09, 2023

    I made 1/2 recipe in a 6 cup bundt. Baking time was 47 min. There was a lot of extra cinnamon-sugar coating, but it's helpful to have extra when using your hands to get it to stick. The cake was tasty, if not super pumpkiny. Texture was more moist than a typical cake doughnut, but less moist and slightly more crumbly than a typical bundt cake. While sweet, it certainly wasn't sweeter than your average cake doughnut and we enjoyed it.

  • Astrid5555 on November 17, 2024

    The spice mix in combination with the pumpkin made this bundt cake the perfect treat for a cold fall afternoon. Based on anya_sf‘s note I halved the sugar coating and still ahd plenty.

  • Shewi128 on November 19, 2024

    I made this, and it delivered on its promise to be a pumpkin donut in a bundt cake. It was a little more dry than I would've liked but still was good. I also halved the sugar topping like the other users, and it worked out perfectly. It wasn't amazing, but I'd make it again.

• Pear bundt cake

  • Astrid5555 on November 02, 2023

    While the nutmeg adds an unexpected yet delicious note to this bundt cake, the pears keep it moist. Perfect fall cake!

• Buttermilk cinnamon rolls

  • stef on May 20, 2023

    Dough was refrigerated over night. Made a nice soft roll with just the right amount of cinnamon. My family loved them.

  • Zosia on October 08, 2023

    These are really good: light, fluffy dough, good cinnamon flavour and a pleasant tang from both the dough and icing. The level of sweetness can be adjusted with the amount of icing applied. I used 1/4 of the recipe and let everyone help themselves to extra. The instructions say to roll into a tight cylinder but I think I may have overdone this as the centres popped quite dramatically during baking. Ugly but still delicious!

  • Astrid5555 on December 11, 2023

    This is a good cinnamon bun recipe but not my favorite. I am not a big fan of the tang from the buttermilk.

  • fultre on April 09, 2025

    The dough recipe is nice, but not my favorite. It is very light and fluffy. My centers also rose dramatically. The cream cheese icing is great.

  • sydlikestocook on April 24, 2025

    rave reviews from the family! very soft. I took kieffer's suggestion to put half the frosting on while the rolls were very warm and the other half closer to serving.

  • Shewi128 on November 01, 2025

    I loved this recipe--the dough was soft but easy to work with when cold. Turned out super soft and delicious. Would make again.

  • hirsheys on December 26, 2025

    Lizzy made these for Christmas morning. Because the recipe wasn’t enormously clear (which she complained about) we didn’t have enough time to do the full 48 hour raise that we would have wanted to make things easier for Christmas Day (one for the dough and one for the buns). Still, they were delicious and not too sweet for my taste. Try again to see if poofier with two overnights. (Girls wanted them to be more cinnamony).

• Toasted sesame sweet buns

  • Zosia on June 26, 2023

    Fantastic buns! The spiced filling went well with the sesame and the dough, 1 batch of Milk Bread Dough, was incredibly light and fluffy. At only 8, they were quite large and very tall from having been baked in ramekins. Next time, I will make 10, or even 12 and bake on a sheet or in a pan. Proving times were 1 hour for the dough and only 45 minutes for the shaped buns. Bake time in my oven was 25 minutes.

• House pancakes

  • yellowbird531 on May 13, 2023

    Too much liquid? Amount of buttermilk seems like a lot and resulted in a very runny/loose batter, more like crepes. Flavor is good, though.

• Kolaches

  • JanayBlaze on May 26, 2023

    Made these using the lemon curd recipe from the book. Absolutely delicious. The sour cream dough is to die for.

  • Shewi128 on June 12, 2023

    Wow, I've only made kolaches once before, so I can't compare recipes.. but these were delicious. I cut out and shaped the kolaches the night before baking, then filled them the morning of. It's a PAIN to try to get the streusel in the right spot. Also, the jam leaked off the top of the rolls, which was annoying. Probably a thickened jam would've worked better, or lemon/berry curd. Anyways, you do end up with extra dough when you're done, so that was a bonus. Highly recommend this recipe, even though she doesn't give make-ahead instructions.

  • stef on June 17, 2023

    For Father's Day. The sour cream dough is a pleasure to work with. Made half with apricot and half lemon curd. Some extra dough and cream cheese left over so I made a small braid pastry for the freezer.

• Sour cream dough

  • JanayBlaze on May 26, 2023

    This dough is quite soft (don’t skip the refrigeration step), but bakes up to be absolutely delicious. One of my favorite bread recipes I’ve ever made, and I love to make bread. Used it for the kolaches, which leaves you some extra dough. I rolled walnut-sized pieces into balls, dipped them into melted butter and cinnamon-cardamom sugar, then piled them into a loaf pan and baked. Excellent.

  • Shewi128 on June 12, 2023

    This dough was fantastic and easy to work with. Very tender and lightly sweet. It rolled out easily from refrigeration.

  • stef on September 27, 2023

    A very lovely dough to work with. I used it to make kolaches from this book. Definitely will make again

  • dbuhler on January 20, 2024

    As others have mentioned, this is a lovely dough to make, work with, and eat! I used this dough to make the pumpkin caramel monkey bread and it was so delicious. I did substitute 2 1/4 teaspoons SAF gold instant yeast for the active dry yeast and I used King Arthur AP flour and got an amazing rise and light tender texture. I can't wait to make this dough again!

• Lemon curd

  • JanayBlaze on May 26, 2023

    Interesting technique where you mix all the ingredients in a mixer before cooking. The curd turned out delicious, not too sharp, and extremely creamy.

• Streusel

  • EmilyR on May 28, 2023

    Made this using date sugar in lieu of brown sugar. It's a nice little crumble to add to an array of baked goods.

• Milk bread dough

  • Zosia on June 26, 2023

    Beautifully silky dough that comes together exactly as described. I substituted 1 tsp instant yeast for the yeast called for in the recipe. The dough was used for toasted sesame sweet buns.

  • MollyB on February 20, 2024

    Lovely dough! I used it in the cinnamon swirl bread. The first time I tried it, it took forever to rise; it worked better for me with osmotolerant yeast (SAF Gold) the next time I made it.

  • dbuhler on February 24, 2024

    I don't have a lot of experience making traditional milk bread dough, but I have used tangzhong in other doughs. For me, this dough seemed a bit dry and I'm not sure if that is how it's supposed to be or if I miss-weighed somewhere. I had to keep pushing the dough down off the hook so it would mix completely as it was really stiff, especially before I incorporated the butter. I mixed the dough the day before and stored in the fridge...the flavor was delicious. I also used 1 1/8 tsp. instant yeast instead of the active dry yeast called for. I can't speak much to the texture because I used it to make the strawberry knots and the sugar mixture and the way the knots were formed made it difficult for me to judge the texture. I would definitely make this dough again!

• Pesto pull-apart bread

  • rittingerv on September 02, 2023

    Don’t do what I did, which is ignore the part about cutting the 5 strips of dough into 10 pieces. It worked out fine as I cut them in half after spending a number of minutes trying to figure out how to put the pieces in the loaf pan! Mishap aside, very good looking and tasty.

  • pattyatbryce on October 31, 2023

    Very tasty. Needs a pullman loaf pan, which I don't have. Tried making in a low pan and it overbaked. I'd try again with the right pan.

• Milk bread buns

  • stef on September 28, 2023

    Recipe is Milk Bread Dough. A lovely soft dough to work with. Buns turned out nice and light and we just loved tearing them apart to see the layers. Will be making them for Canadian Thanksgiving.

• Buttermilk dough

  • Zosia on October 07, 2023

    Requires overnight refrigeration.

  • Zosia on October 07, 2023

    While I prefer to make doughs that are kneaded then ignored until ready for shaping, I must say that using the stretch and fold technique that required one to stay close for the first 2 hours after mixing produced wonderful dough that was light and aerated once baked. As noted in the recipe, it was quite sticky at first but very easy to work with after refrigeration.

• Pumpkin caramel monkey bread

  • anya_sf on October 19, 2023

    I made 1/2 recipe in an 8"x8" pan, cutting the dough into 16 pieces rather than 20. A lot of the sugar mixture was left after rolling; we sprinkled some of it (not all) on top of the balls since that's where most of the spices were. The monkey bread took 5 extra minutes to bake, perhaps because I used a glass pan and/or placed the pan on a baking sheet. Really delicious! Pumpkin flavor wasn't strong, more like spiced caramel. Soft, pillowy texture.

  • dbuhler on January 20, 2024

    Wow! This was delicious! I was surprised, but I could definitely taste the pumpkin in the caramel mixture. I really liked the sour cream dough that was used for this treat...the texture was so soft. I think I simmered my caramel too long because it was quite thick when I poured it onto the buns (also could have contributed to a concentrated pumpkin flavor), but they still worked out and everyone enjoyed them! I will definitely make these again.

• Cinnamon swirl French toast

  • Babycarrot on October 22, 2023

    I took some liberties with the recipe by halving it (still used a whole egg), subbing almond extract for the vanilla, and using my own cinnamon swirl pumpkin bread. I do think the addition of the cornstarch added a crispness to the bread. I found it fairly sweet as is (my bread has a good amount of cinnamon sugar swirl), so didn’t add much maple syrup or jam. Would make again if I found myself with extra cinnamon bread in the future.

  • anya_sf on February 06, 2024

    I used hazelnut swirl brioche and the French toast was really delicious. I liked this creamy, less eggy version. The cornstarch didn't make it super crisp, but added a touch of crispness, which was nice.

  • dbuhler on June 30, 2024

    This was a different french toast for me as there is only one egg in the custard. I used a loaf of sourdough pain de mie and I really liked the flavor of the bread with the sweet custard. I would definitely try this again with the cinnamon swirl bread as I kind of thought this was missing that cinnamon element that I normally add to my custard for french toast, or I will just add a touch of cinnamon to the custard. It was good, but it is not better than our favorite FT recipe, but it was fun to try something new.

• Cinnamon roll pull-apart bread

  • anya_sf on October 23, 2023

    The dough didn't really rise in the fridge overnight, nor in the 2 hours it sat at (relatively cool) room temperature the next morning. Fortunately, it rose nicely in the oven. The bread took 55 min to bake. I reduced the sugar in the filling to 100 g, and in the icing to 110 g (minimum amount for desired consistency using only 1 Tbsp water), and was happy with the sweetness - the frosting was still quite sweet, which balanced the not-too-sweet bread. Delicious!

• Pull-apart bread dough

  • pattyatbryce on October 31, 2023

    Pretty easy dough for a yeast dough. I liked it, but a tad sweet if making the pesto bread.

  • anya_sf on March 29, 2025

    Easy to make in a stand mixer, and the chilled dough was easy to use for pull-apart bread. I wet my hands with cold water when folding the dough to avoid sticking.

  • dbuhler on March 15, 2024

    I love Sarah's sweet bread recipe, so it was a given that I would love this since it is a scaled down version of that bread. It is an easy bread to make and delicious to eat!

• Raspberry hazelnut Danish braid

  • anya_sf on December 28, 2023

    I used 1/2 recipe Easy Danish Dough from Baking for the Holidays to make 1 braid, using 3/4 of the filling amounts. The braid did the slow overnight rise in the fridge, but did not really rise, so I let it rest a couple hours at cool room temperature before baking, and it puffed up in the oven. Super delicious!

  • dbuhler on February 17, 2024

    I made this with the laminated Danish dough from the cookbook. I also used the quick berry jam recipe from the book for the filling. This was delicious! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to allow it to proof long enough before baking it so it didn't get as puffed and it was a bit doughy in the middle. I did make a second braid and put it in the fridge overnight and will allow it to proof longer before I bake it today and hopefully that will result in a better texture. I will definitely be making this again!

• Danish dough

  • stef on December 31, 2023

    Easy to make. I could see the laminated layers. Froze in 1lb packages

  • dbuhler on February 17, 2024

    This was my first attempt at a laminated dough, and I did pretty good I think. The instructions were easy to follow. Even though I have a pretty cool kitchen I still put the dough to rest in the freezer for the recommended 6 minutes, however that made my butter hard and break up into small pieces as I was rolling it out, so next time I'll either rest the dough on the counter, or rest in the refrigerator. I did substitute 3 tsp. of SAF gold yeast for the active dry and it had an impressive rise.

  • Bessp on November 03, 2024

    The instructions are very clear, these danishes turned out great! I made a pumpkin cheesecake filling for them. Very popular with my friends.

• Cream-filled Danish

  • stef on December 31, 2023

    1 lb made 8 good size danish. Half had lemon curd filling half seedless raspberry jam topping. Not hard to make but time consuming. Much better than store bought.

• Cinnamon swirl bread

  • MollyB on February 20, 2024

    Loved this recipe and the twisting technique to create more layers of cinnamon. (Make sure you roll your dough out enough before filling - you want to be sure you have two pieces long enough to create a good twist). I've had better luck with osmotolerant yeast (SAF Gold) in the milk bread dough used in this recipe than with standard yeast.

• Blood orange poppy seed pull-apart bread

  • Zosia on February 05, 2024

    Lovely bread that was fun to shape and eat. I used the dough the day it was made without refrigeration (I kneaded the dough in a mixer instead of using the stretch and fold technique). It was easy to work with requiring little flour for rolling. I didn't read ahead and decided to skip the parchment sling - a mistake I will not repeat. Lacking a pullman pan, I baked the bread in 8"x4" and mini loaf pans.

  • anya_sf on March 29, 2025

    Super delicious! I used regular oranges. It was pretty sweet, so next time I would only make half the icing. Will also bake it on a lined sheet pan as my pan leaked a little.

  • cookingbychapter on February 07, 2026

    This is so delicious! Made with lemon, will make again.

  • dbuhler on March 17, 2024

    I do love Sarah's sweet bread, so it was a given that I would enjoy this, and I did, but there were a few things that I would change next time. I subbed navel orange for the blood orange as that is what I had. I felt like the bread wasn't orange enough (possibly due to my orange choice), and I wished I'd put more zest in. I would also reduce the amount of sugar in the filling next time because we couldn't pull apart the bread, we had to slice it with a knife because the individual sheets were fused together. I love using the Pullman pan for this, but I wish the icing had cream cheese in it. I really love Flo Beakers pull apart coffee cake, so I will probably take what I love from both recipes and merge it together to see if I can come up with something truly great!

  • taraanddavid_6uvt62 on May 18, 2026

    Made in a regular loaf pan, so it spilled over a bit but fit okay! Huge crowd pleaser.

• Toasting bread

  • averythingcooks on November 11, 2025

    The dough came together easily (I added maybe a 1/2 tbsp extra flour?), rose beautifully and really does make great toast. I like the texture from the finely ground oats & the little bit of tang from the sour cream. There is 1 slightly confusing step re: the butter (ignored it with no harm done), 35 minutes got me to temp (done at 200F) & I'm always happy to use my Pullman bread pan. Easy choice for a repeat.

• Maple mustard dressing

  • averythingcooks on November 21, 2025

    This simple vinaigrette hits all the flavour notes we like (maple, mustard, garlic & cider vinegar....yes please!). The only change is that we now prefer far less oil in our dressings; 1/2 the given amount was plenty & resulted in a full flavoured, assertive dressing that I will turn to often.

  • dbuhler on January 22, 2026

    This was delicious! I made a half batch in my personal blender and it worked very well! I added all the ingredients except the oil and blended, and then I added all the oil and blended until it was emulsified. The one thing this dressing is missing is salt. I added 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, but I think it needs a little bit more. I will definitely make this again!

• Cardamom pistachio twist

  • anya_sf on July 10, 2025

    To quote my husband, "Damn, this is good!" Even after chilling much longer than 15 min, the dough was pretty soft and was a little tricky to twist, but I managed. I lined the springform with parchment and also put the pan on a sheet pan, which was good as some of the sugar leaked, which also made the sides of the springform difficult to remove.

• Raspberry caramel bubble bread

  • anya_sf on August 06, 2025

    Really delicious. I used slightly more fresh raspberries (the whole container). Don't skip the instruction to place a sheet pan on a lower rack while baking, as the dough rose super high and 2 balls actually fell off the pan. Next time I might use 25% less sugar in the coating and icing, though honestly the tart raspberry did balance the sweetness pretty well. Made a day ahead and refrigerated as recommended, the bread was best warmed up briefly in the microwave or toaster oven.

• Ham and cheese breakfast sliders

  • anya_sf on August 26, 2025

    I made 3/4 recipe in a 9"x9" pan. My ham slices were large so I only used 7 slices, quartered, using 3 quarters per slider (with 1 extra), which seemed like a lot, but the ham did shrink upon baking so could have used more. I prepped them the night before as mentioned in the headnote, which worked well - they didn't really rise before baking, but rose in the oven. They did need about 10 extra minutes to bake. Delicious!

  • katylynnf on January 13, 2024

    Made the day before and baked for Christmas morning. Very tasty. The dough was hard for me to roll out in the appropriate sizes, so it didn't look particularly pretty, but the flavor was great. I think a touch of spice would have been nice - may use the sriracha mayo next time instead of plain.

• Overnight crème fraîche waffles

  • anya_sf on January 29, 2024

    Instead of creme fraiche, I used heavy cream which was on the verge of turning, plus a little sour cream. Reduced the butter to 75 g. Beautifully crisp and light. I got 9 round waffles plus a baby one.

• Sheet pan Danish

  • anya_sf on January 06, 2024

    I used 1/2 recipe Easy Danish Dough from Baking for the Holidays, which is 2/3 the amount, so reduced the other ingredients proportionately and made a 9"x13" pan, cut into 12. Using the stated amounts of cream cheese and jam (about 1 Tbsp each per piece), there wasn't room to put them side by side, and I thought there was a little too much, so would reduce at least the jam next time. I did not need all the glaze. Still, this was easy to make and quite delicious.

• Granola

  • WaterPenny on March 04, 2026

    This was good, not too sweet and very variable. I definitely stirred it too much so I didn't get any clusters in the end but I'm pretty sure that was user error on my part.

• Peanut butter granola bark

  • kris.mundt on January 25, 2026

    I broke up the bark into granola pieces and added chunks of dark chocolate instead of melting and spreading the chocolate on. Great recipe!

• Streusel Danish

  • dbuhler on September 02, 2025

    This was delicious, but I did have a few issues. The only change I made was that is subbed 3 tsp. SAF Gold yeast for the 4 tsp active dry yeast. I accidentally let this proof too long during the bulk fermentation...it quadrupled in volume before I caught it. I degassed it and wrapped it up and put it in the fridge hoping it would be good enough to use the next day. During the fridge rest it almost burst from the plastic wrap! I proceeded with the recipe and when it got to the time to put in the pan and proof again, it almost rose above the lip of the pan! I baked as direction, and everything looked fine until I cut it in the middle and there was quite a bit of raw dough. I ended up cutting the side sections which were done and put the remaining back in the oven on top of a pizza stone. That did help a bit, but not completely. Next time I will start the bake on the stone and see if that helps, and I will also cool completely in the pan.

• Pecan streusel

  • dbuhler on June 22, 2025

    Very good streusel and super easy to make. I made a half batch to use on the mixed berry muffins. A half batch made a scant 3 cups, so I put the leftovers in the freezer.

• Morning buns

  • dbuhler on March 29, 2025

    Absolutely delicious! This is the same recipe that can be found in her Baking for the Holidays book. I made this with a half batch of dough I defrosted from the freezer overnight in the fridge. I let my dough rest a while on the counter but the better never got soft enough and I had broken butter pieces in my dough. The buns were still delicious even though there was a bit of butter leakage. I would definitely make these again!

  • Bessp on October 20, 2024

    A bit of a faff, but absolutely worth it. I made them exactly as written. A few of the instructions were a tiny bit vague, but the buns turned out perfectly. Crispy outer shell, soft and fluffy interior, buttery and rich throughout. The filling makes a lovely caramel at the bottom of the tins that runs over the base of the buns and makes a crunchy, creme brulee-like shell. Delicious! I want to try them with fine diced apples in the filling too next time.

• Orange buns

  • EatinSnax on January 04, 2026

    These were pretty special buns, everyone loved them. The sweet dough is very rich like brioche. It’s not difficult, but it does take time and planning ahead. The filling and glaze were perfect. Just a lovely recipe all around.

• Strawberry knots

  • dbuhler on February 24, 2024

    My family really liked these but I found them a bit too sweet, and they seemed to be missing something, but I'm not quite sure what. I had a hard time getting the cut spirals to stay together (entirely my fault as I am not good at getting a tight roll...I just need more practice or amend my technique) while I twisted them so there was a ton of exposed sugar mixture which just melted out onto the baking sheet into big sticky pools. The strawberry flavor was strong and they did look great, but I wanted a bit more acid...perhaps in a cream cheese drizzle?

• Chocolate glazed doughnuts

  • dbuhler on June 02, 2024

    I love the idea of these doughnuts, but I over-proofed them, so they were super oily/greasy. I did taste a couple before I glazed them and the flavor of the dough was delicious, so I definitely want to try these again and I will try following the time recommendations rather than the physical cues because waiting for the doughnuts to double in height is where mine went wrong. The chocolate glaze was delicious! I've made other donuts with chocolate glazes before and this glaze was far superior to any of the others, and I will use this glaze whenever I'm glazing a chocolate donut. I can't wait to try these again! For the large ones I used a 3" cutter and a 1" cutter for the hole, and for the small one I used a 2" cutter and a 3/4" cutter for the hole. Also, this is the same dough that is in her book Baking for the Holidays.

• Cheesy croissant casserole

  • taraanddavid_6uvt62 on May 18, 2026

    Delicious to make as egg bites using a muffin tin + sturdy liners!

• Good morning berry crisp

  • dbuhler on April 16, 2024

    I made a half batch and used frozen berries. This was just okay for me. The streusel never clumped up, and it took a lot longer than the stated time to brown and crisp in the oven. I also wished I had followed my gut to add some lemon juice to the berries...they needed it. I did really like the yogurt whipped cream, I'll use that recipe again.

• Quick berry jam

  • taraanddavid_6uvt62 on February 17, 2026

    Made with some cherry plums and easily modified for the amount of fruit I had on hand

  • dbuhler on February 17, 2024

    I made the quick raspberry jam using frozen raspberries (measured by weight) and 125g of sugar. I like the addition of vanilla. I also took an extra step to sieve out the raspberry seeds, and I would do that again. This jam was delicious in the Danish braid recipe.

• Yogrut whipped cream

  • dbuhler on April 16, 2024

    This was pretty good! It wasn't too sweet and it was easy to make. Next time I will be sure to stir the yogurt and honey mixture by hand before adding the cream because there was some honey still at the bottom of the bowl after whipping and didn't quite get mixed in.

• Whole-wheat streusel

  • dbuhler on April 14, 2024

    This was just okay for me. I made it to go on the Good Morning Berry Crisp and the mixture never clumped together, so the resulting texture was very sandy. It also took a lot longer to brown in the oven than the recipe stated.

• Almond cream

  • dbuhler on June 24, 2024

    When I made the hazelnut variation of this recipe a couple of months back I noticed that the small amount of ingredients didn't mix that well in my stand mixer. This time I used a hand mixer and I had a much better result. I'll use that tool moving forward.

  • Saltbun on May 19, 2026

    Easy to follow recipe, just as described.

• Hazelnut cream

  • dbuhler on February 17, 2024

    This was easy to make. I omited the alcohol but still kept the almond extract so it was a bit more almond than true hazelnut, however, in the Danish braid I could definitely detect the hazelnut flavor. My only quibble with the recipe is that it uses a small amount of ingredients and calls for using a stand mixer to mix it together. My stand mixer is large and so it was difficult to get four tablespoons to cream. I find that recipes like this come together more quickly and the food processor.