green, orange, and purple popcorn balls on plate 

Popcorn Balls

I grew up making pumpkin slice and bake cookies during Halloween, but also every holiday I would enjoy seeing the other designs. These cookies are made using sugar cookie dough and the key is to ensure that everything is incredibly cold before baking. 

You can add spices to the dough to elevate the flavor, or keep them simple with the vanilla bean paste as well.

Slice and Bake Halloween Pumpkin Cookies on a plate

Slice and Bake Halloween Pumpkin Cookies

Brazilian Carrot Cake, also known as Bolo de cenoura teaches you to forget what you might've learned from American carrot cake and focus on the carrots as the main event.

There's no spices, no raisins, no nuts. And it all can come together in a blender. It's topped with a chocolate frosting, also known as a brigadeiro and chocolate sprinkles. 

My friend from Brazil taught me a lot of the process for making this cake. The first time I tried, II added the dry ingredients directly to the blender, but I found that folding that with the wet batter created a much fluffier texture overall.

Brazilian carrot cake on top of a cake pan

Brazilian Carrot Cake

The credit for this recipe really belongs to Chip and the kids. They each have a different favorite cookie, so one day, I dumped in everyone's must-have ingredient: nuts for Chip, peanut butter for the girls, and chocolate for the boys. It was a complete win across the board. So it became our family's signature cookie, and the first item on the menu when we opened Silos Baking Co.

Joanna Gaines silo cookies freshly baked on table

Silo Cookies

Summer is all about wrapping the season's best fruit in a flaky buttery crust to be crowned with a giant scoop of vanilla ice cream, right? I've been very much in my galette era for the past few years, providing the most surface area for a crispy, golden crust, while also being a bit less fussy to throw together compared to a standard pic. The one thing I was missing was the joy of a precooked fruit filling, pulling out all those juices and thickening them with cornstarch into a jammy, sweet gel suspending chunks of tender fruit. I'm a big believer that we can and should have it all, so this recipe was born. We're rolling out our pie dough as if were making a galette, but then adding a precooked apple filling (though peaches or cherries would be stunning here, too) on half of the dough so we can fold over the other half to seal it into our pie calzone. Is it an actual calzone? No! But you immediately get the concept, and "jumbo hand-pie" doesn't have the same ring to it, you know? Maybe just call it the best dessert you'll bake all summer.

apple pie calzone on sheet pan in Food52 Test Kitchen

Apple Pie Calzone

I love Halloween and it's a great time for me to show off my hosting skills. With Halloween comes the ability to create a lot of great desserts that fit the theme. If you're in the midst of planning a party, cleaning your house, and making food, though, you might not have a lot of time to focus on what you're going to make. With these puff pastry mummies, you can cut down on a lot of time using store bought puff pastry sheets.

If you don't want to make the filling, you can easily do homemade instead! I wanted to give these a true autumnal feel so I also added in some masala chai spice, which you can opt in for or do cinnamon and nutmeg.

Pears and apples are in season for the fall, but if you have a favorite fruit, you can easily swap them in!

3 mummy puff pastries on top of a white plate.

Apple and Pear Puff Pastry Mummies

When it comes to chocolate cake, I want it to be incredibly chocolaty, moist, and full of flavor. I prefer using a black cocoa powder for a deeper, intense chocolate flavor. You can easily cut the cake layers in half, or just keep it as a 2-tiered cake instead.

Chocolate cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting layered between on a white plate.

Matilda Chocolate Cake

This apple fritter focaccia takes the best parts of an apple fritter and lets you skip the frying. You add chopped apples to a focaccia base, cover it in a cinnamon butter and bake until golden brown. To get that similar fritter vibe that you'd get at a bakery, I paired it with a brown butter glaze that hardens as it cools. 

If you don't like apples, no problem! Replace the filling with your favorite ingredients. This focaccia also works great on its own if you just want to have a base recipe as well!

Close up of apple fritter focaccia with a brown butter glaze

Apple Fritter Focaccia with Brown Butter Glaze

What makes a perfect bakery style cookie? To me, it has to be thick, full of add-ins, and with quality ingredients. Just like Levain bakery, I wanted to create these copycat cookies that are 6 ounces each and packed full of chocolate and toasted walnuts. I used cold butter and eggs to ensure the dough could also get a head start on getting cold.

To keep the thick shape, I molded them into mountains and let them chill in the fridge overnight (thanks for the tip, 

!). You end up with a gooey cookie that has deep flavors from the toasted walnuts and the packed chocolate.

Thick Bakery Style Chocolate and Walnut Cookies

I've always loved making galettes because of how forgiving and rustic they can be. And although I'm not the biggest fan of apple pie, pairing the thin slices with cheddar cheese and a flaky crust has slowly started changing my opinions on baked apples.

You get the traditional apple pie filling sliced up and layered on a flaky, cheesy dough. I wanted to make something similar to apple pie with a slice of cheese on top like you'd find in New England or the Midwest.

Large galette with apple slices on top. Placed on a pink baking sheet.

Apple Cheddar Galette

French Chocolate Mousse

This cake is soft, moist, and topped with pears that caramelize from the cinnamon sugar mixture. The perfect snacking cake for morning tea, dessert, or any time of day. You can swap the pears for apples, too. A great introduction to Fall.

A single layer cake topped with baked pears and dusted with powdered sugar on a white plate. 

Pear and Cinnamon Snacking Cake

This is my Italian American answer to the classic diner-style key lime pie. Nonna Romana loved the flavor, but always thought it was too sweet—so I made one she could get behind. The lime curd is tart and silky. The mascarpone keeps it grounded. The crust is no-bake and cookie-based. The whipped cream? Always homemade. It’s the kind of dessert that ends a summer dinner the right way.

Key Lime Mascarpone Tart

I partnered with Noah in the Test Kitchen to make these Tiramisu in Coupe Glasses! I love tiramisu and since Noah is great with cocktails, I thought it would be a fun collaboration! You get a coffee soaked vanilla cake, a light and creamy filling, and then that classic cocoa powder finish on top. The great thing about these is you can make them with a store bought cake, a box cake, or do a quick sheet cake. They come together fast and are great for parties!

, but get creative and choose your own cake flavor.

You get a coffee soaked vanilla cake, a light and creamy filling, and then that classic cocoa powder finish on top.

Tiramisu in Coupe Glasses

Growing up I loved peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. And being a baker, I always get excited thinking about ways to deconstruct specific flavor profiles into different desserts. So with peanut butter and jelly, how can I make it into a cake, cookies, or pastry. Here, I wanted to create a crisp using some berries I got at the Union Square Farmer’s Market. You can get as versatile as you’d like and the entire recipe is super forgiving! You end up with a super peanut buttery and crunchy topping and a jammy fruit filling.

Peanut Butter and Jelly Crisp

I was inspired to make this Peaches and Cream cake because my farmer's market was on its last weekend of having peaches sold. The base layer is a simple vanilla cake with lemon zest and then it's topped with a vanilla whipped cream and peaches that are soaked in brown sugar and lemon juice.

single layer cake with whipped cream and peaches on top

Peaches and Cream Snacking Cake

As I’ve said before, snacking cakes are just cakes that you can enjoy throughout the week no matter the time of day. You should be able to incorporate seasonal items into it to help make the process both easy and enjoyable. I love stone fruit season because my farmers market always has a ton of peaches varying in sizes. I had some leftover peaches and wanted to make a cake that had a crunchy topping, but contrasted with the jammy peaches that are added to the cake batter. I do recommend searching for the freeze dried peaches because it gives it a nice visual once the cake is ready to be enjoyed, but don’t let that specialty item stop you from making this!

This easy peach crumble cake is the ultimate snacking cake—soft, jammy peaches baked into a moist sour cream batter with a buttery cinnamon crumble on top.

Peach Crumble Snacking Cake

I had some leftover lemon curd and wanted to pair it within one of my snacking cakes. Raspberry and lemons are one of my favorite combinations, so I knew immediately that this would go great with it. You can make your own lemon curd or opt for a store bought version to get the same great taste!

a slice of Raspberry Lemon Curd Snacking Cake on a pink plate. There's a raspberry on top of the cake.

The next snacking cake is still celebrating summer with bright lemon and raspberry flavors. You can easily opt for homemade lemon curd to add an extra layer of zing or go for homemade. The yellow and pink colors work together to give you such a strong flavor with this Raspberry Lemon Curd Snacking Cake.

Raspberry Lemon Curd Snacking Cake

This lemon-cherry snacking cake is all about peak summer fruit and everyday ease. With fresh cherries baked right into the batter and a fluffy whipped cream topping, it’s the kind of cake you eat straight from the pan—no celebration needed.

This lemon-cherry snacking cake is light, fluffy, and topped with fresh whipped cream and juicy cherries. Easy to make in one pan—perfect for summer gatherings or a cozy night in.

Cherry Tea Snacking Cake

, Tess Gigone takes on the traditional Norwegian kransekake—complete with crisp-edged almond rings, piped royal icing, and a sweet final touch.

Learn how to make a classic kransekake with crisp, chewy almond rings and royal icing. This traditional Norwegian dessert is perfect for weddings, holidays, and special celebrations.

Kransekake

Recreate the iconic chocolate chip cookies from The Pastry Box in NYC’s East Village. They’re thin with crispy edges, soft centers, and loaded with caramelized bits and just the right amount of chocolate. Of course, you have to finish with a pinch of flaky sea salt. Bonus: to make them gluten-free (and just as good), simply swap the all-purpose flour for oat flour.

These bakery-style salted chocolate cookies are gooey, golden, and easy to make gluten-free with oat flour.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies From The Pastry Box

I’m a firm believer that as long as you have a good base for a roll, you can add whatever filling you want that you’re currently craving. I always have a carton of blueberries in my fridge, so I was inspired to make these blueberry lemon sweet rolls. They’re super soft, packed with lemon flavor, and filled with an addicting blueberry filling that will make you go back for seconds and thirds.

plate of homemage blueberry lemon frosted sweet rolls

They’re super soft, packed with lemon flavor, and filled with an addicting blueberry filling that will make you go back for seconds and thirds.


Blueberry Lemon Sweet Rolls

There’s nothing wrong with strawberry shortcake, but in my opinion it's high time that tomatoes and stonefruits, summer produce royalty, get the whipped cream and biscuits treatment. This recipe pairs a light and flaky biscuit recipe, based off of Millie Peartree’s recipe, with sweet and juicy marinated fruit. Chives and olives in the unsweetened whipped cream push the whole affair into decidedly savory territory, don’t knock it until you try it.

savory summer shortcake with tomatoes on a plate

This savory summer shortcake swaps strawberries for juicy peaches and tomatoes, layered with chive-olive whipped cream and flaky biscuits for a fresh, seasonal twist on the classic dessert.

Savory Summer Shortcake

This cherry "ice cream" is Lydia’s go-to post-run treat—sweet, cold, and packed with good-for-you ingredients. Inspired by her time in Hawaii, this was her go-to while training for a marathon. It’s made with frozen cherries, almond butter, cacao, and a touch of cardamom for a soft-serve-like dessert that tastes as good as it makes you feel.



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