Bake from Scratch

baking retreats Announcing our first retreats for 2025! Experience Scandinavian baking bliss in Stockholm, Sweden, March 2–9, 2025. Celebrate Fettisdagen, Swedish Fat Tuesday, also known as Semla Day. Visit the city’s finest bakeries followed by a kanelbulle (cinnamon bun) class at Voxholms Bed & Breakfast. We’ll also travel to Skellfeå to bake under the expert guidance of Fanny Zanotti. Immerse yourself among contemporary bakers and bakeries in Dublin, Ireland, March 11–20, 2025. Enjoy classes at Howth Castle Cookery School, Bread 41, Firehouse Cookery School, and Ballymaloe Cookery School, where you’ll bake Irish soda bread, scones, cakes, biscuits, and more. And there are still Baking Retreats you can participate in this year. Join us October 4–7 in ourtest kitchen in Birmingham, Alabama, for Fall Baking with pie queen Erin Jeanne McDowell, or journey…

Amazing Autumn Baking is Here! Welcome to the most abrupt shift in baking seasons—albeit glorious, yet rapid in its transformation. Gone are the berries and stone fruits of the bright summer season, making way for the warmth and comfort that come into our kitchens with a cool autumn breeze. If I had to select one pantry ingredient that embodies this season, I would absolutely choose brown sugar! The molasses that accompanies the sugar makes this ingredient perfect to pair with warm spices, and you can read all about this pantry staple on page 23 as you begin your journey through this issue. Autumn also brings a craving for pie! On page 95, we bring you a baker’s solution to busy days courtesy of new pie fillings from Bonne Maman®—so no need to…

BARS AND COOKIES Double Chocolate Ginger Viennese Fingers 68 Frosted London Fog Cookies 72 Gooey Butter Pecan Cake 92 Peanut Butter-Marshmallow Skillet Cookie 87 Pistachio Egg Yolk Shortbread with Berry Glaze 68 Pretzel Caramel Thumbprints 69 Pumpkin Snickerdoodle Bars 62 Roasted Pear Cheesecake Bars 81 Sour Cream Rolls 22 BREADS Browned Butter Sweet Potato Biscuits 86 Cranberry-Walnut Bread 36 Date-Pecan Bread 36 Glazed Pumpkin Spice Scones 55 Jumbo Pumpkin-Pecan Sweet Rolls 60 Pumpkin Soda Bread Rolls 56 Spiced Apple Aebleskiver 105 Spiced Pumpkin Bread 108 CAKES Apple Butter Swirl Pound Cake 39 Apple Fritter Cake 91 Black Cocoa Swirled Cheesecake 39 Browned Butter Bundt Cake 94 Caramel Layer Cake 43 Mocha Ricotta Cake with Mocha Mascarpone Frosting 5 Pear Fritter Mini Cakes 113 Pear-Ginger Cake 82 Pouding Chômeur 110 Pumpkin Basque Cheesecake 62 Pumpkin Roulade 56 Whipped Cream Cake 32 FILLINGS, FROSTINGS, AND GLAZES Brown Sugar Glaze 94 Cooked Caramel Icing 43 Cream Cheese Filling 56 Crème Brûlée Glaze 88 Maple Cream Filling 88 Marshmallow Crème 87 Mocha Mascarpone…

What sparked your passion for baking? Jill Shuck: I grew up in Amish country in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, surrounded by good cooks and bakers who valued homemade goodness, using simple and fresh ingredients, and sharing their creations with others. How did you decide to start your cookie baking business? JS: In 2016, while working part-time at my church, one of my goals was to figure out how to bake from home and sell my products somewhere. I wanted to focus on one type of product. Cookies are the perfect treat! They come in countless varieties, are handheld, freeze well, and are enjoyed by folks of all ages. Having a business combines so many of my passions—baking, organizing and planning, serving others, building relationships, traveling, and my faith. I named my company The Country…

Have you ever whipped up a batch of crumbly cookies, a dozen dry muffins, or a cake that just won’t hold its shape, leaving you feeling like a baking disaster? The culprit is often inaccurate flour measurements—either too little or too much. If you were to place a 1-cup measuring cup and a bag of flour in front of five people, ask them to measure out 1 cup, and then weigh each person’s measurement, you’d end up with different results every time. Why? Because we all have various methods of measuring flour. Some swear by fluffing the flour beforehand. Others dive deep and swoop up, leveling the top of the cup slowly with the back of a butter knife. Some tip the bag with abandon until an avalanche of flour somehow…

SOUR CREAM ROLLS Makes about 24 pieces Recipe adapted from Christine Gawron These rolled cookies are ideal for preparing ahead of time. You can freeze the dough for up to a month and then thaw it in the refrigerator before rolling it out and baking. Keeping the dough cold is crucial due to its higher fat content. This ensures the rolls turn out light and flaky. ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature½ cup (120 grams) sour cream, room temperature1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt½ cup (160 grams) apricot preserves*, divided6 tablespoons (42 grams) finely chopped pecans, divided6 tablespoons (34 grams) sweetened flaked coconut, dividedConfectioners’ sugar, for dusting 1. In the work bowl of a food processor, pulse butter and sour cream until smooth. Add…