Recipes

Loaded Cheeseburger Pizza

This cheeseburger pizza is always the star of the show at our pizza nights! Made with an easy homemade pizza dough, and topped with caramelized onions, ground beef, cheese, then loads of pickles and burger sauce. This truly is a gooey cheeseburger in pizza form!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this cheeseburger pizza recipe with you! We have been making this for years and now I have finally perfected my homemade pizza dough recipe, I can share all my pizza recipes with you!

This really does taste like a cheeseburger and a pizza had a baby. It is super simple to make, and I promise it will blow everyone's minds at how good it is.

I love mixing up the flavour combinations when I make pizzas and this one will be perfect to add into your rotation! If I have extra dough left after making pizzas and ask my family which one they want a repeat of, they almost always choose this cheeseburger pizza.

This cheeseburger pizza recipe uses my homemade pizza dough recipe - there are notes and tips and tricks on how to make the dough and detailed shaping instructions in the post. My dough recipe makes enough for two pizzas, this cheeseburger pizza has the topping quantities for one pizza.

cheeseburger pizza side on — Pickles are a must!

Cheeseburger Pizza Toppings

The best thing about making pizza is that you can play around with the toppings (I will say this feels a little weird to write pizza recipes which are so flexible as a baking blogger who usually writes fairly rigid recipes!) Here is what I use to top my cheeseburger pizza, but please feel free to add or remove things as you see fit!

Caramelized onions: I make my own homemade caramelized onions in bulk and keep them in the freezer in 100g bags (which is enough for two cheeseburger pizzas). They are super easy and you can make them on the stovetop or in the slow cooker. However if I don't have them on hand, a jar of onion relish or caramelized onion relish gets the job done perfectly - just spread a little over the base of the pizza dough rather than using the onions.
Ground beef / mince. Obviously necessary on a cheeseburger pizza. I brown it off ahead of time in a skillet and then just drain it on a paper towel and lightly season with salt. I use about 150g of meat per pizza, but you can use more or less depending on what you feel like. I have also done an epic vegetarian cheeseburger pizza by cutting up mushrooms super small and browning them off and using them in the place of the ground beef.
Cheese. I used to use pre-shredded mozzarella but it often has a weird starch coating on it, and the blocks of low moisture mozzarella last for a really long time unopened in the fridge, so I use those and shred it as I need it for pizza. I use about 75g per pizza but honestly, I'm not here to tell you how much or how little cheese to use.
Pickles. A burger essential, IMO. I use bread and butter pickles, just use whatever you would usually use on a burger (if you like them)
Burger sauce. I buy mine from the supermarket here, but if you make your own that works too.

baked cheeseburger pizza — Ready for sauce and pickles!

Options for making pizza at home

I have three options outlined in my recipe post - you can make this in your pizza oven, at home on a baking steel, or on a sheet pan. Both the pizza oven and the baking steel option are great, the sheet pan will still work, but if you are planning on making pizza at home, a pizza steel or a pizza stone will really be your friend here, I prefer a steel as it is super durable and much easier to aim for a rectangle in the oven when you are putting it off your peel than a circular stone!

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Perfect Every Time Caramelized Onions - Stovetop or Slow Cooker!

Knowing how to make caramelized onions is a sneaky superpower - with some butter (or oil!), time, and salt, regular onions transform into a rich, sweet, jammy delicious caramelized onion mixture that is amazing for pizzas, dips, bread - the options are endless! This post covers how to make my caramelized onions on the stovetop and in the slow cooker. Make them in bulk and freeze them - they defrost beautifully!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this easy 101 on how to make caramelized onions! I have been making these for years, and figured it was finally time to get how I make them on the internet. If you haven't caramelized onions before, you really have to give it a go - they are a great thing to have going while you are doing something else, and your kitchen will smell amazing.

While I usually make caramelized onions on the stovetop, I have also made them in the slow cooker and it worked amazingly for a hands off option (and will probably be my preference going forward!). There are notes in the recipe for both options!

Caramelized onions are good on almost everything - I love to use them as the base of my cheeseburger pizza!

onions on bench top — Use whatever onions you have!

sliced onions — Slice the ends then peel

Do you REALLY want me to cook these for that long?!

Don't be put off by how long these take. I promise that it is worth it. I make them in bulk and store them in my freezer in 100g bags. These are one of those recipes that you might as well make a ton of because it is the same amount of work either way, so I start with 1.5kg of onions, which is what I can fit in my largest skillet. If you wanted to do two pans at once to do more that would also work.

slicing onions — A mandolin will be your bestie

Slow cooker caramelized onions

I made these for the first time recently and was blown away at how well they worked - again I did 1.5kg of onions (I could have done more!), and they took about 12 hours. I started them on low, and flicked them to high when I was around to stir them more frequently. Because you're not evaporating the moisture on the stove like you do with the stovetop method, I cracked the lid open a little bit for the last few hours of the cooking process to help the water cook off - make sure you're around to monitor them if you do this!

onions with butter — They collapse down!

onions cooked for 15 minutes — 15 minutes in

Please make sure you brown your onions enough.

Don't trust a recipe that says that you can caramelize onions in 20 minutes. There will be all sorts of shortcuts - adding baking soda (I think this gives them a weird taste), adding sugar, la la la - onions have a ton of natural sugar in them, and cooking them low and slow is the best way to harness this and get the best flavour. With time you'll have the most amazing collapsing brown jammy onions that taste nothing like raw onions. I have included images with the time it took me to make stovetop caramelized onions below - you can see they really don't even start to brown properly before the hour mark.

onions cooked for 30 minutes — 30 minutes in

onions cooked for 45 minutes — 45 minutes in

onions cooked for an hour — 1 hour in - nearly there

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Foolproof Pizza Dough (Same day or Overnight Option!)

My Easy Pizza Dough Recipe is perfect for if you're a pizza beginner, or if you're an experienced pizza maker and want to try a new recipe. This simple pizza recipe makes two dough balls to make two pizzas, but can easily be scaled. Make pizza dough the night before and have it ready to go, or there is an option to make it the same day. My Pizza Dough recipe is the perfect base - the topping options are endless! My Pizza dough recipe can be used for a pizza oven, or for making pizza in your home oven.

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share my easy homemade pizza dough recipe with you! This recipe has been four years in the making and I am so excited to finally share it with you!

I have been playing around with this recipe for a very long time now, tweaking the rise time, water quantity and different proofing schedules and I have finally nailed it down - a super versatile crust recipe.

This is the perfect pizza dough if you are looking for a dough to use in a pizza oven, however it is also great for baking in a regular at home oven too. It gives a soft and chewy crust, with a dough that isn't too sticky and is super easy to work with. I've made this recipe so many times now I know it inside out, and I know that it is a good one.

It may seem like a lot of info in this post but I promise you that I will hold your hand every step of the way. This post gives you a run down on how to make the dough and shape it ready for baking - for topping ideas please see my pizza recipes.

bubbly pizza dough — A perfect chewy crust

bottom of pizza slice — And great stability!

pizza dough ingredients — Five ingredients, that's it!

ingredients in mixing bowl — Combine in mixer

Please allow me to nerd out here for a second.

I worked really really hard on this pizza dough recipe. I know that there are a ton on the internet, but I really wanted a super versatile, trustworthy pizza dough recipe that you can come back to again and again. I wanted something that could:

Be made ahead or done on the same day. I tested this over and over again - and found that it is just one small tweak in the yeast quantity and the shaping that is needed to take this from an overnight to a same day pizza dough. There are notes in the recipe card on how to make this a same day dough.
Be flexible. I will teach you how to make the dough work to your schedule, not the other way around. Because this dough uses a relatively small percentage of yeast, you can change up the rising times to suit you, and have it ready to pull out close to when you're ready to make your pizza.
Is able to cope if you bail on pizza night. The overnight version can stay in the fridge for up to 3 days and be fine to use. The same day one can also be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days before using. If you decide you don't want pizza that day - no worries at all!
Is an easy to work with dough. I wanted a dough that is super strong, but still gives an amazingly fluffy, chewy pizza crust. This dough is easy to work with, but you will still get amazing results.
Doesn't need any fancy equipment. I make my dough in the stand mixer using the dough hook, but I also tested this recipe by hand.
Works however you want to bake it. I use this pizza dough recipe for making pizza in my pizza oven, but it also makes amazing pizza baked in your home oven on a baking steel or even on a sheet pan.

dough out of the mixer — Developed dough

balled up pizza dough — Before 2 hour rise

dough after first rise — After 2 hour rise

Almost done with the nerd stuff: let's talk baker's percentages.

Sometimes in bread recipes, especially sourdough, you will see percentages being used. These can be confusing, especially as they often add up to more than 100%. These are baker's percentages. They are calculated around the amount of flour in the recipe. For example, this pizza dough recipe is 63% hydration as it has 252g of water to 400g of flour. This number is important - I wanted a middle of the road hydration dough that can be used both in a pizza oven (quick cook = less time for water to evaporate = you can use a lower hydration dough) and in a regular oven (longer cook = more time for water to evaporate = dough needs to be a little wetter).

I also played around with the yeast percentage. For the overnight option the dough has 0.3% yeast, or 1.2g, and for the same day option, it has 0.62%.

Once you know your baker's percentages, it makes it really easy to play around with the pizza dough recipe and make it your own. If you want to try a slightly higher or lower hydration then you can increase or decrease the water to test out different hydrations and what works for you.

Your environment plays an important role here.

Pizza making takes practice. While I have given you times and temperatures in this recipe, it is also super important to know that the environment that you are in will affect how your dough rises. If your house is warm, it will go faster, and if it is cool, it will go slower. Go by how the dough looks, not by the exact timing in the recipe.

The starting dough temperature is also important. Some recipes will tell you to use lukewarm water - not mine. Starting with lukewarm water means that by the time you have finished mixing the dough, the friction from the mixer and from sitting at room temperature will mean that the DDT (desired dough temperature) is higher than you want it to be, so will mean that the ambient 2 hour rise will go faster than it is meant to, making the dough hard to work with. Because my pizza dough recipe uses instant yeast there is no need to activate it using warm water, so you can start the dough making process with slightly cooler water.

stacked up dough — I use the Ooni stack for dough

Overnight vs Same Day Pizza Dough

I know we all love to plan ahead, but sometimes that doesn't happen, and you want to have pizza on the same day you decide you want it. Here is where my dough recipe is helpful - it is super easy to make a same day dough - you just need to manipulate the amount of yeast, and you skip the 2 hour ambient room temperature rise, and ball up the dough straight off the mixer. While I prefer the overnight pizza dough, the same day one also works great and I make it all the time.

That being said - choose the one that suits your schedule best. If you don't have time to proof the dough for the 2 hours before shaping and transferring to the fridge, but still want to make it the night before, make the same day version, but instead of proofing it at room temperature, transfer it to the fridge overnight and then take it out about an hour to an hour and a half before you need to use it. Make the dough work to your schedule.

flip dough in semolina — Flip to cover both sides

Shaping a Pizza - the Steering Wheel Method

There are a bunch of ways to shape a pizza - this is how I do it. You don't have to flick pizza dough up in the air to shape a pizza. I shape the dough directly on the work surface, with one hand in the middle of the dough and the other gently pulling the edge outward. I then turn the whole dough about 45°, and do it again. This gently stretches the dough outward. I then use gravity to my advantage and pick the dough up and move my hands around the outside of the dough to gently let it stretch.

I dump the dough into some semolina flour before shaping, which I find really helps to stop it from sticking.

You are aiming for a 12" (30cm) circle which has a slightly thicker edge. There are step by step photos below!

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Perfectly Sweet Chantilly Cream

Chantilly Cream is the lightly sweetened whipped cream sister of Classic Whipped Cream! Made with just 3 ingredients - cream, sugar, and vanilla, homemade chantilly cream comes together in minutes and is great for swooping, piping, or just blobbing onto desserts! For an unsweetened version, make my basic homemade whipped cream.

pie with whipped cream — Perfectly Billowy Whipped Chantilly Cream!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this Chantilly Cream recipe with you! Also known as Creme Chantilly, this lightly sweetened, vanilla flavoured whipped cream is the perfect finisher for any dessert.

You can use Chantilly Cream any place that you would use a whipped cream. The best part about this easy recipe is that it doesn't require any special equipment, and because it uses a ratio, you can make chantilly cream with however much cream you have. Whip this up in 5 minutes to take your desserts to the next level!

This recipe makes enough to generously cover a pie, or to serve 6-8 alongside a dessert. Scale it as you like!

confectioner's sugar on cream — Add Powdered Sugar

Chantilly Cream vs Whipped Cream

While Chantilly Cream and Whipped Cream are often used interchangeably, the main difference is the sugar content and flavouring. Chantilly cream is always sweetened and contains vanilla, while whipped cream can be sweetened or unsweetened and doesn't have to have vanilla. I love my whipped cream with no sugar, so I have a recipe for classic whipped cream, and this chantilly cream recipe if you want to sweeten it a little.

finished chantilly cream — Perfect Medium Peaks

We love a ratio.

The best part about this chantilly cream recipe is that you can scale it to use whatever quantity of cream you have or want to use. The rule of thumb for the ratio of cream to sugar is 5:1, so for every 5 parts of cream (by weight), you use 1 part of sugar.

To calculate this, weigh your cream, and then divide this number by 5, which will be the weight of the sugar that you need. So for 400g of cream, use 80g of sugar.

If you like your chantilly cream more or less sweet, feel free to scale the amount of sugar that you use in the recipe.

piped whipped cream — Chantilly Cream is great for Piping

Please don't over whip!

I really think that most people over whip their cream. You want to bring it just past soft peaks - I like to shoot for medium peaks. This consistency of whipped cream is perfect for swooping and piping. I like to whip my chantilly cream using a whisk rather than using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer, as it allows me to see exactly what is happening.

If you do you use a machine, make sure that you start it on low speed. However you choose to whip your chantilly cream, I recommend that you finish it by hand with a whisk.

❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️

I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Easy Fresh Whipped Cream

Perfect, pillowy clouds of whipped cream are perfect on any dessert! Homemade whipped cream only has two ingredients (cream and vanilla), and comes together in minutes - you don't even need to use a mixer! This is an unsweetened whipped cream - for a lightly sweetened whipped cream, use my chantilly cream recipe.

whipped cream on french silk pie — Perfect Piped whipped cream!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this recipe for my homemade whipped cream! While it doesn't seem like you should need a recipe for whipped cream, as a recipe developer I make it all the time, so I have quite a collection of tips and tricks I have gathered in my time!

Homemade whipped cream is super easy to make and can be done really quickly - I don't even use a mixer to make mine. It is perfect for finishing off a dessert in a beautiful way and is especially good for cutting the sweetness in certain recipes. You truly can't go wrong with freshly whipped cream. I love adding it to pies, bars, and cakes, or serving cold alongside a warm dessert.

This recipe makes enough to generously cover a pie, or enough to serve 6-8 people with whipped cream alongside a dessert. Scale it however you like!

The important question - should whipped cream have sugar in it?!

Personally, I don't like sugar in my whipped cream. I think it really depends how you grew up - I grew up in a purist whipped cream household, so we don't add sugar. It really is a personal preference thing, so you do you here!

If you want a sweetened whipped cream recipe, my chantilly cream is perfect for that and has a great cream to sugar ratio that isn't too sweet.

Whisk vs Mixer for whipped cream?

Unpopular opinion - I prefer to whip cream by hand. For some reason I really enjoy it - it is quick and easy and a great way to see the progress of the cream and to avoid over whipping it.

You can use whatever tool you want - an electric hand mixer works great, or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Start with it on low speed and slowly increase the speed as you go - do not go over medium speed.

I do however recommend whatever method you use, stopping a little early and finishing it by hand to avoid over whipping.

perfect whipped cream — To me, this is perfectly whipped. It just holds a shape nicely.

You're probably over-whipping your whipped cream.

If you want to pipe your whipped cream or get those super pillowy clouds of cream, make sure that you're not over whipping it. Lots of recipes will tell you to shoot for stiff peaks - to me, this is too stiff. It is far too easy to over-work cream that has been whipped to stiff peaks. I like to shoot for medium peaks which are just past soft peaks. This means that if you want to pipe your whipped cream or get a nice dollop of it, it is the perfect texture.

Whipped cream is super fun to pipe - it especially looks good with an open or closed star tip.

It happens - fixing split whipped cream

This happens to the best of us, which is why I prefer to whip my cream by hand using a whisk so I can see exactly what is happening.

Don't freak out if this happens. You can easily fix it - just add a little more cold liquid cream, and gently fold in using a spatula. It should come back together nicely.

split whipped cream — Split whipped cream

fixed whipped cream — Fold in more cream = perfect!

Heavy Cream vs Heavy Whipping Cream vs Whipping Cream - what is the difference?!

I came across this when I lived in the US - there are names for different creams. It all has to do with the milk fat in the cream. Whipping Cream is between 30-35% milkfat, so ironically is the least stable and won't hold its shape as well. Heavy cream and heavy whipping cream are the same thing, and have at least 36% milk fat, which means that they will whip into peaks easier, and hold their shape more. These are the best choice when you are making homemade whipped cream.

In NZ and quite a few other countries the minimum standard is 35% milk fat, so the 'regular' cream you buy is perfect for making whipped cream.

❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️

I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Classic Apple Pie with Cooked Filling - A Step by Step Guide

This is my classic apple pie with a buttery homemade pie crust and a gooey cooked apple pie filling. Keep it simple or add a fancy lattice - this is the perfect apple pie! Precooking the pie filling takes the guesswork out of making apple pie, and means you will have a perfectly set filling. My Apple Pie is the perfect make-ahead dessert.

Hi hi! I am popping in to share this recipe for my classic apple pie! I love all things apple pie, and if I may say so myself, this is a particularly good one. Not only is is easy to make, it is a great make-ahead option, and my perfect pie crust and easy apple pie filling recipe makes assembly a breeze. No more fussing with how many apples you can fit in the pan or a lattice that won't behave - my apple pie recipe won't do that to you. If you don't want to make a lattice top, try my Dutch Apple Pie which has a crumble top and is also so delicious!

I'll talk you through all the steps on how to make and assemble an absolute banger of an apple pie, along with step-by-step photos.

Why a cooked filling for apple pie?

There are lots of ways to make apple pie and the two main ones are fresh apples, or a pre-cooked filling. If you're after a fresh apple pie filling my basic apple pie is just that. However, pre cooking the filling makes your life a lot easier. Apples have a lot of water in them, which means that they cook down a lot in the oven and it can be hard to work out exactly how much starch to use in the filling as different apples have different moisture levels. To get around this you have to stack the pie full of sliced apple, and you might end up with a gap between the crust and the filling. This isn't the end of the world at all!

By using a cooked apple pie filling, you have already done the reducing stage on the stove, and so you know that the filling isn't going to reduce any more in the oven. It has already been thickened, so it is much more predictable when it comes to how the pie will turn out.

My apple pie filling is also great to make ahead - you can store it in the fridge for 3-4 days, or freeze for up to a month.

Great Pie starts with a Great Pie Crust

There's nothing worse than spending time making pie crust and apple pie filling just for it to all fall apart on you when you go to assemble it.

I have a theory why people find pie intimidating: They aren't making good pie crust. Pie crust that is hard to work with makes your life so much more stressful than it needs to be. My Pie Crust recipe won't do that to you. It has a series of turns to the pie crust after mixing it, which makes it super homogenous and easy to work with, but still nice and flaky. It means that it is perfect for latticing and decorating a pie as it is a dream to roll out and cut.

When I am making pie for a double crust pie like this apple pie, I like to shape one portion of the dough into a disc for rolling out the base of the pie, and the other piece into a rectangle which makes rolling it out for a lattice top nice and easy. If you want to do a detailed lattice, I recommend making a double batch of my pie crust, just to give yourself some wiggle room when it comes to cutting out pieces.

A step by step guide to assembling apple pie

There are a few steps to making apple pie. I'm going to break it all down for you, and have taken photos of my process along the way to really make things nice and clear. I promise making a double crusted pie isn't as hard as you might think, and my easy pie crust recipe is super forgiving and will make the process much easier for you!

Roll out your pie crust. I do this on a lightly floured surface, you want to roll it into as even of a circle as you can with an even overhang around all sides.

Add your filling. The Apple Pie Filling can be made ahead, and either frozen or chilled until ready to use.

Roll out the second piece of dough - you can see that I choose to do it in a rectangle as I find it easier to make strips. Others prefer to do this in a circle, you do you. Remember that this will be forming the lattice so will have some overlap so it is ok to roll this one a little thinner than the base.

Cut Strips. I use a ruler to cut my strips as it makes it really easy - for this pie I just made them the thickness of the ruler, and used a fluted cutter to cut them. If you find that your crust isn't cutting cleanly, pop the pieces into the fridge on a parchment paper lined baking sheet to firm up before continuing to cut.

Lattice. You can do whatever you like here - I went for a classic lattice, but offset some of the strips rather than keeping them perpendicular to the vertical strips. Remember that you will be folding the edge over onto itself so it is ok if you don't get the lattice right the way to the edges.

Chill it if it gets tricky to work with. If at any time the pie crust feels like it is getting tricky to work with, just pop it back into the fridge for 10-15 minutes.

Trim. You want to trim the edge of the crust and the lattice so that they are flush and you don't have bits poking out.

Fold over the edge. I find this part kind of tricky but with my pie crust it is going to probably puff up in the oven because of how flaky it is and because of the crust being thicker, the puff is going to distort the edge crust so don't stress this part too much. Fold the crust toward the middle of the pie, using the bottom crust to tuck in any edges of the lattice strips. I like to then chill it again here before crimping.

Crimp as you like. Again, this is going to probably get a bit wonky in the oven so don't stress it. I just did a basic thumb and finger crimp. If you don't want to crimp at all, you can trim the edge of the pie flush with the edge of the pan.

That's it, you just assembled a lattice top pie! It does take some practice, but it is very fun and delicious practice!

❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️

I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

10 Minute Crumb Topping for Pie

My Crumb topping for pie is super versatile and can be used to top a pie instead of a lattice top for a delicious twist. It takes 10 minutes to throw together and adds a buttery crunch to the top of your pies! If you love Dutch Apple Pie, this is the perfect crumb topping for apple pie!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this recipe for a crumb topping for pie with you! A crumble pie topping is one of those recipes that is super helpful to have in your back pocket for quickly throwing together and topping a pie with. It is a great way to quickly make a variation on a pie, or to save you the time of making a lattice top (or if you didn't quite make enough pie crust!), not to mention you really can't beat a buttery crunchy pie topping.

This crumb topping for pie works with most fruit pie fillings, and is particularly good on a Dutch Apple Pie. It can easily be made ahead or in bulk and stored in the freezer or fridge until ready to use, making pie assembly time easy and (relatively) stress free.

This pie crumb topping recipe makes enough to generously cover a 9" (23cm) pie with crumble.

Ready in 10 minutes and far easier than a lattice top!

Look, I love a good double crusted apple pie, but sometimes it is so nice to switch things up a bit.

This crumb topping doesn't require any softening of butter or extra preparation. You can just throw it together using cold butter from the fridge. It will work with almost any fruit pie that would usually have a top crust on it.

The main important thing to look out for is that you watch the crumb topping carefully as it bakes. If it looks like it is beginning to brown too quickly, tent the top of the pie with foil. Just make sure that you remove it for the last 5 minutes or so of baking to let the crumble topping dry out.

❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️

I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Dutch Apple Pie (Apple Crumble Pie)

With my Dutch Apple Pie recipe you get the best of both worlds - flaky pie crust and gooey precooked apple pie filling, and then loads of buttery, crunchy crumb topping. This Apple Crumble Pie is the perfect make ahead dessert as all the components can be made ahead separately and assembled just before baking!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this recipe for Dutch Apple Pie with you! Look, this is a huge call, but I think I might prefer this over a classic apple pie?! Not only is it super easy to make and you just load up on crumble pie topping, but the combination of homemade apple pie filling and crumb topping is the best thing ever. I made this a ton of times during the recipe testing process and we really couldn't get enough of it. Crumb topping for apple pie is an elite choice.

While my Dutch Apple Pie recipe does require a few components, all three of them can be made and frozen ahead of time, meaning that the workload when it comes to assembling the apple crumble pie is super super easy! You just par-bake the crust, add the filling and topping, and you are an hour or so in the oven away from pure apple pie greatness. This pie is SO good served with freshly whipped cream or a scoop of ice cream.

dutch apple pie components — All the components made ahead!

par-baked pie crust — Par baked pie crust

I am here to make your life easy - a pre cooked apple pie filling

There are always a few decisions to make when it comes to making an apple pie - do you want to use fresh or cooked apples, and what sort of topping are you giving it?

My Basic Apple Pie is made with fresh apples, which is super delicious, but I often lean toward a precooked apple pie filling because not only it is super easy to make ahead (it freezes super well too), the apples already have their moisture cooked out of them, so you don't have to deal with a pie that sinks down loads after baking. While this is more of an issue with a double crusted pie, it really does feel like less work if you can make the pie filling ahead of time and have it ready to go.

All my tips and tricks along with my foolproof recipe which you will need for this pie, are in my post: Stovetop Apple Pie Filling

filled dutch apple pie — Apple Pie filling

Crumb Topping for Apple Pie

If you haven't tried making an apple crumble pie before, now is your time. I tested this crumb topping for pies a bunch of times - playing around with the ratios of sugar to butter (too much makes it so weirdly greasy), and a few different kinds of sugar for texture. Sneaking a tiny bit of baking powder in there too really helped the crumble topping not get too soggy.

The Dutch Apple Pie topping can be made a few days ahead of time and stored in the fridge in an airtight container, or frozen in an airtight container for up to a month.

If you can, give this enough time to cool.

Ideally, this Dutch Apple Pie is best made ahead of time so that the filling has time to cool down and set up - at least a few hours. It can be made up to a day in advance and stored lightly covered at room temperature until you are ready to serve. If you want to refresh it to warm it in the oven, place it into a 325°f / 165°c oven until warmed through, about 15-20 minutes. If you don't have time though and want to eat it hot from the oven it will still be absolutely delicious, just a little structurally unstable!

Do I really have to par-bake the pie crust?

Yes, you do. Sorry. I know it's a bit annoying, but we really don't want a soggy pie bottom. Par-baking the crust means that the crust gets a chance to bake with no filling in it, helping it to set up a tiny bit before the wet filling gets added.

If you like, you can par-bake the crust up to 24 hours ahead of time and store it covered or in an airtight container at room temperature. It will seem like it goes a little soggy but remember you are baking it again.

I know that par-baking and blind baking can be intimidating - check out my how to blind bake pie crust post for all the tips and tricks and step by step photos!

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Extra Garlicky Garlic Butter

Homemade Garlic Butter feels super luxurious, but it is quick and easy to make at home! My easy garlic butter recipe has a sneaky trick: precooking some of the garlic in the butter, which lets you pack as much garlic flavour into the butter without an overwhelming raw garlic taste. Use this homemade garlic butter for bread, steak, potatoes - whatever takes your fancy. It feels like such a treat to have in the fridge!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share the recipe for this super easy and amazingly delicious garlic butter with you! I almost always have a roll of this garlic butter in my fridge - we use it for making garlic bread, spreading on warm bread, on toast under eggs, as a base for pizza, the list is endless! One of my favourite ways to use it is to melt a little to brush over warm parker house rolls for a soft and squishy bread situation.

Homemade Garlic Butter also makes a great gift - I love to take a roll with me if we are going somewhere for dinner and tucking it into their fridge for a little surprise for later. This is one of those recipes that seems really simple, but making your own garlic butter is a hundred times better than anything you'll get store bought.

This Garlic Butter Recipe is different

I looked at a lot of garlic butter recipes during recipe testing and have been making this for years now, and have fine tuned this garlic butter recipe into something that is just SO good. I love a super garlicky butter - if you're going to do it you might as well do it properly.

However, raw garlic can be super intense in taste. I got around this by using the technique I use in my Garlic Knot recipe and cooking most of the garlic in a little of the butter, cooling it down, and then mixing it into the remainder of the softened butter with a little raw garlic so you still get the taste. The result is a super intense garlic flavour that isn't too 'spicy' from the raw garlic. It's a game changer.

Optional Extras - you do you here!

I usually keep it simple and just use softened salted butter, garlic, and salt in my garlic butter recipe - I have added some chives here for colour too but they aren't necessary. You can also add in lemon zest, freshly ground black pepper, other herbs of your choice - have a play around with what you like!

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The Most Ridiculous Smores Pie

Everyone you know will absolutely lose it over my S'mores pie recipe! With a brown butter graham cracker pie crust, a fudgy brownie filling and clouds of torched meringue, this showstopper of a dessert looks super fancy but is incredibly easy to make.

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this S'mores pie recipe with you! This is twist on my super fudgy brownie pie, except I gave it a graham cracker crust and added loads of super fluffy torched meringue to the top.

This S'mores pie recipe ticks all the boxes for me - super easy to make ahead, comes together quickly, and you really can't go wrong with toasted meringue. The Graham cracker crust provides amazing texture, the inside of the pie is a brownie dream, and the meringue tops everything off.

If you haven't made meringue before, my meringue recipe is super beginner friendly, is incredibly stable and is just all around a great recipe.

brown butter graham cracker crust — Baked Graham Cracker Crust

brownie batter for smores pie — Fudgy Brownie Filling

brownie filling added to pie — Add the batter to the crust

baked brownie pie — And bake to perfection!

The perfect make-ahead pie recipe

I love making my desserts ahead of time and this s'mores pie is perfect for this - in fact it does best being made ahead of time. Once the smores pie is out of the oven, leave it to cool to room temperature then chill until completely cool. When you are ready to add the meringue close to serving, I like to let it stand at room temperature for 10 minutes or so to make it a little easier to cut.

If you can, leave making, adding and toasting the meringue until you are ready to serve. It can hold up to sitting in the fridge with the meringue on the top if needed but I prefer fresh toasted meringue!

meringue on pie — Meringue topping added

torched s'mores pie — And then toast it up!

How to toast your meringue

If you don't have a blow torch, I really recommend getting one. I prefer a hardware store style one over a culinary torch. I haven't tested doing this under the grill/broiler - the filling will be able to hold up to it, but torched is really the best way!

If you wanted an alternative topping you could also pile marshmallows on top of the brownie and torch those instead!

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Foolproof, Fluffy Meringue: The Ultimate Guide

This is the meringue recipe you need. Use it as a meringue for pies, cakes, and bars - it is perfect toasted! The best part? No Raw Eggs. My Swiss Meringue recipe and is super stable and fluffy, making it perfect for piping and swooping. It is made with a ratio rather than a set amount of egg whites, so can be made with whatever you have on hand!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share my easy meringue recipe with you! Having a back pocket meringue recipe is an essential, and this one is perfect. It is super stable, fluffy, and really easy to make. Cooking the egg whites and sugar together over a double boiler before you whip it into fluffy clouds means that it is ready to go straight out of the mixer. Use it as a meringue topping for pies or bars, and torch to perfection for that delicious toasty finish.

My favourite part about my meringue recipe is that you can start with any amount of egg whites, making it the perfect recipe to use up leftover egg whites! You simply weigh your egg whites, work out how much sugar to use, and go from there!

This meringue recipe makes enough to generously cover one 9" pie - it is the best meringue for lemon meringue pie - feel free to scale it up or down as you see fit!

Italian Meringue vs French Meringue vs Swiss Meringue

There are a few different kinds of meringue which can get a little confusing! It has to do with how they are made.

Swiss Meringue, which is my personal favourite meringue, is made by cooking the egg whites and sugar together over a double boiler. This brings the egg whites to a temperature that means that it doesn't need to be cooked again so is amazing for adding as a topping and torching with a blow torch. Because the egg whites have been cooked, this makes for a super stable and fluffy meringue that can hold its shape when swooped or piped.

Italian Meringue also has 'cooked' egg whites, but they are heated by making a sugar syrup and streaming it into the meringue as it whips. This also creates a stable meringue but I hate messing around with a sugar syrup, which is why I prefer the Swiss meringue method.

French Meringue is 'uncooked' where you whip the egg whites and add the sugar and whip until fluffy. This is my least favourite of the three - it has raw eggs, is super easy to over whip, and doesn't last at all well. This is probably the meringue you are most used to making - once you try Swiss I promise you you won't go back.

A game changing meringue tip: Use a ratio!

While the no raw eggs thing is amazing, the best part about this recipe (and making things by weight) is that you can weigh out your egg whites that you have on hand, and work out how much sugar you need, and then go from there! This is perfect for if you have made an egg yolk heavy recipe and have the whites stored to use for something else.

The ratio for a meringue is 1:1.5, so weigh your egg whites, and multiply that amount by 1.5 to calculate the amount of sugar you need to use.

Burnt Meringue is SO delicious

My favourite way to toast the meringue is using a blow torch. I just have one from the hardware store - the brand is 'bernzomatic'. I find them to be much better and more reliable / heavy duty than a culinary torch and a tank of gas will last you for a long time.

Blow torching the meringue is an amazing way to add a toasty taste, not to mention it is super fun. I usually try to leave it as close to serving as possible to torch my meringue.

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Easy Pumpkin Pie Bars with Graham Cracker Crust

All the taste and vibes of a pumpkin pie - without all the hassle! These pumpkin pie bars have a brown butter graham cracker crust, and an easy pumpkin pie filling. They come together quickly and are a great make ahead dessert. The best part - the filling has no eggs, so these pumpkin bars will not crack on you like a pumpkin pie can!

square slice of pumpkin pie bars with whipped cream topping

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this recipe for super easy pumpkin bars with you! This recipe almost feels like cheating because you get all the vibes of a pumpkin pie, but without the need to blind bake a pie crust.

I LOVE a graham cracker crust, so I paired it with the easy (and egg free) pumpkin pie filling from my classic pumpkin pie, and this is the most perfect love child!

Make these ahead of time for a perfect dessert - you can pull them out of the fridge, top them with whipped cream or powdered sugar and off you go, or they would be incredible with a meringue topping. They are also an amazing option for feeding a crowd as you can cut them up nice and small, not to mention I'll take transporting a tray of bars over a whole pie any day! Don't get me wrong, I love a pumpkin pie, but sometimes you just want easy and no fuss.

graham cracker crust for pumpkin pie bars

Graham Cracker Crust + Pumpkin Pie Filling = Best Friends

Instead of going for a pie crust for my pumpkin pie bars, I did my easy brown butter graham cracker crust. Within the recipe card there are notes on how to scale the crust for different sized pans - for this 9" pan you double the crust quantities. There are also notes on how to sub graham crackers if you can't get those in your country.

The filling for the pumpkin bars is basically a liquid - it will feel very strange pouring it on top of the crust, but it works. For this reason though you want to make sure that your graham cracker crust is nicely golden brown when baked and properly cooled before adding the filling.

Pumpkin bars are almost better if you make them ahead....

My Pumpkin Pie Bars take a while to cool - ideally you want them to be completely cooled when you remove them from the pan to slice. I like to make them ahead of time if I can - they are totally fine to refrigerate overnight, in fact I prefer to. If you can't that's fine, but these truly are a great make ahead dessert.

Are you sure there are no eggs in the filling?!

It feels weird but I promise it is right. This recipe is based on my pumpkin pie recipe which is a sugar pie style pie, so it doesn't have eggs. This means that is is a great option if you have an allergy and need a pumpkin pie without eggs, but my favourite part is that it will not crack on you. Cracking on a pumpkin pie comes from the proteins in the eggs - they tighten as they cook and then cool, which causes cracking in the pie.

pumpkin pie bars with whipped cream on parchment paper

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Two Ingredient Palmiers

These easy crispy, sweet cookies are made with only two ingredients - puff pastry and sugar! Mine use a homemade puff pastry but these work beautifully with store bought pastry too. These buttery cookies are delightfully flaky, perfectly caramelised, and super fun to make.

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this easy Palmier recipe with you! If you haven't heard of or made Palmiers before you have to try them - I promise you will be addicted to them. They almost seem too easy and are the best puff pastry recipe!

Palmiers are super simple to make - you simply roll out puff pastry, using sugar instead of flour so that it sticks to the pastry. You then roll the pastry up to form two spirals, and freeze the dough to help firm it up. The Palmiers are then sliced, dipped in more sugar, and frozen, then comes the fun part - baking them is magical. The palmiers puff up in the oven, becoming the most amazing buttery crunchy cookies, covered in a layer of crunchy sugar.

I make these with my homemade puff pastry, but I also made them with a store bought pastry which makes things even easier - there's notes in the recipe on how to do that.

Rolling out dimensions matter here

During recipe testing I made these a few times, playing around with the dimensions that I rolled the dough to. I found that if the spiral was too long the palmiers fully unrolled, so you need to make sure that you get a nice start on the roll and make sure that the spiral that you roll is nice and tight.

These unroll in the oven. Don't freak out.

When you take these out of the oven to flip them, they will have unrolled a little bit. Don't worry - this happens. When you flip them using an offset spatula or a knife, shuffle them back into shape a little bit. They will bake up as nice spirals!

Watch your bake time on them too - it can only take a few minutes to take these from golden brown to over baked and a little bitter. Keep a close eye and start checking soon after you flip them.

This is a super easy recipe to double / triple / however many you want to make.

These are a great recipe to prep ahead and pop into the oven as needed. You can make them up to the point that you freeze them the second time, then transfer the frozen palmiers into an airtight container and freeze for up to a month. Bake from frozen as directed in the recipe. You can use as much or as little puff pastry as you like to make however many you would like. This is a great recipe to quickly make if you have some puff pastry from another project to use up.

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Cheese Straws with Puff Pastry

These super easy cheese straws are the perfect savory puff pastry recipe! Simply roll out pastry, top with cheese and pepper, and twist up into cheese straws. These bake up as cheesy, flaky, buttery cheese straws which are the perfect starter or snack! I make mine with homemade puff pastry but they also work perfectly with store bought puff pastry.

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this super easy cheese straws recipe! I make these with my homemade puff pastry recipe which is a super versatile recipe for both sweet and savory puff pastry recipes, and these cheese straws come out looking super fancy when they are a very easy quick recipe to throw together!

If you are after a buttery, flaky, cheesy snack, these are perfect - every time I made these in recipe testing they didn't last long at all.

I make mine with parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper for a Cacio e Pepe vibe, but feel free to use herbs or spices mixed in with the cheese - make these cheese straws your own!

For the cheesiest cheese straws, use cheese instead of flour!

The best way to make sure these cheese straws are as cheesy as possible, instead of using flour on the work surface, use cheese! This means that as you roll out the dough it gets pressed into the cheese, giving amazing flavour and a beautiful crunchy texture.

The key here is to make sure that you use cheese that has been very finely shredded - I used my microplane but the smallest holes on a box grater will work well too. Make sure that the cheese is freshly grated - pre-shredded cheese has a starchy coating on it which gets gummy.

I made these with freshly grated parmesan cheese. I haven't tried other cheeses but if you do, go for something hard in texture.

A couple of ways to shape cheese straws

There are a few ways to shape these cheese straws. I went for a more fancy version, cutting strips, cutting a slit down the middle and twisting them up, which looks very fancy and fun but I promise it is very easy.

Alternatively you can twist from each end of the strips to make a classic twist, or cut the strips of dough thinner (about 1cm) for little tiny thin crispy cheese straws. If you change the shape just make sure to watch the baking time as it will change with larger or smaller dough pieces.

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Super Flaky Apple Turnovers with Gooey Filling

These Apple Turnovers are the perfect Apple Dessert. Made with flaky puff pastry and stuffed with a delicious gooey homemade apple pie filling, you can serve them all or store the extra in your freezer, ready to bake whenever you need them!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this recipe for easy Apple Turnovers with you! These are super easy, and are made with a homemade puff pastry, although there are notes in the recipe on using store bought if that is more of your style.

These are really so simple - squares of puff pastry are filled with a gooey homemade apple pie filling, then folded up, egg washed, and baked until flaky and golden. I love filling them with whipped cream before eating, but you do you here.

Another thing I love about these is they freeze like a dream. You can store the apple turnovers unbaked in your freezer and just bake from frozen whenever you need for the most perfect cozy dessert - it is hard to beat one of these hot from the oven.

puff pastry ready to be rolled out — Roll out pastry in two goes

rolled out squares of puff pastry — Cut into squares

square of puff pastry with egg wash — Egg wash each edge

Storebought vs Homemade Puff Pastry

I like to make my own puff pastry when I can, but I know that sometimes that just isn't feasible, or you just can't be bothered. This apple pie turnover recipe uses a full batch of my puff pastry, or you can make it with four sheets of store bought pastry (in NZ it comes in 10" / 25cm squares) which you cut into squares to form the turnovers.

If you are buying frozen pastry get the stuff that is in the sheets, and try to get one that is made with butter. That is the huge advantage of making your own pastry - it really does taste better! I have done it both ways and they are both good - although there is something extra special about knowing how to make your own puff pastry!

I have a full post on all things puff pastry with all my tips and tricks and a full breakdown on how to make it - it really is as easy as pie (crust) to make. Check it out - Puff Pastry 101

folded over turnover — Fold over and seal up

fork crimped apple turnover — Seal again with a fork

Sometimes Apple Turnovers Leak.

I did a lot of reading before posting this recipe and lots of people seem to be concerned about their apple turnovers leaking - These are meant to be rustic. You're filling flaky pastry with a filling that is going to bubble. The flaky pastry will puff up, and some of it might leak out the sides. This will cause a little opening in the apple turnover. Don't worry about it. It is just making you a little pocket to squirt whipped cream in. If your turnovers come undone a little or they leak a little, it's all part of the charm.

baked apple turnover on sheet pan — Flaky Perfection

The Perfect Freezer Pastry - How to store apple turnovers

This recipe makes 15 Apple Turnovers - I get 12 from the initial roll out then can usually squeeze 3 more out of scrap pastry. If you don't want to eat 15 Apple Turnovers in one go (valid), they freeze incredibly well. Freeze them unbaked, with no egg wash or anything. Freeze in a flat layer, then once they are frozen solid, transfer to a ziploc bag for up to 3 months. When you are ready to bake them, bake from frozen. When you egg wash a frozen apple turnover make sure that you add the sugar straight after egg washing as the egg wash freezes and the sugar won't stick. Keep the baking temperature the same as written in the recipe but you may need to add a few more minutes on to the baking time to get the filling nice and bubbly.

side on shot of stacked up apple turnover

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Puff Pastry Dough Recipe: A Beginner's Guide

If you can make Pie Crust, you can make Puff Pastry. While it may seem intimidating, there are very few differences between them! This step-by-step guide will walk you through the basics of making your very own homemade rough puff pastry, and will have you no longer reaching for the store bought stuff when you see puff pastry recipes - I promise you this is so much better!

flaky puff pastry — Perfect flaky layers - can you believe this is rough puff pastry!?

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this recipe for easy homemade puff pastry with you! I promise it really is easy. If you can make Pie Crust, you can make rough puff pastry - they are essentially the same thing, only the technique is slightly different.

This puff pastry recipe is super versatile, and is a great thing to keep on hand in your freezer for whenever the need strikes. Not only is is super easy to make (no fiddly butter block here than you very much!), it is buttery and flaky and gives the most amazing flavour to any puff pastry recipes you might need it for.

I promise this step by step guide will have you feeling super confident in no time and making your very own puff pastry like a pro! This recipe uses the rough puff method, and still produces the most amazing flaky pastry.

layers of puff pastry inside — Inside layers from laminating

layers of puff pastry outer edge — Perfectly flaky pastry

Puff Pastry vs Rough Puff Pastry: What is the difference?

Rough Puff Pastry is the chill younger sister of Big Girl Puff Pastry. They are made up of the same components, but the main thing that differs is the technique in which they are made.

Traditional Puff Pastry is made with a butter block. You make the base dough, then make a block of butter which you enclose in the dough, then laminate (a fancy word for fold) over a series of turns to give you a flaky dough. This technique gives you a flaky dough, but honestly? I have made puff pastry both ways and this way isn't worth the hassle. If you follow my technique for rough puff pastry, you'll get all the flaky layers and flavour without any stressing over butter blocks.

Rough Puff Pastry still uses the same components - dough and butter, but the butter gets incorporated into the dough right at the start rather than being enclosed as a butter block. This makes it much easier to make and less stressful to work with.

So how do you even make it?

I use the same technique that I use in my All Butter Pie Crust for making this puff pastry. If you're familiar with my pie crust you know that after bringing the dough together you give it a series of folds. We do the same thing here. The only thing that is different is that we keep the butter pieces slightly larger when mixing, and do one additional fold. That's it. Told you - if you can make pie crust, you can make puff pastry.

Let me break down the process: Puff Pastry from Scratch.

Like I mentioned, the process is very similar to making Pie Crust, we just are using slightly larger pieces of butter at the start, not incorporating them as well so they add nice buttery layers to the puff pastry, and doing just one extra fold. Here are the steps, with photos, to show you exactly how it goes.

Step 1: Make your dough. This is all broken down in the recipe card for you - the main piece of information here is that you want to only squish each piece of butter once to flatten it so that when you give the dough laminations, you have large pieces of butter in the dough to give you a nice flaky puff pastry.

butter for pie crust — Note the size of the pieces of butter

puff pastry with butter mixed in — Squish each one once to flatten

add water to pie crust — Add water and mix to combine

puff pastry once mixed — Finished dough - a wee bit of flour is ok!

Step 2: Rest the dough. This gives the gluten a chance to relax, the dough a chance to hydrate, and the butter a chance to cool down so that when you do the folds, the dough won't smoosh everywhere.

puff pastry dough on counter — Turn out onto the counter

wrapped up puff pastry dough — Shape and wrap up

Step 3: Folds. We do four sets of folds with this puff pastry dough (like in my pie crust), each about 20 minutes apart. The resting time gives the butter a chance to cool down again and the dough to relax. You can see in the images below as the dough goes through each fold, how the butter becomes more homogenous within the dough. This is also developing flaky layers.

turn 1 - rolled out — First roll out - large butter pieces

turn 1 folded in to quarters — And then in half again

ready to be turned again — Ready for the second roll-out

Step 4: More folds, then rest. The dough goes through a total of four sets of folds. It then needs to rest for at least two hours, or my preference is overnight to let it fully relax. You can see in the images below that it starts to look more smooth in texture - this is the butter being made into very thin layers, which is what gives the flakiness of puff pastry.

Start of Turn 2 — Start of the third roll-out: you can see the butter pieces getting smaller

Start of turn 3 — Fourth roll-out: Dough is nearly ready to rest before using.

The best part about Puff Pastry? It freezes like a dream. Make double.

I almost always have puff pastry in my freezer. It bakes up just as well as it does from fresh. To freeze puff pastry, give it the 2 hour to overnight rest called for in the recipe - this is to let the dough fully relax. I like to do overnight if I can.

Make sure that the puff pastry dough is tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, then place inside a ziploc bag. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. To use, defrost in the fridge overnight then proceed with the puff pastry recipe as written.

If you find that you often only use a half batch of puff pastry (my palmiers and cheese straws use a half batch), divide the dough in half (375g per piece) and wrap up so that you have a half batch ready to go when needed.

finished puff pastry, ready to use — Dough after four folds - you can see that there are no large visible butter chunks and the dough looks nice and smooth. This is ready to be used.

Some suggestions - recipes using puff pastry

The thing that I love about puff pastry is how quick it makes an amazing dish. If you are looking for puff pastry dessert recipes try my apple turnovers or my palmiers, or I use it as the crust for my custard square. For savory puff pastry recipes it makes an amazing top to a chicken pot pie, or is super delicious rolled out, covered in cheese, and twisted up to make cheese straws.

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Foolproof Stovetop Apple Pie Filling (Make ahead!)

Homemade apple pie filling will always be worth it. Combining fresh apples, brown sugar and cozy spices, this filling comes together quickly on the stovetop and is perfect for pies, hand pies, apple pie bars, turnovers, and anything you can think of! This apple pie filling can be made ahead and freezes well.

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share the recipe for this easy apple pie filling! Making your own pie filling from scratch is way easier than it looks I promise, and so much more delicious!

The secret to a good pie filling is diced apple, brown sugar, vanilla, and just the right amount of spices. This pie filling can be made in advance, and even freezes well if you want to double it and have some for later!

This recipe makes 1kg of Apple Pie Filling which is enough for one 9" Apple Pie or Dutch Apple Pie, a batch of apple pie bars, or a batch of apple turnovers (or whatever else you would like to use it for)

apples and filling ingredients in frying pan — Transfer to pan and add your bits

Why bother pre-cooking your pie filling?

While fresh apples are great for a pie filling, pre-cooking not only allows you to split up the workload, it means that the apples do all their leaking and bubbling during the pre-cooking process. Pre-cooking only adds a tiny bit of time to the process and I promise you that it is worth it. That said if you do want an apple pie with fresh fruit which is also delicious and a different experience, check out my basic apple pie recipe.

Apples tend to shrink down a little when you are cooking them, and release juice, which we counteract with flour to make a 'gravy' (I can't think of a better word for it!) that means once the apple pie filling goes into the oven again, it isn't going to go all soggy on you and leak everywhere. You know exactly what kind of consistency you are working with.

Pre-cooking also means that you can make your apple pie filling ahead of time, which means you can have it ready to go in either the fridge or the freezer.

add in flour to cooked apples — Add flour and sugar

Not all apples are made equal - choosing the best apples for apple pie

There is a reason some apples are labelled as 'cooking apples'. They go kind of mushy when you cook them, or 'fluffy'. Those are not the apples that you want to use here -you want to use one that retains its texture so that you don't have a mushy pie filling on your hands.

I also like to use two different varieties for taste if I can - I almost always use Granny Smith for texture and the slightly tart taste, and then often supplement with a Braeburn. Honeycrisp and Jonah gold are also great options.

finished apple pie filling — Cook until thick, glossy, and delicious!

How to speed up the cooling process - surface area is your friend!

I use this trick all the time when I want to cool things quickly - spread it out on a sheet pan. Increasing the surface area of the filling and also spreading it thinly means that it cools nice and quickly, if you are in a hurry you can also give it a few stirs as it cools to help speed up the process.

Once it has cooled, then you can transfer it into the storage container to go into the fridge or the freezer.

apple pie filling cooling on a sheet pan — Cool on a sheet pan, stirring often to cool down quickly if needed

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Answers to your baking questions

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Cozy Apple Pie Bars

These Apple Pie Bars have all the vibes of an apple pie, with far less effort! Combining an easy base recipe that also acts as a crumb topping and a quick homemade apple pie filling, these are the perfect any time dessert!

side on shot of apple pie bars with powdered sugar

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share the recipe for these apple pie bars! These are SO GOOD. They have a buttery base which also becomes the topping, and a super delicious homemade apple pie filling. They look fancy but they are super easy to put together.

These are a great option if you're after an apple pie vibe without the fuss of a full apple pie - they are the perfect make-ahead dessert, and everyone that tried them during the recipe testing process loved them so much.

crumble topping for apple pie bars — The base seems crumbly!

Transfer into pan and then flatten — Transfer into the pan

flattened down apple pie bars base — It flattens out just fine

add apple pie filling to bars — Add apple pie filling

Two components, but three layers

The best part about these apple pie bars is that the buttery crust is both the base of the bars, and the topping. There is no par-baking required, you can just assemble it all in one go.

If required, you can make the apple pie filling ahead of time and either freeze it or refrigerate it until you are ready to use it - there are tips in the apple pie filling post on that.

Make sure that you allow enough time for the bars to completely cool so that they aren't too fragile when you are removing them from the pan.

crumb consistency — Gently squeeze the topping together

apple pie bars with crumble topping — Then crumble it over the bars

Tips and tricks for cutting nice even squares

This may seem like a no-brainer but I get asked it all the time - how do you get such nice cuts?

I use a sharp chef's knife with a long blade (30cm) on it. I also use a ruler which is a mega nerd method, but seems to work the best for me - it will always be more accurate than eyeballing it.

Work out how many pieces you want to cut your apple pie bars into before cutting, a mid-cut decision is always going to be messy.

piece of apple pie bar topped with crumble

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Easy Homemade Apple Pie Spice

I can guarantee that making your own apple pie spice mix is so much more delicious than a store bought version! This easy blend of cozy spices is great to whip up to keep on hand for apple desserts, pie filling, or whenever you want a little more than just cinnamon!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this apple pie spice mix recipe with you! I shared my pumpkin pie spice mix, and as I have been working on an apple pie filling recently I figured I needed an apple version too!

We can't get apple pie spice here in New Zealand so I always make my own, but I quickly realised that it is great being able to control exactly what flavours go in it, so you can mix and match with what you like, or add more or less of something if you would like a different blend.

What spices are in Apple Pie Spice?

We have the usual suspects here - mainly cinnamon, then some allspice, nutmeg, and cardamom. Like I said earlier you can leave things out or add them in depending on preference. My blend for example - some apple pie spices have ginger in them, I prefer to let the other spices shine, so I left it out. It is absolutely a you do you situation!

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Answers to your baking questions

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I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Mega Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats

These aren't your standard Rice Krispie Treats - these are My Rice Krispie Treats wearing a party dress! A few simple tweaks to the classic recipe and a whole lot of Brown Butter elevates this easy no-bake recipe to one that will be a crowd pleaser for ALL ages!

Hi hi! I am just popping in with this recipe for Brown Butter Rice Krispie Treats! I make these all the time and they are always requested by family and friends so I wanted to share the recipe with you!

I know there are so many rice krispie treat recipes already on the internet. But this one is special, I promise you. We are doing a few things to take these from just another rice krispie treat to something you can't stop thinking about. The Brown Butter Really Makes it.

I promise you these are worth a try.

prepared pan for rice krispies — Prep your pan with a parchment sling

marshmallows for rice krispie treats — Whole marshmallows

rice krispies with chopped marshmallow — Chopped marshmallows and rice bubbles

How I fancy up my Rice Krispie Treats

There are a few things here that make these brown butter rice krispie squares just that little bit better with only a tiny bit more effort. Here's how I do it.

Brown the butter with milk powder. If you haven't tried adding in milk powder when you brown your butter, now is the time. Brown butter gets its amazing flavour from the toasted milk solids, and adding in milk powder gives you extra milk solids to toast, so gives even more of an amazing nutty flavour.
Toasted Coconut. The theme of these rice krispie treats is toasty. Toasting things gives an amazing depth of flavour, which is super important when you're working with something like marshmallows. I add in a good amount of toasted shredded coconut which also adds texture. If you're not a coconut person you can leave it out, there are notes in the recipe. If you haven't toasted coconut before check out my guide on how to toast coconut!
Properly salted. There is nothing sadder than a sweet that isn't salted properly. I like to use salted butter when I am browning, and also add in a little more salt with the vanilla to really help balance out the flavours.
Pockets of marshmallow. In the recipe there are two measures of marshmallow - the larger quantity gets dumped in with the brown butter like a regular rice krispie treat recipe, but I also get you to chop some up and mix them with the rice cereal to give little pockets of marshmallow and to make them super gooey.

If you want to learn more about browning butter if you haven't done it before I have a full guide for you - Brown Butter 101: The Ultimate Guide

marshmallow mixed with brown butter — Mix well here to combine

brown butter marshmallow mix — Put back on the heat if needed

mixed rice krispies — This gets sticky so use a large pot!

rice krispies into pan — Pile the mixture into the pan

A few top tips to make your life easier

While this is a super simple recipe, things can get really sticky really quickly. There are a few things that can help here to make making these rice krispie treats as uneventful as possible.

Have everything ready to go. I like to toast my coconut while I am cutting up the marshmallows to mix in with the rice krispies. That way when you are ready, you can just dump everything in. Once the marshmallows are melted you don't want to let them set too much as that is when things really start sticking to you.

prepared rice krispies — Leave to set then remove

sliced squares of rice krispies — Slice into pieces!

Prep your pan. I use a 9x13 (20x30cm) non-stick baking pan to make these rice krispies. I like to butter it, then line it with a piece of parchment paper that I clip over the edges just so that it is easy to pull the whole thing out. Have your pan sitting and ready to go.

Use a big pot. I use an 8 litre stock pot to make these in, you want to use something that is large enough that when you stir rice krispies into sticky marshmallow you don't flick it all over the kitchen. Something big is your friend. To wash it, simply fill it with water and place it back onto the stove and bring to the boil and all the sticky melts away.

Butter your spatula. A buttered spatula or wet hands will be your friend when you shape the rice krispie treats into the pan. You can also press a piece of parchment paper onto the top of the treats to help make them nice and flat.

press rice krispies into pan — Press down with wet fingers

gooey rice krispie treats — Gooey goodness

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Brown Butter 101: The Ultimate Guide

If you haven't tried brown butter before, it is pure magic. This ultimate guide will teach you how to brown butter, how to make it in advance and store it, and how to take advantage of the amazing nutty flavour that it gives to baking. Plus, check out my tip on making mega brown butter with the addition of milk powder!

brown butter in pan — Brown Butter = Liquid Gold

Hi hi! I am just popping in with this ultimate guide on how to brown butter! Brown butter is one of my very favourite ingredients. I love how toasty and complex the flavor is, and it is super easy to make in bulk and have on hand for using in recipes or just for adding amazing flavour to your cooking (I make scrambled eggs with mine!).

I know that browning butter can be intimidating - don't worry, I will hold your hand the whole way through. I break down the whole process in this post, along with all the tips and tricks on what to look for, visual and audio (and smell!) cues, and a couple of sneaky tricks on how to make super amped up brown butter.

You'll be a convert like me in no time.

If you are after recipes to use brown butter I have a whole section: Brown Butter Baking Recipes

close up of brown butter with milk solids — Close up of brown butter with milk powder added - you can see all the toasty milk solids

What even is Brown Butter?

Brown Butter is essentially Butter that has had the water cooked off, and the milk solids toasted. It is similar in makeup to clarified butter or Ghee, except that the milk solids are left in and cooked off, rather than being separated out to give a clarified butter.

Toasting the milk solids is what gives the brown butter the amazing aroma that it has and the incredible nutty taste.

Leave the brown bits in - that is where the flavour is. I often get asked this - do I leave the brown parts in? YES. DO NOT LEAVE THOSE BEHIND. That is where all the flavour is.

The Stages of Browning Butter

There are several stages to browning butter and I will walk you through them with images. Because I make brown butter all the time and know the steps well I usually use a saucepan, but a light coloured pan works well if you are new, doing a large batch, or want to see more closely what is going on.

If at any point you feel like things are going too quickly for your liking, take the pan off the heat. There is no fixed rules on how long brown butter takes, so take it slow if you are learning.

Step 1: Plain butter. Cold from the fridge is fine. Chopping it into pieces means that it melts more evenly.

Step 2: Melted. Nothing crazy here - the butter melts.

Step 3: Milk solids start to separate. You can see the butter become less homogenous and light coloured milk solids start to separate out from the butter.

Step 4: More separation, boiling starts. This is where the water starts to cook off and the butter will start to boil and make noise. Keep whisking it at this point to help it cook evenly.

Step 5: Small bubbles. Now you will really hear it doing its thing - lots of small bubbles will be on the surface of the butter. Keep doing what you're doing and whisking.

Step 5: Large bubbles. It will start to smell delicious at this point, and the butter will have large bubbles in it rather than small ones. You will be able to hear the boiling. The milk solids will be starting to brown which is where the smell comes from.

Step 6: Foam. This is the point that you want to look for and start watching your butter super carefully. The butter will go quiet and the bubbles will turn to foam. Keep whisking. Turn the heat down if you are worried you are going to take it too far.

Step 7: Brown bits come up through the foam. This is where you are getting super close. The butter will smell amazing and nutty, and will have stopped foaming. Brown bits will usually come up through the foam - this doesn't always happen though so don't use this as a hard and fast rule. Swirl the pan to see how brown the milk solids are.

starts to foam more brown butter — Step 8

Step 8/9/10: Done. Transfer ASAP. You are done! The milk solids are browned and the water has been cooked off. You want to transfer your brown butter to either a container to store it in (go glass over plastic so you don't melt it), or the bowl you are using to bake in. You want to cool it in a bowl or container rather than the pan as you want to stop the cooking process.

brown up the middle of the butter — Step 9 - nearly there

How to use Brown Butter in a recipe - it takes some maths!

I have seen in a few places that you can use brown butter in the place of melted butter - this is not the case. Brown butter is butter that has had the water cooked off. Water plays a role in baking. With no water left in the butter, it is a pure fat and behaves more like an oil. Butter is about 80-83% fat, so you will need to adjust the amount of brown butter you use in a recipe when subbing it for melted butter. If a recipe uses creamed butter and sugar, brown butter will not be a direct sub. Using recipes that are developed to use brown butter, or subbing it for oil in a recipe is your safest bet!

There will be a change in weight of the butter - butter contains water!

I get this question a lot - why are there two different measures of butter in the recipe? There is a simple answer to this - butter contains water. When you brown the butter, the water cooks off, so the final amount of brown butter is going to be less than the amount that you started off with, because the water is gone. This is not a typo. I have accounted for the water lost during the browning process.

My general rule of thumb is to multiply the amount of butter I need in a recipe by 1.3 to get the starting weight of butter - so if I need 100g brown butter, I start with 130g solid butter.

My favourite brown butter recipe - brown butter chocolate chip cookies

Different butter browns differently.

Butter varies in fat / water content between brands. High butterfat butter will contain more butterfat and less water - higher end brands in the US, or European or Irish Style butter, or the butter in New Zealand. This means that when you brown it, you end up with a larger finished quantity of brown butter as there is less water to cook off. Conversely, lots of US style butters contain slightly less butterfat and more water, so you end up with less brown butter because more water has cooked off.

This is why I always work by weight in my recipes and always get you to re-weigh the butter. I see so many recipes which get you to brown butter and then not weigh it afterward. This assumes all butter is the same, which is absolutely is not. Choose your recipes wisely.

butter with milk powder — Add milk powder to melted butter - make sure to whisk well

melted butter with milk powder added — You can see more milk solids than plain butter

Brown Butter's best friend: Milk Powder!

Now we know that brown butter is butter with cooked milk solids, let me teach you a little trick - you can add more milk solids by adding milk powder. This increases the ratio of milk solids within the butter, and so you get a mega brown butter situation. I add it in once the butter has melted, and then whisk well throughout the cooking process.

The only thing you need to take note of when you are adding milk powder is that it affects the final quantity of brown butter. For example if you are starting with 130g of solid butter to shoot for a final browned quantity of 100g, if you add in 20g of milk powder to this, your final amount of butter remaining for the recipe will be 120g as the milk powder does not cook off, so it is accounted for in the final weight of the butter. I have found that adding milk powder does not work for every recipe as it can make the butter behave slightly differently but it works great for recipes such as my Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and my Rice Krispie Treats.

browning butter with milk powder added — Browning milk solids

brown butter with milk powder finished — Milk powder = mega brown butter

How I make Brown Butter in Bulk or Ahead of Time

I often make brown butter in bulk if I am doing a lot of recipe testing with brown butter, but I also like to keep it on hand for making my scrambled eggs. The key thing to make sure of here is that you cool it at room temperature and stir often. The brown milk solids sink to the bottom, so if you leave it to sit and then pop it into the fridge you hav a layer of butter on the top and all the milk solids on the bottom.

You can easily avoid this - stir the butter as it cools. This distributes the browned milk solids within the brown butter so that it is more homogenous. I like to let it come to room temperature then place in the fridge, stirring regularly, until it is cool enough to not separate.

To use pre-made brown butter just weigh out the amount that you are needing in your recipe and melt and proceed as usual - I usually just quickly melt it over a double boiler in the mixing bowl I am planning to use or put a little hot water into the sink.

brown butter ina. jar — You can see the milk solids separated out down the bottom - that is what you want to stir as it cools to disperse through the brown butter.

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

10 Minute Toasted Coconut (Easy Stovetop Method)

The quickest way to elevate Coconut? Toast it! This easy stovetop toasted coconut is a super quick way to turn an ingredient that is often looked over into the most amazing flavor bomb.

Hi hi! Just popping in with this super quick guide on how to make toasted coconut. This is another one of those things that I do all the time, and is also one of those things that can go very wrong, very quickly.

Toasting coconut is a super quick and easy way to quickly turn something that sometimes gets a bad rap for being 'boring' but I love it, and toasted coconut is even more amazing! It gives it a ton of flavour and makes it super crunchy - perfect for topping pies as a garnish, or for stirring into no-bake desserts.

So here it is - all about how to toast coconut! I use a stovetop method because I often have a full oven, but there are a bunch of ways to do it!

There are multiple kinds of coconut

The two main kinds of coconut that I keep in my pantry are shredded coconut, often called coconut threads, and desiccated coconut. Desiccated coconut is a little less common in the US, especially in an unsweetened form.

Shredded coconut is exactly what is sounds like - coconut meat that has been shredded and dried. Both toast up well - you can see in the image above the difference in size of pieces. Use the kind that you prefer the most - I always make sure to get unsweetened coconut

plain coconut in pan — Phase 1: Plain coconut

coconut starting to toast — Phase 2: Starting to turn

Stovetop toasted coconut - the phases

The key to toasting coconut is to watch it carefully, and don't do it at too high of a heat. Coconut is quite high in fat, so it burns easily. You want to slowly toast it. Keep a close eye because it feels like it will never be done, and then quickly be done all at once and can catch you out.

I like to use a non-stick pan, but you can use whatever pan you are comfortable with. Make sure that you keep the heat relatively low. The stovetop works well for something like coconut and is more convenient and quicker than the oven. The pieces of coconut are small and toast evenly, unlike nuts which I prefer to use the oven for.

You can see the coconut go through the phases of toasting in the images. Make sure to remove it from the heat as soon as it is done, and transfer to a pan or container.

almost there - keep a close eye! — Phase 3: Keep a close eye on it!

fully toasted coconut — Phase 4: Fully done.

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Answers to your baking questions

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I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Ridiculously Good Nutella Brownies

These easy, fudgy, Nutella Brownies are a great twist on the classic fudgy brownie. With chunks of chocolate hazelnut spread throughout and swirled on top these are a super easy way to mix up your brownie game!

Nutella Brownies with chunks of Nutella — Perfect Nutella Chunks and a beautiful Nutella Swirl!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this easy Nutella Brownie Recipe! I have a ton of brownie recipes on here - I am always on the lookout for ways to mix it up a little bit, and these Nutella Brownies are SO GOOD.

They have all the usual suspects - a rich and fudgy brownie base, the same as I use for all my brownie recipes, filled with blobs of Nutella or chocolate hazelnut spread of your choice, and finished with a swirl of more Nutella. If you've made my Peanut Butter Brownies before, these are those - but made with Nutella.

These bake up to be chewy, fudgy, and just so good - I know that you will love them.

Brownie batter in bowl — Glossy brownie batter = deliciously fudgy brownies!

brownie batter in pan — Transfer to pan and bang to get rid of any bubbles

Nutella in a piping bag — I like to use a piping bag

blobs of Nutella added to brownie — Blobs of Nutella added

Why does Nutella work so well in brownies?

Nutella (or another chocolate hazelnut spread of your choice) works so well in baking because of its makeup - the fat and sugar in it make it a great ingredient. I have added it to a French Silk Pie and used it to make blobs to freeze to fold into Nutella Cookies before. We are big fans in this house. It works so well in this recipe because you don't have to add anything to it, and it stays stable in the oven without splitting.

lines of nutella on brownie — Add lines of Nutella

feathering on brownie top — Then feather them with something sharp

Feathering on the top - an old school decoration!

I love a good feathered top on a baked good. It is super easy to do - you just pipe horizontal lines on what you are decorating, then with a sharp knife or skewer, you run it vertically through the lines, alternating between up and down, to create a feathered look on the top.

Because Nutella is nice and smooth it works perfectly for this. If it is cold in your kitchen, consider warming it slightly before putting it into the piping bag. Start with a very small hole snipped in the end of the piping bag, and do a little test pipe on a spatula or something to make sure that the line is the size that you would like.

If you can't be bothered doing the fancy feathered finish feel free to just blob the rest of the Nutella onto the top of the brownie and make a nice Nutella swirl using a toothpick!

Top tips for cutting brownies cleanly.

There are a few tips and tricks for this one - I have broken them all down for you! A large sharp knife and a cold brownie will be your friend here!

My Top Brownie Tips

Get all my tips and tricks on how to get the perfect crinkly brownie top in my fudgy homemade brownie recipe.
Plus, follow this easy Instagram video tutorial to cleanly cut homemade brownies!

corner shot of Nutella Brownies — These are the perfect twist on a classic brownie recipe!

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I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Double Oreo Brownies

If you love Oreos you will LOVE this Oreo Brownie Recipe! Made with a double dose of Oreos - a buttery Oreo Crust, topped with a brownie layer, then topped with more Oreos. This is a delicious twist on a classic brownie and adding in the crust really takes it to the next level!

brownies with Oreo on top — Perfect Fudgy Brownies topped with Crushed Oreos!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share the recipe for these ridiculously good Oreo Brownies! If you've been around for any amount of time you will know that I am obsessed with my brownie recipe, and am always looking for ways to amp it up and play around with variations!

Hear me out: Oreo Brownie, but with an Oreo Crust. It is every bit as good as you think it will be, and requires 5 minutes extra work (no extra baking needed) to totally elevate these to the next level. I took my Oreo Crust recipe and popped it at the bottom of the pan, then topped with a brownie and finished with more crushed Oreos.

Absolute Game Changer. Let me tell you all about it.

oreos for brownie crust — Oreos for the Oreo Crust

oreo crust pressed into pan — No baking needed - just form in the pan

chocolate going into brownie batter — Melted chocolate = Fudgy Brownies

Prepared brownie batter — Perfect glossy brownie batter

Recipe testing: How to tweak a brownie recipe

As a baking blogger, a huge part of my job is recipe testing. What has made my life significantly easier is as the years have gone by, I have developed base recipes which give me a kicking off point. Sometimes these work and sometimes I end up re testing the recipe 15 times, but my forever brownie recipe is a solid one and one that I know can stand up to tweaking. Here is how I took my classic brownie and made it into Oreo brownies:

Scaled it back a little. When I am adding a filling or a topping, like with my Peanut Butter Brownies, I like to have a little less batter. It is easiest to scale around eggs, so I scale from 3 eggs to 2 eggs worth of batter.
Adjust the cocoa. Oreo brownies get their distinctive flavour from Black cocoa, which has been put through the 'Dutching' process or extra alkalised to give it the flavour. This gives a super rich dark flavour that is perfect for this brownie. If you don't have black cocoa, regular Dutch cocoa works too!
Add a crust. I already have an existing 2 Ingredient Oreo Crust recipe which I added to the base of the brownie. Originally I tried par-baking it like I do for a pie but it does not need it and got too crumbly once baked, which also makes this recipe super easy as you can assemble the crust and then add the brownie directly on top.
Add Oreos. No explanation needed really - Oreo Brownies need to have extra Oreos on the top! I love the texture difference from the crust to the fudgy brownie to the Oreo topping.

brownie batter added to oreo crust — Add batter to pan and smooth out

chopped oreos for top — Top with more chopped Oreo Cookies

oreos on top of brownie ready for the oven — All ready for the oven

baked sliced oreo brownie — Oreo Brownies = the perfect twist!

A question I always get - How do you get such clean cuts on brownies?!

I have a few wee tips here for you on this! My main tips are a sharp knife and cold brownies but I know there are lots of other ways to do it!

My Top Brownie Tips

Get all my tips and tricks on how to get the perfect crinkly brownie top in my fudgy homemade brownie recipe.
Plus, follow this easy Instagram video tutorial to cleanly cut homemade brownies!

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Thin and Crispy 30 Minute Pumpkin Spice Cookies

These easy pumpkin spice cookies are a twist on the gingersnap, and are thin and crispy, with a chewy middle. Pumpkin Spice cookies are full of warm and cozy spices and require no chilling - you can have cookies ASAP!

cookies on parchment paper — Perfect thin and crispy pumpkin spice cookies

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share the recipe for these easy Pumpkin Spice cookies! These are a pumpkin spice twist on my Gingersnap recipe, which is one of the most popular recipes on my site.

These are a super easy cookie recipe, perfect for all year round. They are full of warm spices, and rolled in a crunchy sugar before baking for the most amazing, sparkly finish.

The dough for these Pumpkin Spice cookies freezes super well, so they are great to keep on hand in your freezer stash!

Can't find Pumpkin Spice near you? No worries - check out my DIY Pumpkin Pie Spice!

wet ingredients for cookies — Butter, sugar and molasses

dry ingredients for cookies — Dry ingredients for cookies

Do these cookies have Pumpkin in them?

I think that a common misconception with pumpkin spice recipes is that they have pumpkin in them. Sometimes they do, but for this recipe, it is just using the spices that go into a pumpkin pie to flavour the cookies. The spice mix itself is a delicious mix of cozy warming spices, so you can easily make some up and sub it in when cinnamon and ginger are called for in a recipe if you want to mix it up a little! I put a solid amount into the cookie recipe itself and also a little into the rolling sugar similar to how I do my snickerdoodles - you can leave this out if you like but I love the flavour that it gives.

creamed butter and sugar mixture — Creamed butter mixture

add dry ingredients — Add in dry ingredients and combine

Making ahead - a great freezer stash!

Like my Gingersnap cookie recipe, these are great to make ahead. I roll into balls, freeze on a sheet pan, and then transfer to a bag. Do not roll in sugar if you are planning on freezing them. Roll in sugar just before you bake them.

The cookies can be baked from frozen, but reduce the oven temperature to 325°f / 160°c and bake for a few more minutes.

To see a full visual on this with a side by side comparison, check out my gingersnap cookie recipe.

finished gingersnap batter — Batter ready to scoop

scooped dough — If you are freezing, leave off the sugar

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

DIY Pumpkin Pie Spice (The Perfect Ratio!)

If you can't get Pumpkin Pie Spice where you live, or you want to make your own to have on hand, this is my go-to recipe! This is great to have on hand for seasonal baking, and the best part is that you get to make it exactly to your liking!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this recipe with you for an easy at home Pumpkin Pie Spice! We can't get it easily where I live, and I know not everyone can. So instead of having to search what to use instead of pumpkin spice, here we go - make your own! However, the main reason that I like to make my own is so that I can control what spices go in. This is a great option if you prefer your pumpkin spice baking a bit more ginger forward or with a little more of another spice, so making your own is great!

This pumpkin pie spice mix obviously works great in a pumpkin pie recipe, but I also love to use it in my Pumpkin Spice Cookies!

You can also sub the cinnamon for this pumpkin pie spice in my cinnamon sugar recipe for a deliciously spiced sugar!

What even is Pumpkin Spice?!

I get this question a lot. No, this recipe does not have pumpkin in it. It is called pumpkin spice because it is made up of the spices that are used in a pumpkin pie. There are all the usual suspects, but I have also added in a little bit of cardamom into mine because I love how it tastes. If you don't, leave it out. If you like more or less of a different spice, switch that up too. That's the best part - you can do whatever you like.

What spices are in Pumpkin Spice?

I have the usual suspects here- mainly cinnamon which acts as a great base. I then added ginger, and then nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and just a little cardamom for warmth.

If you can, try and make sure that your spices are fresh. The fresher they are the stronger the flavour will be. Believe it or not, spices do have an expiration date! Store them as airtight as possible to keep them fresh.

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I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Fluffy Cinnamon Sugar Donut Cake

Forget lining your pan with parchment paper - line it with cinnamon sugar! This technique takes a basic butter cake and turns it into the most amazing Donut Cake. The cake is light and fluffy, and surrounded on all sides by a delicious layer of cinnamon sugar. You'll be eating this straight from the pan warm - it's that good!

donut cake in pan — Fluffy Donut Cake with a coating of cinnamon sugar. Truly just the best.

Hi hi! Just popping in to share this donut cake recipe with you! When I was making my spice cake recipe, which I top with cinnamon sugar, I tried a non-spiced version and instead of lining the pan with parchment, I lined the entire thing with a layer of crunchy cinnamon sugar.

The result was amazing - a fluffy donut cake, covered with a layer of crunchy sugar. It is super easy to make, but the sugar in the pan trick is just enough to elevate it to something very magical. We ate the whole thing out of the pan in the first day, it's just that good.

Like the spice cake, this is a twist on my butter cake recipe, which is a super versatile girlie - a tender and fluffy cake, made with sour cream. This donut cake is so good it deserved its own post though!

wet ingredients for donut cake — Butter, sugar, and vanilla

creamed butter and sugar with eggs — Cream well, then add eggs

cake with wet and dry ready to go in — Alternate dry and wet

finished donut cake batter — Finish mixing by hand

The trick to a donut cake - line the pan with sugar!

There's something about a cinnamon sugar donut that I love so much, so I wanted to channel that for this donut cake. Instead of lining the pan with parchment paper which I usually do, I generously coated the pan in butter, then dusted it in cinnamon sugar which I made with turbinado / demerara / whatever your name is for the crunchy raw sugar.

While this does make it a tiny bit more work in terms of taking the extra step to line the pan and being careful to smooth the batter down so that it doesn't take too much of the sugar off the sides, it is very very worth it.

I used a non-stick pan (mine is the brand USA pan) and made it in an 8" (20cm) pan rather than my butter cake recipe which is made in a 9" (23cm) pan so a little thinner. I wanted a nice thick fluffy cake. I haven't tried this with any other kinds of pan sorry but I would go for a non-stick one to give you the best chances of a smooth removal!

pan lined with cinnamon sugar — Buttered then coated with sugar!

batter in cinnamon donut pan — Spread the cake carefully!

smoothed out batter in pan — Smooth cake well into the pan

cake sprinkles with cinnamon sugar — Then top with remaining sugar

My Favourite way to eat leftover donut cake

When I was a kid we used to get these little cinnamon sugar donuts from the supermarket, and would always microwave them until they were screaming hot. I often pop leftover cake in the microwave if it is after the day that I made it, and this donut cake microwaved is next level. I start with about 20 seconds and go from there!

finished donut cake cut — I cut mine with a bench scraper

How to slice a donut cake to get it out of the pan?!

Because this donut cake isn't made in a lined pan, you do have to be a little more careful when you are removing it from the pan. The main thing that I try to watch is that i'm not scratching my non-stick pan, so I cut it with a plastic bench scraper then use a plastic spatula to get the first piece out. Once the first piece is out it is fairly easy to get out of the pan.

You can also turn the whole thing out - if the cake is cooled it should manage this ok, but you might damage the crackly top. You do you here. We often just eat it out of the pan.

side on shot of a piece of cut donut cake — The cake is still super soft and fluffy, and the cinnamon sugar takes it over the edge!

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I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

The Only Spice Cake Recipe You Need

Soft, fluffy, and full of all the cozy spices, this cake is like a warm hug! This easy cake comes together quickly and is finished with a crunchy cinnamon sugar topping for the perfect throw together dessert.

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this super easy Spice Cake Recipe with you! I was playing around with my butter cake recipe and realised that I don't have a good spice cake recipe on my website yet, so here we go!

This is a soft and fluffy single layer cake, which I make in an 8" (20cm) pan. It comes together quickly, and is full of the usual warming spices. It's perfect for an anytime cake but would also be amazing warmed up with custard or ice cream for dessert.

If you love the crunchy cinnamon sugar topping on this spice cake, give my Donut Cake a go - it has a full coating on all sides of the sugar!

wet ingredients for spice cake — Butter and sugar etc ready to be creamed

add eggs to mixture — Make sure to beat the mixture super well once adding eggs

Combine dry ingredients well before mixing in

add sour cream to mix — Don't fully mix in before adding sour cream

Developing a recipe for spice cake

To kick start the recipe testing process for this spice cake recipe, I started with my butter cake recipe, which is a super easy, super versatile butter cake, with a bunch of sour cream for moisture and texture. Here are the changes that I made and why:

Switched the white sugar for brown sugar. I wanted this cake to taste super toasty, and brown sugar pairs amazingly with the spices in the cake. For this recipe, it was a straight sub quantity wise.
Added molasses. This is optional - if you don't have it it's not the end of the world, but I added a little molasses in just to amp up the brown sugar toasty flavour.
Added spices. This is an obvious one but I added a bunch of spices in and chose the usual suspects - cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cardamom. I didn't add cloves because I didn't want the spices to be too heavy and I feel like sometimes cloves does that. If you don't have cardamom, a wee bit extra of all the other spices in the recipe will make up for that!
Changed the pan size. I wanted this to be a fairly substantial cake, so I scaled to an 8" (20cm) pan, whereas my butter cake is made in a 9" (23cm) pan. This worked perfectly and I love how thick and fluffy this spice cake is!

batter for spice cake — Batter ready to go!

add batter to pan — It should be light and fluffy

cake spread into pan — Cake smoothed into the pan

cake sprinkled with cinnamon sugar — And topped with cinnamon sugar

My favourite topping: A crunchy cinnamon sugar

I love topping cakes with sugar, particularly if they aren't getting iced. While you can frost this cake if you would like, it really doesn't need it thanks to the nice cinnamon sugar coating on the top.

I initially used a finer granulated sugar but there really is something so special about crunchy sugar - I especially love rolling cookies in it but it gives the most amazing sparkly, crackly finish. I mixed in a little cinnamon to mirror the flavour of the cake. It was an excellent move.

sliced up spice cake — I cut my cake into 9 large pieces but you do you here!

Setting you up for success: Tips for making a great spice cake

While this cake is super easy to make, there are a few tips and tricks that will definitely make your life easier - the main one is making sure that your ingredients are all very room temperature. If your house runs cold, I suggest putting your eggs in some warm water just to make sure they don't have a chill to them, as part of this recipe involves adding eggs and whipping well, and if the eggs are cold, they will chill the butter slightly which won't give you as fluffy of a cake batter.

I also like to make sure that my butter is nice and soft, I find that if I am having a hard time getting my butter and sugar to come together I put a little hot water in the sink and place the mixing bowl in there and keep creaming the mixture together.

When ingredients are the same temperature, they combine together well. Well combined ingredients = beautiful fluffy cake

top down shot of pieces of cake — Crunchy, crackly cinnamon sugar topping

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I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Soft and Fluffy Braided Lemon Buns

Soft and fluffy lemon buns are made with an easy enriched dough and filled with a lemon sugar mixture. The braiding is simple - you just cut them into strips and shape into beautiful buns! These are amazing served as is or you can finish them with powdered sugar or a lemon glaze. I made these in my new Ooni Halo Pro Spiral Mixer, which is my new favourite kitchen accessory!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share the recipe for these easy soft and fluffy lemon buns with you, AND to tell you about a very new addition to my kitchen - the Ooni Halo Pro Spiral Dough Mixer!

These lemon buns are really easy to make - a basic enriched dough, flavoured with a little lemon, is made and chilled down to make it easy to work with, then rolled out, filled with more lemon sugar, and rolled up into super beautiful and easier-than-they-look buns, which proof for a second time then are baked up into little balls of lemon deliciousness.

I used my brand new Ooni Halo Pro Spiral Mixer to make these buns. I have owned an Ooni Pizza oven for years now and it is one of my favourite things, so I was SO excited when they reached out about trying out their new mixer, which is truly a game changer, especially if you make a lot of dough! After playing around with it for a long time and really testing it out, I am so excited to tell you all about it!

This post is sponsored by Ooni. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the businesses which help keep Cloudy Kitchen running! I have been given affiliate links to use throughout the post, thank you for your support!

My New Favourite Thing: A Spiral Mixer!

If you've ever peeked into the back of a bakery, you've probably noticed a massive mixer with a huge spiral hook on it. That is a spiral mixer, and it is designed especially to mix dough in the most efficient way possible.

Ooni has recently released an at-home version of this mixer, which is an absolute game changer when it comes to mixing dough. I have owned a bowl lift mixer for years now and while it does a great job with the whisk and paddle attachment, it leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to the dough hook.

Enter the Ooni Halo Pro Spiral Mixer. Designed with dough in mind, the mixer is not only beautiful enough to live permanently on my bench, but the way that it mixes dough is so clever. I no longer have to stand and hold my mixer to stop it walking across the bench.

breaker bar — Breaker bar (doesn't move), dough hook (spins along with the bowl)

How a spiral mixer works

Unlike a planetary mixer which is what we are typically used to when we refer to a stand mixer, the Ooni Halo Pro Spiral Mixer differs in that both the mixing attachment and the bowl spin.

The Ooni Halo Pro Spiral Mixer comes with a dough hook, but the game changing part is that it has a breaker bar, which screws into the head of the mixer. The breaker bar does not move, and stops the dough from coiling up the dough hook as the dough mixes, which gives you a dual action kneading system. This gives you amazing bread dough, mixed efficiently and with an amazing finish. I tested it with sourdough, lower hydration dough, a cinnamon roll dough, my focaccia dough, and a really soft and sticky milk bread dough, and it was amazing for all of them, giving me dough with amazing gluten development and extensibility that is a dream to work with.

dough inside a mixer — Dough hook and breaker bar in action

Features that I love

I have been playing around with the Ooni Spiral Mixer for a month or so now, to really put it through its paces when it came to being a workhorse in the kitchen, and it has passed every challenge I have set it. I expect my appliances to work hard, and I make a ton of dough. Here are a list of things that I love the most:

Super Sturdy. A huge issue with a planetary style mixer is that it is not heavy duty enough to stand up to kneading bread without getting too hot or walking itself off the bench. I would have to stand and hold my planetary mixer down to keep it in place. The Ooni does not have any of those issues. I am able to easily carry it from room to room if needed, but once it is positioned on the counter, you can easily leave it there will full peace of mind that it won't be moving once you turn it on. I ran it at full speed with a relatively low hydration dough, and it didn't complain a single bit. If you have struggled with your mixer in the past you know how amazing this is!
The control dial. I LOVE the control interface of the mixer. It has a single dial which you turn to either a % speed or you can set it to do a certain RPM depending on what you prefer. You turn the dial to the setting you want, and just tap it to stop the mixer. You also use the dial to set the timer. The interface is digital, so you have a ton of control over what you are doing.
A Timer. This one is low key life changing for me. I am often multi tasking in the kitchen, and being able to set a timer for how long I want the mixer to go for is amazing, especially with a dough with multiple mixing stages or a long kneading cycle.
The bowl is huge but in a good way. The Ooni Halo Pro Spiral Mixer bowl is 7 litres, which may seem large but it has straight sides, so it is very easy to work with. The bowl spins on the mixer, and there is enough space between the side of the bowl and the breaker bar to reach in with a spatula to scrape the side of the bowl without having to stop the mixer. Truly a dream.
It has a light. Enough said. Stage lighting for your baking. The mixer also makes a delightful noise when you turn it on and off (which can be muted, but it makes me so happy)
Easy to lift up and down. Whatever the opposite of clunky is, that is what that mixer is. There is a little button / catch on either side of the head of the mixer, which you lift to smoothly lift the head of the mixer up and down.
The results are amazing. I caught myself standing and watching the mixer whenever I use it - it is absolutely fascinating to watch the dough develop, and the results are just amazing. It makes dough that is a dream to work with.
Easy to wash. Everything comes off - both the dough hook and the breaker bar unscrew so I can just throw them into the dishwasher.
Other attachments. While the Ooni Halo Pro Spiral Mixer is designed to make amazing dough, it also comes with a flexible beater and a geared whisk to make it versatile in the kitchen if you need it to be. While I will primarily be using this for dough, I also tested a triple batch of my brownie recipe using the whisk attachment and the mixer performed amazingly.

lemon bun baked in muffin pan — Perfect fluffy lemon buns!

Super Easy Lemon Buns

While I made a ton of different things to test out my new mixer, these lemon buns are super delicious, easy to make, and I know that you will love them. They start with a super easy dough which is the same one that I use to make my cinnamon rolls - it is a demi brioche style enriched dough, and I like to make it the day before or earlier in the day to give it time to firm up slightly as it rises, so that it is easy to roll out. This can be done up to two days ahead and will still work fine. The Ooni mixer made light work of the dough, even when I bumped the butter content up slightly.

If you have made my cinnamon bun twists before - these are the same format but a larger batch - this recipe makes 16 buns. I rolled mine out into one large piece of dough but if you are new ish to rolling dough out and worried it might go a bit wonky you can absolutely divide the dough into two pieces to make eight buns per piece of dough.

ooni bowl on scale — The Ooni Scale is also AMAZING!

bread dough ingredients — Wide bowl = super easy to use

Double Lemon in one easy step

To make things easy, I flavoured these lemon buns with a really easy lemon sugar. You make one big batch at the start of the process and use this to both flavour the dough and fill the buns.

dough covered with lemon sugar — Sprinkle with lemon sugar

Shaping Lemon Buns

While these buns look fancy, they are really just dough rolled out, filled, then folded up into thirds, letter style. I found that when I was testing, it worked best to brush the dough with melted butter and then sprinkle with the lemon sugar rather than make a paste to spread on like you would with cinnamon rolls. A little of the sugar comes out when you are shaping them but this is fine!

Make sure that your dough has had enough time to chill down before you roll it out. It means that the butter firms up, and makes the dough easier to roll. I like to use a ruler and keep squaring off my edges with a bench scraper while I am rolling to help keep things nice and straight.

folded piece of dough — Fully folded over dough!

pieces of dough ready to be cut — Divided into two

strips of dough on a sheet pan — Cut into strips and ready for the fridge

The dough is then cut into strips and placed onto a sheet pan. At this point I like to pop it into the fridge to make the next part a little easier.

The shaping looks fancy, but it is super simple - it is just a simple braid. Rising and baking the buns in a muffin pan means that everything stays contained and the slightly messy bottom all gets baked into one dough mass and the pretty top is exposed, giving you beautiful braided buns!

You can see in the images below how I braid the buns:

open strips to braid — Separate out strips

Rising and baking Lemon Buns

I like to make these in two muffin pans, and do 8 buns in each. I tried them on a baking sheet and it looked like a big tangle of spaghetti as they unrolled as they baked.

Place each rolled up bun into the cavity of a muffin pan, nestling them in nicely. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to proof again. If you have chilled the strips to help with shaping, the dough will need a little longer for the second proof - it is winter here in NZ at the moment and they took about 90 minutes to rise.

side on image of baked lemon buns in muffin pan

You know the buns are done when the dough leaves a small indentation that slightly springs back when pressed with a finger.

Bake in the pans until golden brown, then leave to stand for about 5 minutes before removing from the pans. Do not leave them too long as the lemon sugar mixture will cause them to stick.

I like to store my buns in an airtight container at room temperature. If you are eating them after the day you made them, I briefly warm them in the microwave to help freshen them up.

For more information on the mixer please head to Ooni's website to learn more about the Ooni Halo Pro Spiral Mixer! If you are in the US, please use this link

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I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

The Marble Cake we are Obsessed with

This marble cake is your next go-to crowd pleaser! Vanilla pound cake batter is swirled with a rich chocolate batter for the most perfectly dense (in a good way!) marble cake with the most amazing texture. Made in a loaf pan, this marble cake not only looks impressive, but keeps well and is great to make ahead.

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this marble cake recipe with you! When I was working on my sour cream pound cake I accidentally (happens every time) went down a pound cake rabbithole, and now we have this amazing marble cake recipe!

A few friends have actually said that they prefer this to my vanilla pound cake. Huge call. But I can see why. There's a tender vanilla cake base, swirled with a slightly denser chocolate pound cake, which I made with real chocolate, so it is super rich and almost fudgy.

You make the one batter, set some aside, add the chocolate to the rest, and then get to assembling and swirling.

Don't be intimidated. I'll break down the whole process for you, and there's a whole bunch of pictures to help you along the way.

Recipe testing for Marble Cake

During the recipe testing process, I made this marble cake a ton of different times. The first I went for a 50:50 split of chocolate and vanilla batter, which turned out to not be quite right - because the chocolate batter is super chocolatey, it overpowered the vanilla. I also absolutely screwed up the swirl.

We got there though - I ended up with about a ⅓ chocolate to ⅔ vanilla split which is delicious. I dialled back on the chocolate a little in the chocolate section as it was too dense in texture.

The rest of the testing was then just locking it all in - making it in different sized pans, playing around with bake time etc. etc. All the work was so worth it though because this cake is just so good.

The importance of room temperature ingredients.

This is a super important one for this marble cake recipe. I know that we say that ingredients always need to be room temperature (if specified), but for this recipe especially you want to make sure that your butter is nicely room temperature, as well as your eggs and your sour cream.

Because melted chocolate gets added into the batter, you want to make sure that the batter isn't too cool, which will cause the chocolate to harden and you will get little flecks of chocolate through your batter. Not the end of the world, but it is easy to avoid if you can.

If your house runs cold, you can pop your eggs into a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes before baking. Even if they are at 'room temperature' I find warming them slightly can help with this too.

Does this cake need a frosting?

Depends who you ask. I think it is delicious just as is. However, my Husband who has a tendency to put chocolate icing on anything he possibly, can, would disagree.

If you wanted to add a frosting to this marble cake, my easy brownie frosting works perfectly.

How to get a chocolate batter that isn't too dense but still tastes like chocolate

I did a ton of research when I started making this marble cake recipe - a lot of the recipes use cocoa in their chocolate portion of the batter. Not this one. I really wanted the chocolate flavour to shine through and not compromise texture, so I wanted to make sure I used melted chocolate rather than cocoa powder.

This gives a delightfully dense (in a good way) chocolate swirl through the marble cake. I also added in some sour cream to help increase the viscosity of the chocolate mixture so that there wasn't too much variation between the two batters (this was a tip from my friend Chelsea!).

Because you are increasing the ratio of batter to the amount of baking soda in the recipe along with adding two kinds of fat to the batter, the chocolate portion does bake up a tiny bit denser than the vanilla, but I love it that way.

How to assemble a marble cake

This seems like a silly thing to need to explain but I tried a bunch of different methods for this and much prefer this way. Some other recipes online get you to alternate layering the batter, or just blob it all in and swirl.

I found that doing three separate layers, making sure to bang down the batter and then swirling between each layer was the most effective way. You can see in the images below how I did that (they show a few steps rather than the entire process but it is essentially the same thing just in three layers)

I used a 1 Tbsp (#60) scoop for the chocolate batter and a 1.5 Tbsp (#40) scoop for the vanilla batter. Eyeballing it also works. See images below for how I assembled.

You don't have to be super accurate, you just want to make sure that you have a nice distribution of the two different batters.

bang down the batter — Layer one, banged down to flatten

swirled marble cake batter — Flattened and swirled layer 2

You have to swirl more than you think you do!

To get a nice pretty swirl within your marble cake, you have to swirl it more than you think you would. I like to use a butter knife as it is wide enough to ensure that you get a nice mix of batters. Swirling between each of the three layers also helps. Make sure to go both up and down and side to side in your swirling!

Please note that because of the swirling method which introduces air into the cake, sometimes there will be some bubbles in the batter and then the baked cake. This isn't a biggie, you can see that there are some in my cake!

A butter line down the middle

I do this almost every time that I make a pound cake now - I just pipe a little line of softened butter down the middle of the cake, which controls where it cracks in the oven. This is totally optional but I did a side by side comparison in my vanilla pound cake post!

swirling batter with butter knife — Swirling using a knife

marble cake ready to bake — Butter line down the middle

Pullman vs Pound Pan

If you've been here for any amount of time you will know that I love using a Pullman Pan to bake pound cakes in. A pullman pan is slightly larger in size and square in shape and gives the most amazing polite sides on a cake. They are my favourite.

However, I know that most people do not own one, so I developed the recipe to be made in a 1lb loaf pan, with notes below the recipe on how to adapt for a pullman.

I did a full breakdown of a 1lb, 1.25lb and pullman pan along with how the cake looks baked in each in my vanilla pound cake post

Make sure that it is properly baked!

Because the marble cake batter can be quite heavy, you want to make sure that the cake is properly baked throughout. You can see in the photo below that this wasn't quite done - this is especially important if you are baking in a pullman pan. The cake wasn't quite finished baking, so there is a thin line near the bottom of the slice where the batter isn't quite done.

To avoid this, make sure that you test with a skewer, making sure you get near the bottom of the cake to check the crumb. A few moist crumbs attached is fine, but make sure if there are any signs of the cake being wet on the inside you leave it in for a little longer. If you are worried about it browning too much you can tent the pan with foil.

slightly under baked — You can see in this image where the cake wasn't quite baked enough - there is that dense line toward the bottom of the cake. It is especially important to pay attention when baking in a pullman pan.

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

One Pot Chewy Brownie Bites

These easy Mini Brownie Bites are quick to make and come together all in one pot! They are fudgy and perfect if you are an edge brownie person - they have a gooey fudgy inside and a chewy outer. I tested this recipe over 20 times to get them just right. Read my post to learn all about how to make these bite-sized brownies!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this mini brownie bite recipe! I worked on these a ton a few years ago then fully forgot about them, and have recently jumped back into the recipe testing process and realised just how good they are.

If you are an edge brownie person, these are for you. There's a double dose of chocolate, a fudgy middle, and a super chewy exterior. The recipe comes together in about 10 minutes on the stove in a saucepan. Melting down the butter and sugars together at the start of the recipe means you get that super fudgy brownie with a perfect crinkly top, with no fancy equipment required. I tested this recipe over and over and over again to get it perfect for you - I know you are going to love these as much as I do.

wet ingredients for brownie bites — Melt butter and sugar on the stove.

The Recipe Testing Process for Brownie Bites

Every now and then a recipe sends me down a massive rabbit hole and this recipe was one of them - I think I have made them at least 20 times to get them to this point. There are more variables than you think when it comes to a brownie bite recipe.

You want the texture to be good with a fudgy middle, and you want them so that they can release from the pan but still be nice and dense and moist. I started with my classic fudgy homemade brownie recipe, and quickly realised that the formulation of the recipe needed to be completely different. Here are a few things that I found:

The recipe needed to be a cocoa based brownie. My classic fudgy brownie recipe which relies mainly on chocolate and butter for the fudgy finish needed to be switched up, as my regular recipe was too gooey. A cocoa based brownie is much chewier and far easier to get out of the pan.
Making it in a saucepan makes things easy. Melting together the butter and sugars means that you get some warmth to bloom the cocoa to bring out the chocolate flavour, but also means that you can make the whole recipe right in the pot.
Melt things together for a crinkly finish. I started with using granulated sugar for the recipe, but found it wasn't getting as crinkly as I would like it because it didn't have the whipping step of a regular brownie recipe. Using powdered sugar means that the sugar dissolves quickly, and you only need to briefly whisk in the eggs.
Chocolate for texture. I felt like the recipe needed a little something and missed the richness from chocolate. I used chopped chocolate which melts a little in the oven, giving a perfectly gooey brownie bite.

mix coming together — It will be a weird texture

melted butter and sugar — But will come together smoothly.

add cocoa — It will look grainy when the cocoa is added

add eggs and mix — And then smooth out again with the eggs.

How to get your brownie bites cleanly from the pan.

I tested this a lot. These brownie bites are made in a mini muffin pan - the one that I prefer is from USA pan. Please note that not all muffin pans are made the same. Here is what I found works best:

Baking spray works better than butter. I tested both as a release method - baking spray works far better than butter when it comes to cleanly lifting out the brownie bites.
Wait 10-15 minutes to remove the brownie bites. I tested this all the ways too - waiting 10-15 minutes to let the brownie bites set before removing them seems to be a sweet spot.
Add a seatbelt if you like. Adding a small piece of parchment in the bottom of each muffin cup helped a ton when it came to removing the brownie bites. This step only takes a few minutes, but means that when it comes to removing them you can just lift out the brownies.

dry ingredients added — Dry ingredients and chocolate

finished brownie batter — Perfect brownie batter!

parchment paper slings — Little parchment seatbelts

brownie bites lift out of pan — Make for clean easy removal

Portioning out brownie bites

I find that the easiest way to portion these is to use a #40 cookie scoop - one level scoop is about enough to fill each cup and divide between the 24 brownie bites perfectly.

If you do not have a cookie scoop, you can use a spoon or spatula and divide the batter between each cup. Fill almost to the top - these do not rise enough in the oven to spill over in my experience.

add batter to pan with scoop — I use a cookie scoop to portion out my brownie bites.

How to tell when brownie bites are baked

These brownie bites puff up in the oven when they are baked. It is important to not over bake them, as the inside texture won't be as nice.

To tell if they are done, press lightly on the top of the brownie bite. If it collapses down and still feels wet in the middle, it is not done. If it gives a little but does not collapse, and still seems moist in the middle, it is done.

Chocolate Chips and Chopped Chocolate for brownie bites

If you know me or my recipes, you know I am a chopped chocolate girl. However, I tested these brownie bites with both chopped chocolate and chocolate chips. Both work fine and do not change the recipe aside from the taste of the chocolate, so you do you here.

Can I frost these brownies?

Yes - I finished these a few times with a batch of my brownie frosting.

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

The Butter Cake That I Can't Stop Making

This is the butter cake recipe that I cannot stop making. A soft, tender butter cake, made with sour cream for moisture, with an impossibly light and fluffy crumb. I finish mine with sugar for a crunchy finish, but this cake is the perfect base recipe you will find yourself turning to again and again.

Hi hi! I am just popping into share this super easy butter cake recipe with you! This Butter Cake is high up on the list of recipes I've been making over and over the last year and have finally stopped gatekeeping to share with you (ahem, vanilla pound cake).

While I know there are a lot of butter cakes on the internet, I think that this one is a little bit special. It has a slightly different method which gives it the most amazing fluffy texture, and a hit of moisture from the sour cream also adds the most amazing delicate tang to the cake.

We are OBSESSED with this butter cake - I have given up on making a single of it because it just disappears so quickly in my house, so I always double the recipe. It is perfect as is, (AMAZING slightly warm from the oven), and makes a beautiful dessert paired with some fruit or whipped cream.

This Butter Cake is, to me, the perfect dessert: Great to make ahead, and just so, so versatile. I hope you love it as much as we do! For a cinnamon sugar version check out my Donut Cake, and for a spiced version, my spice cake recipe is so good!

butter and sugar for vanilla butter cake — I prefer to cream my vanilla in with the butter and sugar.

This Cake was meant to be a Pound Cake

This cake also came from my friend Chelsea who I gave me the pound cake recipe. She knew we had been making the pound cake for about a year and were totally obsessed with it, then texted me saying 'Try this, I think it might even be better than the last one'.

We tried it and while it was amazing, I wanted to see what would happen if I adapted it to be a flatter cake, more of a snacking style cake. A bit lighter and fluffier than the pound cake recipe, but still with an amazing texture, and something that you find yourself cutting a piece of every time that you walk past the kitchen.

I ended up tweaking it just a bit and playing around with the baking time - 330°f / 165°c seems to be the sweet spot, a longer, slower bake than other cake recipes. The result is magic. You can see my recipe testing notes below!

Butter cake recipe testing — My recipe testing notes always are super bare bones but I know what they mean!

add in eggs one at a time — Eggs go in then you whip!

wet and dry ingredients for cake — Sour cream, flour, cake batter

cake batter in cake pan — The finished super fluffy cake batter

cake batter added to cake pan — Transfer to your pan and smooth out.

A few sneaky secrets for the fluffiest cake

This cake uses a slightly different method to give it that beautiful light and fluffy texture - you whip it HARD once you add the eggs. What this does it it beats up the eggs to make them super thick and the batter really light, so that it can take a fair amount of sour cream added for moisture and flavour without it being too weighed down.

This also starts to dissolve the sugar, which helps to give you that perfect crackly, almost meringue-like top to the cake. This is a similar technique used in brownie recipes ( I really nerd out about it over there if you're interested) to give that nice crackly top.

cake with sugar sprinkled on top — Here is how much sugar I use

crackly top on butter cake — For the perfect crackly finish!

Granulated Sugar for the perfect crackly top to your butter cake

Another thing that I love doing when I am baking is adding a crunchy sugar top. I do this for muffins, banana bread, cookie bars, and cookies, so it only made sense to also do it for this butter cake!

Just a little sprinkling of granulated sugar on the top of this butter cake before going in the oven gives it the most amazing crinkly finish that is so delightful to bite through.

crackly sugar topping on cake — We eat this as is - especially warm!

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Grandma-Style Condensed Milk Cookies (Massive Batch)

Did you grow up with those super nostalgic sweetened condensed milk cookies? Here's that recipe! Scaled up to use a whole can of condensed milk so there's no annoying leftovers, these condensed milk cookies are easy, can be made in bulk and easily frozen, and are just so good! This is a great egg-free cookie recipe too! The recipe makes 90 cookies!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share the recipe for these easy sweetened condensed milk cookies! I grew up baking these with a friend - I think the original recipe came off the back of the condensed milk tin. There is also a version of them in my Grandma's recipe book that I have, and I know that a lot of you have grown up with something similar so I think it is a classic nostalgic recipe for a lot of us. I think it also goes by a few names - sante biscuits, highlander biscuits, kiwi crisps, etc. These cookies are crisp around the edges and soft and chewy on the inside - if you like yours crunchy you can bake them more.

My issue with those recipes? You have half a can of leftover condensed milk left. This is a very specific pet peeve of mine - I know that you can use it for other things, but to me, it's annoying. So, I scaled up and tweaked it and recipe tested this recipe to use a whole can. They are perfect for sharing, or the dough freezes super well for baking off as you need.

The result? A recipe which is the ultimate grandma-style recipe: super easy to make, and makes a ton of tiny cookies (the recipe makes 90).

dry ingredients for condensed milk cookies — Butter and sugar and vanilla

creamed butter and sugar mix condensed milk cookies — Cream together super well

Sweetened Condensed Milk = the perfect egg replacer in these cookies!

These condensed milk cookies are sort of somewhere between a classic shortbread recipe and a chocolate chip cookie recipe.

When I was recipe testing, I wanted to scale up the batch of cookies to use up the whole can of condensed milk. Because of how condensed milk behaves in some cookie dough it makes a great egg alternative, making these a perfect egg-free cookie.

Add the sweetened condensed milk in just after the butter and sugar have been creamed together.

condensed milk added to cookie dough — A whole can of condensed milk goes in!

cookie dough with flour added — I like to do this part with a spatula

chocolate chips added to cookie dough — Chocolate Chips in! Basic = Delicious.

cookie dough ready for scooping — Combine chocolate chips by hand.

The only time I ever use chocolate chips...

If you have been around for any amount of time, you will know that I am a die hard chocolate chunk girlie when it comes to cookies. They just are superior in almost every way.

However, for this recipe, I went out and bought chocolate chips. The cheap ones that you use for baking, that make things taste super nostalgic. The condensed milk cookies just didn't taste right without them.

If you do want to use chopped chocolate that will work fine too - just finely chop chocolate and add in to the cookie batter.

cookie on parchment paper — These cookies are pure nostalgia

holding baked cookie — The recipe makes 90 little cookies!

Massive batch of cookies = an epic freezer stash

This recipe makes a lot. As in, 90 cookies. A lot a lot. You'll be thinking to yourself 'what do I do with so many cookies?' just trust me on this one.

The cookie dough freezes super well - just scoop it, roll it into balls, then freeze in an airtight container. To bake, place frozen balls of dough directly onto a lined baking sheet and bake at the temperature given in the recipe - there is no need to drop the oven temperature for this specific recipe when you are baking from frozen as there is with other recipes which bake at a higher temperature.

scooped out and rolled cookies — Roll into balls then bake.

To roll or not to roll?

Look, I had mad decision paralysis when I was making these - initially I was just scooping the dough onto the pans and baking in mounds, then switched halfway through to rolling them into balls.

They both come out great, but I prefer the look of the rolled ones. I use a 1 Tbsp (#60) scoop to scoop them out, but if you don't have one, you can either use a regular tbsp to measure, or weigh out 20g balls.

rolled vs non rolled cookies — Up top = rolled, down the bottom = baked in the mounds straight from the scoop

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

The Lemon Pound Cake we can't stop eating

Meet your new favourite loaf cake: a soft, buttery lemon pound cake that goes ALL IN on lemon. I'm talking lemon zest in the batter, a lemon soak that's brushed on after baking, and a glossy lemon glaze that adds a bright punch of flavor (plus that perfect crackle on top!). The addition of sour cream to the batter ensures this loaf-style cake is ultra-moist and tender, too!

Hi hi! I am just jumping in to share this lemon pound cake loaf recipe with you! I have been making and loving my vanilla sour cream pound cake recipe for a long time now, and this lemon one is just a wee variation on it.

Like the original, the texture is lush, dense (in a good way) and has a super tender crumb. The lemon flavour comes from fresh lemon in three forms - zest rubbed into the sugar before you start mixing the pound cake batter, a lemon soak brushed on hot from the oven, and a deliciously tangy lemon glaze which goes onto the cooled cake.

It's a triple lemon situation, and it's a triple lemon situation that I know you are going to love.

lemon cake on wire rack — Out of the oven ready for the lemon soak

glazed lemon cake — Freshly glazed and ready to set

What makes my pound cake special: Lemon three ways - zest, soak, and glaze.

Often you see a recipe for a lemon pound cake, and there is just a hint of lemon. Not here. This lemon cake has lemon in it three ways to ensure a really deep lemon flavour:

Zest. Instead of adding juice to the cake which could make it claggy (the nz word for kind of soggy!), I just added a ton of lemon zest to the batter of the cake. I found during testing using 10g of lemon zest (which is about 4 lemons worth), and rubbing it into the sugar that is used in the batter that it really releases the oils and gives amazing flavour.
Soak. This step feels like you're going to end up with a soggy cake because it feels counterintuitive to add that much liquid to a warm cake - I promise you I felt the same way at the start, but the cake absorbs it. You make a quick syrup while the cake is resting. I boil the sugar and water together first and then add the lemon juice to keep it nice and fresh.
Glaze. I use the lemon glaze I put on everything for glazing this lemon pound cake. It is super easy, made with only powdered sugar and lemon juice, and is super satisfying to paint on. It sets up with a perfect crusty finish that is just so so good.

adding lemon zest to sugar for cake — Rub in zest using your hands

adding lemon soak to cake — Brush on the soak using a pastry brush.

creamed butter and sugar — Creamed butter and sugar mix

adding sour cream to batter — Sour cream adds moisture and texture

Pan Size Matters - the best pan to use.

Don't be tempted to use the wrong sized pan - you will be so sad. Let me explain why. I talk about this in depth in my sour cream pound cake recipe (and there are some diagrams there for you too!)

I made this in a 1 lb loaf pan (8.5" x 4.5" x 2.5" / 21.5 x 11.5 x 6.3cm), which is the same size that I use for my banana bread recipe. I used this size for the post as it is the most likely size that people will own.

However, when I make this at home for myself, I always use a pullman pan. A pullman pan is much squarer in shape, and gives a taller, sharper cornered cake than the pound pan.

Because the pullman is slightly larger than the 1 pound pan, I scale the recipe up slightly - there are quantities for this size in the notes section of the recipe.

cake batter ready to go — The batter should be fluffy and thick

cake batter being added to pan — Add to pan then smooth down with a spoon

The perfect make ahead recipe.

This recipe is great to make ahead of time as it stays super moist - I always test this as part of my recipe testing process. In fact, i've eaten it five days after i've made it and it was still amazing. If you are making a day or two before I would glaze it, otherwise if you are making a few days ahead I would add the soak, then wrap in plastic wrap and store in the fridge until you are ready to glaze and eat it - up to five days ahead of time.

Pound cake can also be frozen - wrap the unglazed cake well in plastic wrap and store in the freezer. Defrost at room temperature before glazing and eating.

cake batter in loaf pan — Batter in pan - smooth down with a spoon.

line of butter down middle of cake — Optional butter line down the middle.

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

2 Ingredient Lemon Glaze

Stop guessing ratios - I have the perfect ones for you! This simple lemon glaze can be made in 2 minutes and sets hard. It is perfect for cakes, cookies, loaf cakes, and pound cakes!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to quickly share the recipe for my 2 ingredient lemon glaze with you! This seems like a slightly silly thing to make a recipe for but I got sick of trying to eyeball quantities and never end up with them quite right, and a glaze which is too runny or too thick. I was looking for the perfect lemon glaze for pound cake, and made it so many times I figured I needed to share it with you.

So here you are - the perfect lemon glaze! I love to use it to glaze my vanilla pound cake recipe, and to paint onto sugar cookies, but it also works on a huge variety of baked goods. Scale it as you like!

Do I have to use fresh lemon juice for lemon glaze?

Yes. Fresh lemon juice makes such a huge difference when it comes to flavour, and when a glaze recipe only has two ingredients, you're better off making sure that they taste good.

If you don't have lemon on hand, I have also made this with lime juice and it was super delicious!

How much lemon glaze does this recipe make?

This is always a tricky one because it depends how glaze heavy of a person you are. I make a single batch of this for glazing a pound cake, and would probably use a single batch for my sugar cookies too.

If you are making this lemon glaze just as a drizzle over something like thumbprint cookies or shortbread you may need a little less - I do find that it is harder to get the right consistency when you make a small batch though, so I would make it as written. The batch size is already pretty small.

Can Lemon Glaze be made ahead of time?

Ideally you will make this glaze as soon as you need it, as it does go crusty as it dries. If you have leftover you want to store you can pop it into a ziploc bag and seal with no air in it so that it does not go crusty, then just snip the end off the bag and use it as a piping bag to use the rest of the glaze.

Can this lemon glaze be piped?

I haven't tried it - I generally use my 2 ingredient sugar cookie icing for that! It is made with milk so I find that it is a little better for piping, but if you made this lemon glaze recipe slightly thicker it would likely work ok for piping too.

Should the baking be warm or cool when I glaze it?

It depends what you are making, - for something like my sugar cookies, I like to leave them to stand for 5 minutes and then glaze while they are still warm so that the glaze melts into the pattern.

For something like a pound cake, you want to wait until the cake is cool. I like to use a pastry brush to paint the glaze directly onto the surface of the cake.

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Super Lush Sour Cream Pound Cake (Loaf)

This vanilla pound cake recipe has been my back pocket recipe for years and I know it will be yours too! This buttery pound cake recipe makes the most amazing loaf cake with an incredibly lush, tight crumb, and can be made days in advance. Leave it plain or finish it with a lemon glaze, everyone will love this super easy recipe! Adding sour cream to the recipe gives the cake moisture without adding density for the most tender crumb. Read my full guide for how to scale the recipe for pan size, and how to get that perfect split down the top of the cake!

Look - I hate calling things the best. Because it's probably not the best pound cake you're ever going to have (it might be). But this vanilla pound cake recipe? It is my best. The recipe was given to me by one of my best friends Chelsea, and the first time we had it, my head almost exploded.

We love this pound cake recipe so much in my house that I always have to make two, because my husband can easily finish a whole one by himself. This is the cake I make when I need something that is super easy, incredibly sturdy, and can just be wrapped up and thrown into the car. I make it for desserts, for people who have had babies, to bribe my husband into doing jobs for me, and just for ourselves to have quite a lot of the time.

This sour cream pound cake recipe is everything that I want in a cake, packaged up into a nice polite loaf cake. It is super buttery, with the most amazing, dense but tender crumb. You can make it days ahead and it is still fine. It is delicious unglazed, or you can finish it with a simple lemon glaze for a delightfully crusty finish.

Don't let the long bake time on this throw you off. The actual process of this is super easy. There are two sizes of pan that you can use, and I have broken the whole process down for you!

If you are after something with a little chocolate, I took this vanilla batter and marbled it with chocolate for the most amazing marble cake recipe!

sugar and butter for pound cake — Butter and sugar mixture

Why is it called a pound cake?

Traditionally, a pound cake was made using a pound of each ingredient: Butter, sugar, flour, and eggs. I have tried it that way, and that bad boy was dense.

This recipe lightens things up a little but I still think the pound cake name is appropriate because of the buttery rich taste and the super tender crumb.

This cake isn't light and fluffy, but it is light and perfectly dense - if that makes sense. It's sturdy in a good way - the knife slices through it so nicely and only word I have for the inside crumb is lush. It's just beautiful - I'm obsessed.

add egg to mixture — Add eggs and combine

pound cake batter — Super light fluffy batter

Sour Cream is our friend.

The trick to that amazing crumb? Sour Cream. This could be called a sour cream pound cake - there is more sour cream in the recipe than there is butter.

Sour cream adds a slight moisture to the recipe without making it gummy or claggy. The fat in the sour cream adds richness, and it gives the cake a very slight tangy flavour. It's just the best. You'll see what I mean when you make it.

I haven't tried subbing greek yoghurt sorry so I don't know if it would work. Greek yoghurt is lower in fat than sour cream is, so it may not have the same outcome.

add sour cream to batter — Sour cream is incorporated

add flour to batter — Then flour carefully incorporated

What pan should I make a Pound Cake in?

I have made this cake so many times over the last few years, and ended up scaling up the recipe slightly for my personal use so that it can be made in a pullman pan. A pullman pan has nice square sides and holds a little more batter than a regular loaf pan.

However, I know that not everyone will own a pullman pan, so for the sake of this recipe, I have scaled it back so that it uses a regular sized 1 pound loaf pan (which is typically measures 8.5" x 4.5" x 2.5" (21.5 x 11.5 x 6.3cm). This is the same loaf pan that I use for my banana bread recipe.

I also made the larger scale recipe in a 1.25 pound loaf pan (9" x 5" x 2.5" / 23 x 13 x 6.3cm), and it worked well too - but if you love making loaf cakes as much as I do, I really recommend investing in the pullman pan.

baked cakes diagram — Gives three different ratioed cakes

Here are the three pan sizes used in the images:

1 Pound Loaf Pan: 8.5" x 4.5" x 2.5" / 21.5 x 11.5 x 6.3cm
1.25 Pound Loaf Pan: 9" x 5" x 2.5" / 23 x 13 x 6.3cm
Pullman Pan: 9" x 4" x 4" / 23 x 10.1 x 10.1 cm

If you have the regular 1 pound pan, make the pound cake as written in the recipe. If you want the scaled up version for making it in a pullman pan, there are quantities in the notes section of the recipe.

side by side of cakes image — I use the 1 Pound pan in the recipe but prefer using the pullman for my personal use

Scaling up the recipe for a pullman pan.

As you can see in the below diagram, the pans yield different shaped loaves, and you can probably see why I like the shape that the pullman loaf makes so much.

I just scaled up the recipe to use 4 eggs instead of 3, but kept the baking soda quantity the same - this is not a typo. Because of this, the larger quantity recipe will give a slightly denser cake, which is how I prefer my pound cake, but it is already such a tiny quantity of baking soda I didn't want to reduce it any more than it is. Both ways work fine. You can see the crumb produced in the photo below.

crumb on pound cake diagram — When I adjust for a larger pan I do not change the amount of baking soda so the top two cakes have a slightly tighter crumb

How to get a perfect crack on a pound cake

Pound cake baked in a loaf pan often has that classic crack or divot down the middle which gives a cute v shape when you cut into a slice. This is super easy to achieve - there are a few ways of doing this, but I do it by piping a line of softened butter down the middle.

Basically the cake is going to crack regardless, so by piping butter down the middle, you create a point of weakness from the melted butter and it means that you can control where the cake cracks.

pound cake batter added to pan — Carefully spread cake in pan

line piped down cake — Optional butter line down the middle

This is totally an optional step - you can see in the images below that I made two cakes, both with and without, to show the difference! The one with the butter piped on it cracks much more cleanly.

I have also seen people cut a little line of butter, or use oil on a bench scraper or a knife to run a line down the middle. Basically you are just trying to create a little spot of weakness.

butter vs non butter — Butter line vs no butter line - baked in a pullman pan

How to finish a pound cake - to glaze or not to glaze?

I LOVE finishing this cake off with a glaze - I use my go-to 2 ingredient lemon glaze. I make one batch of it, and once the cake is cool, I paint it all over the outside surface using a pastry brush then leave it to dry.

This gives the most amazing crusty (in a good way) glazed finish.

The cake is absolutely delicious unglazed and finished with a sprinkle of powdered sugar so if you want to do that too, then go for it.

How to tell when a pound cake is baked

This cake bakes with the low and slow method - when Chelsea sent it to me she had written 'bake for many many minutes'. I bake it at 165°c / 330°f and it takes about an hour and 10 minutes in my oven.

The best way to check that it is done is to insert a skewer or a knife into the cake, and make sure that it comes out clean (a few moist crumbs are ok). If it is at all wet, keep it in the oven to continue baking.

If the cake starts to brown too much for your liking (this can depend on your oven), tent the top with a piece of foil.

Storage and make-ahead tips

One of the many things I love about this pound cake recipe is how well it stores. Kept in an airtight container or wrapped in plastic wrap, it can easily last a week. When we eat it at home we just store it cut side down at room temperature but this depends on your environment and how you are comfortable storing food.

This cake can comfortably be made 2-3 days in advance and still be an amazing texture (in fact, I think that it gets better the day after you have baked it)

Frequently Asked Questions

What tools and equipment do you use?
You can find a full list of the tools and equipment I use on my products page

Which pan did you use?
I used a 1 lb loaf pan for this recipe, and there are also notes underneath the recipe on how to scale this recipe up to use a pullman pan.

Can pound cake be frozen?
Yes - tightly wrapped, pound cake can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Can this recipe be scaled?
Yes - I almost always double it when I am making it. I find that it is best to make it in a stand mixer if you are making more than one batch to ensure the butter and sugar get creamed properly.

❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️

I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Super Cute Pinwheel Cookies (With Template!)

These pinwheel cookies look fancy, but I promise with that my easy guide with a template will walk you through every step of the way. Chocolate and vanilla cookie doughs are rolled together to form a swirly pinwheel, then sliced and baked into the perfect festive cookies! Check out my step-by-step photos where I explain every step!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this pinwheel cookie recipe with you! I made these what felt like a million times to get them just right and to make sure that this recipe was totally foolproof and I can hold your hand every step of the way.

Other recipes I read were a little too vague for my liking, so I came up with a super easy template to use to make your life a lot easier - a piece of printer paper!

This makes the process super streamlined and much easier than having to measure and re-measure dough. We make two flavours from one dough - a vanilla and a chocolate, then stack them up and layer them for the most perfect pinwheel cookie.

These cookies are buttery, soft and chewy, and just so delicious - they taste good as well as looking amazing.

What are Pinwheel Cookies?

Pinwheel cookies are essentially a sugar cookie, made up of two different flavoured dough. I have kept mine classic and riffed off of my classic sugar cookie dough, adding in some cocoa to half for a chocolate swirl.

You make the doughs, roll them out, then stack them up and roll them up into a log. When you slice into them you reveal the spiral inside.

These look a little intimidating but I have tried to break down the steps as much as possible in order to set you up for success!

This recipe makes about 24 cookies but it would be very easy to double and make extra cookies while you are doing the process - the sliced unbaked cookies can be stored in the freezer for months before needing to be baked, giving you fancy cookies. on hand at all times!

I have left mine plain on the outside, but feel free to roll them in sprinkles or crunchy sugar, or dip in chocolate when they are baked.

vanilla cookie dough — Making base dough

chocolate cookie dough — Remove half and add cocoa

This is a super easy method - you mix up the vanilla sugar cookie dough, then remove half and set aside. Cocoa powder is then added to the remainder of the dough and mixed to give a chocolate dough.

This is where a scale is especially important - you can just weigh out half of the dough directly into a bowl and then add the cocoa powder to the remainder of the dough.

I do this step in my stand mixer, but you can also do it in a bowl with an electric hand mixer.

two flavours of cookie dough — Two mixed doughs ready for rolling out

Step by step guide to pinwheel cookies

I promise this isn't as hard as it looks. Rolling out cookie dough can be super easy with a few little sneaky tricks - I'm gonna share all of them with you.

How to roll out dough evenly

The best way to roll out dough nice and evenly is to do it between two pieces of parchment paper before it is chilled. This means that it is super easy to roll out, and you don't have the issue of trying to roll out chilled dough which will crack on you at any given opportunity.

I like to use rolling pin guides to roll out my dough - alternatively you can use knitting needles or dowel of the right diameter. I use 4mm / 0.16" guides for this recipe. If you don't have guides that is fine as we are using a template to know exactly how big to roll the dough.

vanilla dough on parchment paper — Shape into a rectangle ish shape

patching cookie dough — Remove and add pieces where needed

How to get it the right size - use a template!

I made these a ton of times during testing, trying all kinds of different options for the dimensions of the dough to give the easiest way to roll out the dough. I was going to make a template then realised that I could just use a simple thing most of us have in our house - a piece of A4 / Printer paper!

Use the paper as a guide to know how big to roll out your dough - you want just a little extending around the edge as once it has been frozen you will use the paper to cut the dough to size.

I like to do an initial roll-out, then use the paper as a guide, removing pieces where the dough is wonky and placing them where needed to get it to the right size. You can just place the piece where it needs to go and cover with the parchment and re-roll, and it will patch itself on.

dough to paper template — Use your paper as a guide

roll chocolate dough to size — Repeat the process with both doughs

Freeze your dough for 20 minutes then trim to the correct size

Once you have rolled the dough out, transfer it between the parchment paper to the freezer. When I was testing this recipe I found that trying to flop a piece of dough onto another piece and make sure that they aligned properly was hard and stressful. We don't do hard and stressful here, so freezing the dough makes it solid and super easy to work with and get nice clean cuts.

Remove the top piece of parchment, then use a ruler and your piece of printer paper as a guide and cut the dough into a nice neat rectangle the same size as the piece of paper. Repeat this with both pieces of dough - if at any point they are getting too warm, just pop them back into the freezer.

trim dough using knife — Use paper and ruler to cut dough

dough cut to size — Gives you a perfect rectangle!

Stack up doughs

This is where having frozen dough really helps - remove the parchment from both sides of the chocolate dough, and place it on top of the vanilla dough, leaving about a 1cm gap along the long side - this is to help start the spiral to get a nice neat pinwheel.

Leave the dough to stand here for 5-10 minutes until it is nice and pliable. Do not try and roll it if the dough is too cold as you end up with a huge hole in the middle of your roll of dough and it is so sad.

stacked dough — You want about 1cm overhang

Roll up your log of dough

Starting with the vanilla overhanging dough, carefully fold it over the edge of the chocolate dough, as shown in the image below. You can use the parchment paper to help get things started if needed.

Then, carefully roll up the log of dough into a tight sausage. I find to get started, working my way along the length of the dough to get the roll started is the best way. Make sure you are not rolling up any big air bubbles and the roll is nice and tight.

If the dough starts to crack, just patch it back together carefully with your fingers. Gently roll the log of dough on your surface to help seal the edge, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 2 hours but up to a few days.

folded over vanilla edge — Fold the overlap over first

roll of cookie dough — Roll up into a tight log

How to slice and bake pinwheel cookies

Remove your log of dough from the fridge and unwrap. Slice into about 1cm pieces, and arrange on your lined sheet pan.

Again, if at any time things are getting soft, pop the dough back into the fridge. Make sure that you use a super sharp knife and cut in one motion - do not saw back and forth as it might ruin the pattern.

Freeze the dough before baking - this helps to control the spread of the cookies too.

slicing cookie dough — Slice cookies with a sharp knife

sliced cookie dough on sheet pan — Freeze before baking

Can Pinwheel Cookies be made ahead of time?

Yes - this is a great recipe to make ahead of time. The rolls of dough can be made up to 5 days in advance, or you can freeze the sliced cookies - they bake from frozen already so there are no extra instructions for baking from frozen.

To store in the freezer, slice the cookies, freeze until solid on a sheet pan, then transfer to an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.

How do you store pinwheel cookies?

Store pinwheel cookies in an airtight container. They are a soft and chewy cookie, and will keep well for about a week.

Can this recipe be scaled?

Yes - it is not too much more effort to make two logs of dough so if you wanted to, you could easily double it, especially because the cookies freeze so well.

Do not try and work out how to change the size of the rectangle - just make a double batch of dough then divide into two pieces of chocolate and two vanilla and make two separate logs of dough.

How to chill round logs of dough so they don't get a flat side

I use a sneaky little trick here - I chill my dough in a PVC pipe! I just got a little length of it from the hardware store, and it works perfectly for keeping the log of dough in in the fridge so that it does not get a flat side from sitting on a shelf.

This is a totally optional step - you could also use a paper towel roll cut in half.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tools and equipment do you use?
You can find a full list of the tools and equipment I use on my products page

Can I add flavouring to the cookies?
I haven't tried sorry but if you wanted you could add something like a peppermint extract!

Can I add sprinkles?
Yes - if you wanted to you could roll the cookies in sprinkles or sparkly sugar before slicing and baking.

What do I do with any offcuts?
If you want to, you can re-roll these together and roll out to make a few marbled sugar cookies!

❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️

I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Easier than they look Linzer Cookies (foolproof recipe)

These Linzer Cookies are super pretty, but also super easy to make - much easier than they look, I promise! They have a buttery almond shortbread, and you can fill them with whatever you like. Linzer cookies are the perfect holiday cookie addition to your lineup!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this Linzer Cookie recipe with you! Sometimes called linzer tart cookies, these are a classic Austrian cookie made up of a nut-based shortbread, sandwiched with Jam or another filling.

Linzers are a classic holiday cookie recipe, and so I knew I had to get my version on my site!

These are super simple to make, but 100% worth the effort - they are absolute showstoppers, and look so, so pretty, but aren't that much more complicated than a regular sugar cookie recipe.

I will walk you step-by-step through how to make these beauties, along with all my tips and tricks along the way. The recipe is super easy to scale - my recipe makes 14 sandwich cookies but is really easy to double.

These Linzer Cookies do contain nuts - if you would like a nut free version, there are instructions in my shortbread recipe to make them into roll-out cookies!

Important Ingredients in Linzer Cookies

There are a few ingredients in Linzer Cookies, but most of them are pantry staples!

Butter. This is a butter based cookie, so make sure that if you can, you get a good quality butter. Higher butterfat in the butter means a lower water content so less spreading in the oven too which is always helpful!
Powdered Sugar. Also called icing sugar - I always use this in my shortbread as it gives an amazing tender texture and a nice buttery crumbly cookie.
Almond Flour. Often also called almond meal or ground almonds, I use a blanched version. If it is super lumpy, give it a sift. I haven't tried these with other ground nuts.
Filling of your choice. Linzer cookies typically use a jam filling but my Husband had eaten all the jam by the time I noticed, so I used some lemon curd that I had in the fridge.

What Cookie Cutter did you use for Linzer cookies?

I have a linzer cookie cutter, but I have made these in the past with just a fluted cutter and a smaller shape for the middle. Have a play with what you have. My cutter is 2" / 5cm in diameter, which I find makes a nice sized cookie, but you can go larger or smaller if you like, you will just get a different yield and maybe have to adjust the baking time.

If you don't have a linzer cookie cutter or a fluted cutter you can use a regular round cutter and then just something simple to punch out the middle - I tried it with the end of a metal piping tip and it worked great. You could also just cut shapes with a sharp knife if you wanted to.

Cutting linzers does take a few wee tricks

Linzers are super easy to make, but I do have a few tips and tricks that make them easy to get nice and perfect, with a super sharp edge on the cookie which is important if you are cutting out the middle for the filling to show.

Work with cold dough. This is the most important step - you want things to be nice and cold. Chill the dough between the parchment paper sheets for two hours (and up to 3 days), then transfer to the freezer. This makes it nice and easy to cut out the shapes.
Keep it cold. If at any point when you are cutting out your cookies it starts to get hard to get a nice clean cut, just pop the leftover dough back into the freezer.
Freeze before baking. You get it now right? Keep everything cold. Freezing the cut out cookies before baking means that they also don't spread too much and hold their shape nicely.

Keeping things nice and cold is the sneaky wee trick to make your linzers super detailed and pretty!

How do you roll out linzer dough evenly?

Whenever I make any sort of roll-out cookie, I always roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper before chilling.

This makes things super easy - the dough is very easy to get nice and even when you roll it out before it is chilled, and doing it between two pieces of parchment paper means that you don't have to worry about flouring the surface.

I use rolling pin guides when I am rolling out the dough which help to get it nice and even. If you don't have those, knitting needles or pieces of dowel the thickness you want the dough to be work well. I roll these cookies out to 6mm / 0.25" thickness which works well.

Can Linzer Cookies be made ahead of time?

Yes, these Linzer Cookies are great to make ahead of time. There are a few options here:

Make the dough ahead of time.

Because you roll the dough out between parchment paper, this keeps it nice and moist and stops it from drying out too much so you can chill it between the parchment until you are ready to bake. I do this at least 2 hours ahead and up to 3 days in advance.

Freeze the cookies.

Once you have cut out the raw dough, freeze until solid, then you can stack the cookies in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. You can bake directly from frozen when you are ready for them.

Make the cookies ahead of time.

You can store baked cookies in an airtight container until you are ready to assemble them - they will keep at room temperature for up to a week, then fill and assemble as you like.

How to assemble Linzer Cookies

There are a few steps to assembling Linzer Cookies but I promise they aren't too hard!

Separate out the tops and the bottoms of the cookies - I like to put them on separate baking sheets. Make sure you have somewhere to put the finished cookies all ready to go.
Dust the tops of the cookies with powdered sugar - I like to do them all at once.
Pipe or spoon filling onto the bottom halves of the sandwich cookies. When I am using filling like caramel or curd I like to do this with a piping bag and then smooth it gently with an offset spatula. You can either do a few at a time, or fill all of them then add the tops.
Gently press the top of each cookie onto the filling and press lightly to adhere.

Filling suggestions for Linzer Cookies

There are lots of different filling options for Linzer Cookies. Traditionally they are filled with jam (raspberry jam is my favourite but you do you here) but here are a few options (aware that not all of these are traditional but they are delicious):

Curd. Any kind of citrus curd would be delicious here - passionfruit, lemon, lime, etc. I used jarred lemon curd but they would also be delicious with a homemade lemon curd.
Jam. Use any jam or marmalade of your choice here.
Caramel. The actual cookie part of these Linzer cookies isn't too sweet, so you could use a sweet filling like a caramel or a dulce de leche.
Nutella. Or another similar hazelnut spread.
Chocolate Frosting. My Shitty chocolate icing aka brownie frosting would be cute, topped with sprinkles!

How do you store Linzer Cookies?

Store your linzer cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. Because they have a filling they are best within the first day or two that they are made. If you have made a lot, you can always store the unassembled cookies in an airtight container (they will keep for over a week) and assemble when you are ready to eat them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tools and equipment do you use?
You can find a full list of the tools and equipment I use on my products page

Can I make these Nut Free?
I haven't tried it but my shortbread cookie recipe works well as a roll-out: Check the post to see the instructions for making roll-out cookies.

❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️

I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Throw Together Rocky Road (5 ingredients!)

This easy rocky road has 5 ingredients and takes about 15 minutes to come together. It is a choose your own adventure no-bake treat - use the same mix-ins that I have (marshmallows, peanuts, and turkish delight), or mix it up based on your taste and what you have in the pantry - the options are endless!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this super easy Rocky Road recipe with you! I grew up eating this around the holidays as a kid, and love it perhaps even more as an adult now I know about playing around with ingredients and mix-ins!

If you haven't had rocky road before it is a super easy no-bake dessert that is perfect for making for a crowd or for gifting. It is basically made up of all the delicious things that you can find in your pantry, chopped up, and then covered with melted chocolate and mixed together and set into a pan. It does take a wee while to set (about 2 hours), but putting it together only takes about 15 minutes.

When you chop it open you reveal the most amazing looking inside. One batch makes loads (about 20-30 servings depending on how big or small you cut your pieces), and the best part about it is that it is meant to be messy. It's not called smooth asphalt road! It's chunky, salty, sweet, and just the best.

I make mine with marshmallows, peanuts, Turkish delight and sometimes pretzels, but you can really mix and match here with what you like in your own rocky road!

Important Ingredients in Rocky Road

To me, this is what I personally use for the perfect Rocky Road recipe, but like I said, you really can mix and match here - I will pop a bunch of suggestions underneath!

Marshmallows. In NZ our marshmallows come in a bag that has both white and pink so I used both. You can use whatever you like - if you have big marshmallows then chop them, or you can use mini ones.
Peanuts. I use roasted, salted peanuts. Any other nut will work well here, I like the roasted salted as it gives amazing flavour to the rocky road along with a delicious crunch. I also added in some pretzels for one of my batches in place of half of the peanuts as I ran out and it was a very, very good decision.
Turkish Delight. I use Fry's Turkish delight which comes in wrapped bars (this recipe uses 4), but there are lots of other options for something gummy in your Rocky Road if you would like!
Chocolate. Obviously needed to hold everything together.
Neutral Oil. This is the sneaky ingredient to make it nice and easy to cut. Just a little makes a big difference.

What is the best chocolate to use in Rocky Road?

I like to use a good quality chocolate that you would eat by itself. In NZ we are really lucky and have amazing chocolate - I use Whittaker's creamy milk, which is a milk chocolate.

You need 500g of chocolate for this recipe, so feel free to mix and match with a milk and a dark, or use a semi-sweet for the whole thing. You really can't go wrong here (although I think that white chocolate would be too sweet), just 500g of the good stuff!

Mix-ins for Rocky Road - choose your own adventure

The options really truly are endless here - you can mix and match all you like. Here are a few suggestions, if you are having a play with options I suggest subbing things out - for example sub the same weight of salted peanuts for another salted nut of your choice, or for something else salty. I like to make sure that there is something squishy (marshmallow), something gummy (Turkish delight), something salty and crunchy (peanuts and / or pretzels) and you can mix and match as you like.

Here are some more suggestions, but you really can just throw whatever you want at it and if you find that you need more chocolate, just melt some more up! This is not an exhaustive list, feel free to go nuts here.

Note that if you do add in a lot more mix-ins or ones that are a little more bulky, you may have to upgrade to a 9" (23cm) pan, so that the rocky road doesn't set up too thick.

Brownie Bits - either homemade brownies or store bought, you choose here.
Caramel. My homemade chewy caramels would be absolutely delicious in this rocky road.
Leftover cookies. These would be great crumbled into the rocky road - I have done this with my vanilla cookies and chocolate cookies before and it was delicious, it would be amazing done with gingersnaps.
Go Nuts. Any nut would work well in this rocky road recipe - I like using ones that are already roasted and salted as the salt content is perfect. Pecans, pistachio, almonds, macadamia, you choose here. Honey roasted peanuts would also be amazing.
Chopped up potato chips. I love that salty sweet combo so that would work amazingly with this recipe.
Gummy lollies (candy) of your choice: If you don't like Turkish delight but still want that gummy flavour, other gummy candy such as gummy snakes (the natural confectionary ones are epic) or raspberry liquorice would be good.
Malteasers. Mannnnn I love malteasers.
Other candy of your choice. Really just throw whatever you like at this. It would be amazing with chopped up peanut butter cups, m&ms, whatever you like.
Coconut. You can either gently toast the coconut or just pop it in untoasted - threaded coconut or desiccated coconut would be good, I would use unsweetened.
Freeze dried fruit. This would be delicious with some freeze dried raspberries stirred through or sprinkled on the top.
Dried fruit. Cranberries would work particularly well here, but as always, choose whatever you like / have on hand.
Sprinkles. I finish my Rocky Road with flaky sea salt, but sprinkles would look super cute here too.

How do you stop rocky road from cracking?

I pop a tiny bit of neutral oil into the chocolate when I am melting it. This softens it just a little bit, and makes the rocky road easier to cut without cracking. I find that also chopping up my marshmallows into slightly smaller pieces (not my fave job but worth it) means they do cut a little more cleanly too.

Neutral oil means anything with a neutral taste - rice bran, vegetable, canola, grapeseed, etc etc.

What is the best way to cut rocky road?

I find that the best way to cut rocky road cleanly is with a super sharp, large knife. I don't heat it up as this will cause the chocolate to melt, but making sure the rocky road is properly chilled and then using a big knife helps. Remember that it is meant to be rustic so don't worry if it chops up a bit messy!

If you find that the chocolate is melting on you as you are chopping it up it may not be chilled enough - throw it quickly into the freezer and then keep chopping.

How do you store rocky road?

Keep Rocky Road in an airtight container. I keep mine at room temperature but it is not super hot where I live - if it is where you are, pop it into the fridge.

Can Rocky Road be made ahead of time?

Yes - this is perfect to make ahead of time. I haven't fully tested it as it really never lasts long around here, but it should keep at least a week in an airtight container, longer if you keep it in the fridge.

I have left it too late - do I have to wait that whole time for it to chill?

I've been there. Ideally chilling it in the fridge is best, but I won't tell anyone if you throw it into the freezer once it is in the pan to speed things up.

Can this recipe be scaled?

Yes - when I was testing this recipe I made half batches. It fits perfectly in a 1.25lb (medium sized) loaf pan and makes a really great amount if you just want a little, or you can split up the mix-ins if you wanted to make a few smaller batches of different flavours.

Alternatively you can double it for a 9x13" (20x30cm) pan.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tools and equipment do you use?
You can find a full list of the tools and equipment I use on my products page

Which pan did you use?
I used an 8" non-stick pan (mine is from USA pan) which I lined with parchment paper to extend over the sides of the pan to form a sling which made for super easy removal.

❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️

I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Gooey Pecan Pie Bars with a Shortbread Crust

Gooey Pecan Pie Bars have a buttery shortbread crust and a super easy pecan topping. These dessert bars have mega pecan pie vibes but are much easier to make! While there are a few steps, I promise the work is worth it - these pecan pie bars are the perfect twist on the classic pie!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this recipe for Pecan Pie Bars with you! I love a baked dessert bar, and this one truly ticks all of the boxes.

We have a buttery shortbread base, which bakes by itself first, and is then topped with a super simple but very delicious pecan pie filling, and baked again until perfectly gooey.

These pecan pie bars have mega pecan pie vibes (obviously) but the recipe makes 20 servings, is great to make ahead, and perfect for feeding a crowd, so a little lower lift than the classic pecan pie recipe.

These got the mega stamp of approval from my family and friends when I was testing them - I hope that you love them as much as we do!

Components of a Pecan Pie Bar

There are only two components to this pecan pie bars recipe but they both play very important roles!

Shortbread Crust.

Look, I LOVE shortbread anything. I love how buttery and tender it is, and it is the perfect base for these pecan pie bars.

The dough comes together super quickly just in a bowl with an electric mixer (you could also make it by hand if you wanted) and is then pressed into the pan.

The shortbread base gets baked by itself first before the pecan pie filling is added, as the base is quite buttery and the topping is quite wet. I like to do it at a lower temperature (150°c / 300°f) to make sure that it is set through but not too golden. I bake my shortbread cookies at the same temperature for this reason.

When you are baking the shortbread you want it to look set in the middle and only just starting to go golden brown around the edges - remember that it is getting another 25 minutes in the oven again after it has been baked by itself.

Pecan Pie filling.

This is your typical pecan pie filling - I took it straight from my pecan pie recipe, but skipped the step where I brown the butter.

Pecan pie filling is essentially a super loose custard situation (bound by eggs). I like to finely chop the nuts rather than leave them coarse, as the layer is a little thinner so they sit nicer if they are finely chopped.

When baked the filling almost separates out a little as the nuts float which I love, so you get a nutty layer at the top and then a nice gooey filling layer on top of the shortbread.

dough for shortbread base — Shortbread dough for the base

dough in pan for shortbread base — I like to crumble it in then press

No corn syrup in the recipe?! What is Golden Syrup?

You will notice that my recipe does not use corn syrup - instead I have use golden syrup, which is a similar product, but In my opinion, tastes a zillion times better.

If you do not have access to golden syrup (I used to get mine online when I lived in the US or some stores also stock it), you can use corn syrup or liquid glucose. I think that treacle or molasses will be too rich.

If you do get some golden syrup and are looking for other recipes to use it up, check these out: Recipes using Golden Syrup

baked shortbread base — Baked shortbread crust

chopped nuts for pecan pie bars — Chopped toasted pecans

Can Pecan Pie Bars be made ahead of time?

This is a great make ahead recipe - the pecan pie bars can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.

If you want them to keep longer or if you are in a hot climate you can also store them in the fridge. I haven't tried freezing them sorry!

pecan pie filling — Filling ready to go onto the base

pecan pie bars ready for the oven — Spread the filling out gently

Why you should be toasting your nuts

If I am using nuts in a recipe, I almost always toast them. Toasting nuts gives them an amazing depth of flavour, and means you start out the recipe with that flavour already there - the nuts get suspended in the filling when they are baked, so they have less opportunity to get lovely and toasty, so I always do it separately first.

If you really don't want to then that is fine, but it doesn't take long and can quickly be done while you prepare the shortbread base for the pecan pie bars.

Can I use something else instead of Pecans?

I haven't tested it for this recipe specifically, but walnuts are generally a good sub for pecans. They are slightly more oily but I think that that should be fine for this recipe! Use the same amount by weight.

How to know when Pecan Pie Bars are baked

This can be a tiny bit tricky as the filling is already brown, but it will start to go golden around the edges. The main thing that you want to look for is that the centre of the bar is set and not liquidy any more. It may puff up a little in the oven - don't worry, it sinks back down once you take it out.

I like to let these pecan pie bars cool fully in the pan as they are on the thinner side so they are easier to remove from the pan when totally cooled. You can also store them in the fridge before cutting if you would like.

Setting you up for success - line your pan properly!

The key to getting your pecan pie bars cleanly out of the pan is to line your pan properly. You want to have some parchment paper sticking out past the bars a little to give you something to grab onto.

I like to use a pre-cut piece of parchment paper the size of a half sheet pan to line the pan, but if you are worried, use two pieces the come over the edges of the pan - you can clip them down with binder clips to help keep them on the edges of the pan too.

I like to grease my pan before I line it with parchment paper as I find that when you are spreading something like a shortbread base, you want to make sure that the paper is nicely stuck down.

What is the best way to get a clean cut on pecan pie bars?

I am a bit type A when it comes to cutting things (only for the internet though, if I'm just making something at home I just wing it and it's wonky).

I find that the best way to cut these cleanly is to make sure that your knife is super sharp. I don't warm it but if you want to, run it under some hot water then wipe it so that it is warm but not wet.

Make sure that you wipe the knife between cuts to keep the blade clean. I cut my pecan pie bars into rectangles, but you do you here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tools and equipment do you use?
You can find a full list of the tools and equipment I use on my products page

Which pan did you use?
I made these in a 9x13" (20x30cm) rectangular pan - my favourite comes from USA pan.

❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️

I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

Chewy Iced Oatmeal Cookies with Brown Butter

These soft and chewy Iced Oatmeal Cookies are filled with brown butter, cozy spices, and lots of oats for the most amazing texture. They bake up into perfect craggy cookies, which are then dipped into a quick icing glaze for a picture perfect iced oatmeal cookie!

iced oatmeal cookie on baking rack — The perfect craggy iced oatmeal cookie

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this super delicious chewy Iced oatmeal cookie with you!

I am really excited to share this one with you because it has put me through my paces. Every now and then a recipe totally throws me for a loop and it's always when I'm least expecting it. I tested this Iced Oatmeal Cookie recipe more than 20 times to get it just right for you. Turns out getting a cookie the right texture to hold icing nicely is way harder than it looks, but we got there!

These are a fairly basic oatmeal cookie - we have the usual suspects, along with some brown butter and toasted oats for amazing chew. I added some cozy warm spices. The cookies come together quickly and bake up into beautiful craggly cookies which we then dip into a super simple icing for that classic iced oatmeal cookie look.

The sneaky step here is to pulse the oats to give the perfect texture for dipping - more on that further down the post!

Important Ingredients in Iced Oatmeal Cookies and why I used them

These Iced Oatmeal Cookies don't use anything too special, but it is the ratio of ingredients that make a difference!

Butter. I browned the butter for these cookies - brown butter makes everything taste better in my opinion.
Sugar. I use granulated and brown sugar - I went with more brown than white in these cookies to give them a toasty flavour and to stop them spreading as much (white sugar = spread, brown sugar = less spread)
Oats. I use old fashioned (sometimes called wholegrain) oats, which get toasted and then blitzed in the food processor.
Molasses. Just a little to help with flavour and spread of the cookie - molasses gives an amazing richness to cookies which pairs super well with the brown butter and spices. If you don't have any, you can use treacle or golden syrup (I haven't tested with these but it should be fine)
Spices. I used cinnamon and cardamom here - if you wanted to also add in a little ginger or nutmeg that would be nice too.
Leavener. I used both baking powder and soda - as we are using brown sugar and molasses in the recipe, which are both acidic, baking soda is a good choice as it reacts with them but also helps with spread.

baked oatmeal cookies on rack — Baked cookies - scooting them helps with texture for dipping later.

Lots of notes on oats - we are going to toast them, and then whizz them up.

There are lots of notes on the oats in this recipe. The main thing is that in order to hold icing nicely, the cookie has to be nice and craggy on the top, and fairly uniform in thickness (this is where the cookie scoot comes in).

I did a ton of research and read almost every iced oatmeal cookie I could find on the internet and almost all of them did the same thing - pulsed the oats in a food process or or blender.

10 pulses is the sweet spot here. You want some to still be whole, and some to be ground up - see the image for reference.

I go one step further here and also toast my oats in the oven before using them. This makes for a mega chewy cookie - toasting the oats dries them out slightly, and I love the texture that it gives. If that is one step too far for you and you can't be bothered then that is fine - just skip that step and use regular old fashioned oats.

pulsed oats in blender — Texture of oats once they have been pulsed 10 times

This recipe took me SO many tests.

As I said earlier, it is not that often that a recipe sends me down this deep of a rabbit hole, but this one absolutely did. I only was making small changes to the recipe in order to get the right texture for the cookies to hold icing, but here are the things that I was adjusting:

Milk Powder in the recipe

Often when I brown butter I add in milk powder to the butter (I do this in my oatmeal raisin cookies). What this does is basically make a double strength brown butter - when you brown butter you are toasting the milk solids so adding in more milk solids makes for a mega brown butter.

Sometimes this doesn't work as well though and I found it gave inconsistent results for the cookie texture, so I ditched the milk powder and just used regular brown butter.

Flour quantity.

The final tests I was alternating by 15 grams of flour across the entire batch and it made a big difference in how the final cookie turned out. Use a scale.

Ball size.

Turns out, the size of your balls does matter. Smaller balls of cookie dough will sink down less, giving a more humpy (I can't think of a better word sorry) cookie, whereas a larger ball of cookie dough will spread out slightly more. I played around with adjusting the dough balls anywhere between 35-60g and found that a larger dough ball of 55g works best. I use a #24 cookie scoop.

Ratio of brown to white sugar.

This is usually one of the first things I will change if I only want a small change in the spread of a recipe (if I want a larger difference or a big change in moisture and texture then I play with the butter quantity).

Brown sugar causes less spread in a cookie whereas white sugar causes more and causes the cookie to be chewier (melted butter helps with chew too). A slightly higher ratio of brown to white sugar was the sweet spot for this recipe.

Oven temperature.

Changing the oven temperature by as little as 15°c / 20°f has a big impact on the spread of the cookie. This is why using an oven thermometer is important to make sure that your oven is properly calibrated.

I found that the cookies spread slightly less when baked at 350°f / 180°c which made them the perfect texture for dipping in icing.

wet ingredients for iced oatmeal cookies — Butter, sugar, egg, molasses

add dry ingredients iced oatmeal cookies — Add dry ingredients

iced oatmeal cookie batter — Leave batter to stand 5 minutes

ball of iced oatmeal cookie dough — Scoop batter then roll out.

How to get the icing just perfect

There is a little bit of an art form to dipping these iced oatmeal cookies. You want to be more light handed than you think that you need to be - they really just need to be touched onto the surface of the icing. There are a few things that are important here:

The scoot.

I know that I often suggest that you can round the cookies off when they come out of the oven as an optional step.

Scooting the cookies really helps here. I used a 3 ¾" (95mm) cookie cutter, but anything slightly larger than the cookie will work. Use it to scoot the cookie into a round shape when it is hot from the oven. This brings the edges in and makes it a nice craggy cookie to dip in the icing.

Make sure that your icing is the right consistency.

This isn't the time or the place to eyeball your glaze ratios. I tried a few different ones, and turns out that it is quite important that the icing is the right consistency - too thin and it runs everywhere, and too thick and it won't stick to the cookies.

I know that the recipe makes a little more than you need but it is important to have enough to ensure that you have adequate depth for dipping. If you want, you can store leftover icing in an airtight container with plastic wrap on the surface of it - you could paint it over sugar cookies or something similar or use it as a drizzle or glaze.

dipping cookies in icing — Leave excess icing to drip off the cookie

Dip carefully.

When you dip the cookie into the icing, you want to make sure that you go straight up and down, and just lightly touch the cookie to the surface of the icing - you don't want to do a big dip. It might take one or two to get the hang of.

Once you have dipped, hold the cookie upside down over the bowl for a little bit to allow any excess to drip off, then carefully turn over and leave to set.

Leave the cookies to set completely before storing. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.

cookie glaze — Use a shallow bowl for dipping

cookie with glaze on — The icing sticks then settles

❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️

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Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!

30 Minute Soft-Baked Vanilla Cream Cheese Cookies

These easy soft cream cheese cookies have a sneaky ingredient - cream cheese, which gives them the most delightful tang! They come together quickly using staple ingredients, and are a great twist on a classic vanilla cookie. I roll mine in granulated sugar but they would be perfect rolled in sprinkles for a festive variation!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this super easy vanilla cream cheese cookie recipe! These are a really easy twist on my classic vanilla cookie recipe which is one of the top performing recipes on my site, with just a few tweaks!

If you haven't put cream cheese into cookie dough before, you gotta try it.

Cream cheese cookies have the most amazing flavour - the cream cheese adds a slight tang, along with an incredible softness to the cookies.

These cookies can be made in about 30 minutes, and the recipe will give you 24 delicious soft and chewy cream cheese cookies!

If you're after a non cream cheese cookie, check out my Classic Vanilla Cookie recipe!

Important Ingredients in Cream Cheese Cookies and why I used them

The ingredients list here is pretty typical - most things you will see in a vanilla cookie recipe, with the addition of cream cheese. Please note this is not an exhaustive list, I am just calling out some of the ingredients that I use!

Butter. I usually use unsalted butter in my recipes, but if you only have salted butter on hand, then that works great too - just reduce the amount of salt you use in the recipe.
Sugar. I use granulated sugar (I often use caster sugar in NZ as it is the closest to the regular sugar in the US) but because we are measuring by weight, sugar is sugar here. I like to use a little extra to roll the cookies in before baking.
Vanilla. I always use a high quality vanilla bean paste, but if you want to use extract you can use the same amount.
Egg. Just one, at room temperature, to help hold everything together.
Cream Cheese. Full fat please, and at room temperature!
Flour. I use all-purpose (also sometimes called plain flour) for my cookies - the lower protein in it (as opposed to bread flour / high grade flour) helps to give a nice tender texture to the cookies.

creamed butter and sugar for cookie batter — Creamed butter and sugar mix

What does cream cheese do in the recipe?

Cream Cheese works in a similar way to how adding cream cheese into baking does - it provides an amazing tang and tenderness to the cookie, without adding a ton of extra moisture.

Cream cheese in the cookies makes them soft and chewy, with a really nice texture. They are a bit puffier than something like my vanilla cookies, which are more of a thin and chewy situation. I love them both, and I love having options!

dry ingredients in for cream cheese cookies — Add in the dry ingredients

cream cheese batter ready for scooping — Dough ready to scoop

What kind of cream cheese did you use?

This is kind of an important one - not as much as if you were making a cheesecake or something heavily cream cheese based, but you want to use cream cheese that comes in a block.

I know that's annoyingly specific but it is the firmest kind - don't get a 'spreadable' kind or anything like that as they can behave quite differently.

I used Philadelphia cream cheese for these cookies. You want to make sure that it is nice and room temperature along with your butter so that it incorporates nicely into the mix.

scooped out cream cheese cookie dough — Scoop out dough, then roll into balls with your hands.

How to manipulate a recipe to get soft and thick cookies

I always get a ton of interest about how I recipe test, and this recipe is the perfect example of how I incorporate an ingredient such as cream cheese into an existing cookie, in this case my vanilla cookie.

To get to this point I kept the majority of the ingredients the same, added in some cream cheese, and dropped the butter quantity slightly to account for the cream cheese in the recipe.

I then played around with the baking temperature and if the recipe needed a chill time or if I could get it to work baked straight away (which is usually my preference because I'm impatient).

I then found they were baking up just a touch puffy for my liking, so dropped the baking powder in the recipe and used only baking soda, and found what I consider the perfect cream cheese cookie!

cream cheese cookies in sugar — I like to roll mine in sugar

balls of cookie dough on sheet pan — Ensure adequate cookie spacing

Can Cream Cheese Cookies be made ahead of time?

Yes, these are a great cookie to make ahead of time - I tested both freezing the dough and chilling it, and both work. Usually when I freeze cookie dough I drop the temperature slightly when I am working with frozen dough but I found because these cookies are baked at a slightly lower temperature, you will just need to add on a few minutes to the bake time.

To chill cookie dough:

Scoop out the dough as directed, and roll in the sugar. Place on a parchment paper lined pan or in a lined airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking.

To freeze cookie dough:

Scoop the dough as directed and roll into balls but do not roll in the sugar. Place onto a parchment lined baking sheet (they can be fairly close together), then freeze for about 30 minutes until solid, then transfer into an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. When you are ready to bake them, leave them to stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes to get a little sweaty (I can't think of a better word sorry!) and then roll them in sugar and bake - you will need to add 2-3 minutes onto the bake time.

For all my tips and tricks on freezing cookie dough, check out my post: How to freeze cookie dough and bake from frozen

Ideas for finishing cream cheese cookies

I roll these cookies in regular granulated sugar just to give them a slightly sparkly finish but the options are endless here.

You can roll them in sprinkles (super quick and easy way to make a 'festive' cookie), chocolate sprinkles, or a sparkly sanding sugar which would be super yum.

You could also roll them in a cinnamon sugar mixture for a bit of a snickerdoodle cookie vibe too. You do you here!

Why are these cookies baked at a lower temperature?

This is something that I play around with a lot when I am baking cookies - if I want to control the spread of them, I often drop the oven temperature slightly to give them more of a chance to spread.

When a cookie bakes, the outside sets at a certain point and the cookie will stop spreading. There are obviously other factors at play here too such as how much butter is in the recipe, if the dough is cold or warm etc, what kind of sugar you have used, but in this case, I found that I got the optimal spread at a slightly lower temperature (165°c / 330°f) than the 'regular' 180°c / 350°f.

Frequently Asked Questions

What tools and equipment do you use?
You can find a full list of the tools and equipment I use on my products page

Which cookie scoop did you use?
I use a #40 cookie scoop (fun fact, the number is to do with how many scoops are in a pint). I think it holds about 1.5 Tbsp. Alternatively you can weigh out the cookie dough balls - shoot for about 35g per ball.

How do you store cream cheese cookies?
Store these cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week.

❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️

I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!

Answers to your baking questions

Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:

I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!