Disclaimer: these recipes are not mine. I have reproduced them from their sources for ease of reference.
Now that that's out of the way...hi. My name is Nobody, and I'm a (hobbyist) baker. I enjoy trying new recipes, playing around with old recipes, and finding new ways to use up odds and ends. Without further ado, here's everything I've baked in 2026.
Note---how to soften butter quickly: use a heating pad. Yes, I'm serious.
- cakes & cupcakes
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- beer cake from Homebrew Academy
- chocolate cupcakes from KAF
- cocoa brownies from Smitten Kitchen
- black forest cake from Smitten Kitchen
- devil's food cake from kaf
- honey cake from Llewellyn's Ostara book
- pretzel cheesecake brownies
- mojito tea cake with rum glaze from george geary's citrus, illustrated
- orange blossom cupcakes from george geary's citrus, illustrated
- vanilla cake pan cake from KAF
- matcha and white chocolate cake from some cookbook i saw at muji
- cookies
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- confetti cookies from christina tossi's momofuku milk bar
- blueberries and cream cookies from christina tossi's momofuku milk bar
- chocolate-chocolate cookies from christina tossi's momofuku milk bar
- craisin cookies from the bag of craisins
- peanut butter cookies from KAF
- jam blossoms from KAF
- triple citrus cookies from george geary's citrus, illustrated
- muffins, scones, bars
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- chocolate ginger muffins from KAF
- dirty chai bars from KAF
- scones from KAF
- misc.
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- basque cheesecake from Smitten Kitchen
- caneles from dalmiin
- cinnamon bun pie from christina tossi's momofuku milk bar
- cocoa mix crumb
- croissants from christina tossi's momofuku milk bar
- liquid cheesecake from christina tossi's momofuku milk bar
- pani popo samoan coconut buns from kaf
- taiwanese pineapple cakes from kavey eats
- wishlist
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- tres leches
- coconut cake
- cannoli pound cake
- amaretti cookies
- jammy bits (for muffins?)
- chocolate crumb w/ hot cocoa mix; add to cocoa brownies.
- angostura bitters in biscotti
- earl gray creme brulee
- cream puffs
- pear rosemary muffins
beer cake from homebrew academy
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1½ tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ground nutmeg, ½ tsp salt, ½ cup unsalted butter, softened, ¾ cup brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract, ¾ cup beer
Cream butter & sugar, add eggs, add dry ingredients, add beer. 350degF for 30min; 8 or 9inch round pan.
Used "Year of the Wooden Dragon" from Treehouse. Impulsively replaced 30g of sugar with 30g of honey. Tasted like beer.
matcha and white chocolate cake from a photo of a recipe in a cookbook i saw at muji but didn't write down the name of
Ingredients: 3 eggs; weigh them, then add the same weight of softened butter, sugar, and flour. 1tsp baking powder, 1tbsp matcha, 70g white chocolate chips.
combine ingredients. 40min in loaf tin at 325degF.
chocolate coffee cupcakes from KAF
Ingredients: 198g sugar, 180g flour, 21g cocoa, 1tsp baking soda, 1tsp espresso powder, 1/2tsp salt, 1c coffee, 67g vegetable oil, 1tsp vanilla extract. Frosting.
Whisk dry ingredients. Add and mix in wet ingredients. Fill cupcake tin about 2/3. 350degF for ~20min.
Deliciously chocolatey. Perfectly moist.
vanilla cake pan cake from KAF
Ingredients: 240g flour, 3/4tsp salt, 1.5tsp baking powder, .5tsp baking soda, 198g water, 99g vegetable oil, 149g sugar, 21g cider or white vinegar, 14g vanilla extract.
Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Combine wet and dry. 350degF for 30min; 8-9inch round pan.
Good for when there's "nothing on hand;" no eggs or butter.
Tried this with hibiscus infused sugar (let the sugar sit with 10 dried hibiscus flowers for a week) + cranberries. It was fine. There was almost an aftertaste of hibiscus.
peanut butter cookies from KAF
Ingredients: 8tbsp butter, 200g sugar, 1 egg, 1tsp vanilla extract, 198g peanut butter (conventional), 180g flour, 1tsp baking soda, 1/2tsp salt.
Mix butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, pb. Add remaining ingredients. Tablespoon cookies w/ 2inch between; fork to flatten cookies to .5inch thick. 350degF for 12-16min.
Anytime I make these, I eat the entire half-batch in one sitting...
jam blossoms from KAF
Ingredients: 57g sugar, 8tbsp butter, 1/4tsp salt, 1tsp vanilla extract, 120g flour, 206g preserves or jam.
Mix sugar, butter, salt, and extracts. Mix in flour. 1tsp balls pressed to 1/2inch thick; 1inch between cookies. 375degF for 10-12min. Add jam after baking.
Go-to way to use up extra jam. For pineapple jam, add 1/2tsp cinnamon and 1/4tsp nutmeg to the dough.
honey cake from llewellyn's ostara book
Ingredients: 1.25c flour, 1tbsp baking powder, 1/4tsp baking soda, 1/4tsp salt, 1/2c sugar, 1tsp cinnamon, 1/2c honey, 30g veg oil, 2 eggs, zest and juice of one orange.
Mix dry ingredients. Mix in remaining wet ingredients. 350degF for 30min.
chocolate muffins from KAF
Ingredients: 57g cocoa, 240g flour, 266g (brown) sugar, 1tsp baking powder, 1tsp baking soda, 3/4tsp salt, 1c chocolate chips, 2 eggs, 170g milk, 2tsp vanilla extract, 2tsp cider or white vinegar, 8tbsp butter (melted) or 66g veg oil. I also added 1/2tsp cloves and 1tsp powdered ginger.
Mix dry ingredients. Add and mix wet ingredients. Fill muffin cups (roughly dozen muffins). 350degF for 20-25min.
basque cheesecake from smitten kitchen
Ingredients: 130g sugar, 45g cornstarch, 1/2tsp salt, 1lb softened cream cheese, 3 eggs, 2tsp vanilla extract, 30ml lemon juice, 235ml heavy cream.
Combine powder ingredients, then cream cheese, then eggs, then liquids. 425F for 50min in loaf pan (mine is 9x5).
dirty chai bars from KAF
Ingredients: 6g chai tea, 8tbsp butter, 160g (brown) sugar, 1tsp vanilla extract, 1 egg (room temp), 150g flour, 1/2tsp baking powder, 1/2tsp salt.
Mix slightly melted butter, tea, brown sugar, and vanilla. Mix in egg. Mix in remaining ingredients. 350degF for 25-30min; 8inch square pan.
cream tea scones from KAF
Ingredients: 180g flour, 25g sugar, .5tbsp baking powder, .5tsp salt, 150g heavy cream, .5tsp vanilla extract, 1cup add-ins.
Whisk together powdered ingredients. Stream in cream and vanilla...or just dump them in. Stir in dried fruit. Pat dough into 5-6inch circle (about 3/4inch thick). 425degF for 14-15min; slice dough round into triangles and separate partway through.
fave scone recipe. very good with golden raisins.
best cocoa brownies from smitten kitchen
the title is not a lie. fucking love these.
Ingredients: 10tbsp/140g butter, 250g sugar, 65g cocoa powder, 1/4tsp salt, 1/2tsp vanilla extract, 2 eggs, 65g flour.
Melt butter. Add sugar, cocoa, salt, and vanilla. Add eggs. Add flour. 325degF for 30min; 8inch square pan.
tried w/ 200g sugar and 1tsp orange extract. wanted to see if i could cut down on sugar without ruining the recipe. box with orange extract said to add 1tbsp of orange extract to a batch of brownies---how large is a batch? i used 1tsp instead. better safe than overwhelmed by orange!
pretzel cheesecake brownies
Recipes: smitten kitchen best cocoa brownies, full recipe of momofuku milk bar liquid cheesecake (not baked), half recipe momofuku milk bar pretzel crunch w/ salted caramel cocoa mix instead of malt powder (15g). Add additional caramel cocoa mix to brownie batter.
In a 8inch square pan, layer brownie batter and liquid cheesecake batter. Swirl. Top with pretzel crunch. Start with 325degF for 30min. If there's caramel cocoa mix in the brownie batter, the result is very fudgey.
Result was delicious, rich, and contained an exorbitant amount of sugar. Eater discretion is advised.
sunken black forest cake from smitten kitchen
Ingredients:6tbsp butter, 6oz chocolate chips, 3 eggs (separated), 1/4tsp lemon juice / white vinegar / apple cider vinegar, 75g sugar, 1/4tsp salt. Also: 3/4c heavy cream, 2tsp sugar, 2tsp vanilla extract, 1/2c cherry preserves, 2tbsp port / kirsch / alcohol of choice.
Cake: melt butter and chocolate. While cooling, beat egg whites until foamy, then add vinegar / lemon juice, stream in sugar while still beating the egg whites. Looking for a soft peak. In separate bowl, mix egg yolks, sugar, and salt until pale yellow. Add chocolate-butter to this mixture. Fold some of the egg whites into batter, then some more, and then the rest. 350degF for 35min in 8inch round pan. Once cool: beat cream, sugar, and vanilla until medium peaks. Add to cake. Mix preserves and port; add to center of cake. Enjoy.
Kind of a bitch to make when you don't have a hand or stand mixer. My arms were sore. Other than that, a+. Port makes a good kirsch substitute IMO.
cocoa mix crumb
This recipe was modified from the milk crumb and chocolate crumb recipes in the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook. I wanted to incorporate hot cocoa mix (and its additional flavorings) into brownies without turning the brownies into a gooey, fudgey mess. Makes about 1c of crumbs.
take one!
Ingredients: 20g of hot cocoa powder (preferably salted caramel flavour), 20g flour, 1tbsp cornstarch, 1tbsp sugar, 1/2tsp salt, 2tbsp melted butter.
Combine powdered ingredients. Add butter; stir until there's clusters. 250degF for 15min; 300degF for another 10min. Cool before using.
Notes: Waaaaaay too fudgey. This is no crumb. I upped the temperature after 15min because it looked more liquid than crumb. I think a higher temperature could be the right call---go for the 300degF from the chocolate crumb recipe?
pani popo samoan coconut buns from kaf
Ingredients: dough---420g ap flour, 50g sugar, 1 packet active dry yeast, 170g lukewarm water, 2 eggs, 4tbsp softened butter, 1.25tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract. coconut sauce---304g coconut milk, 99g sugar, 1.5tsp cornstarch, salt.
Combine dough ingredients. Kneed until dough is smooth. Cover and let rise; I let it rise overnight because of how cold it is here. Divide into nine pieces (for a 9x9 pan) or twelve pieces (for a 9x13 pan) and put in pan; they shouldn't be touching. Let rise; this took 2hr. Near end, combine coconut sauce ingredients in a saucepan at high heat; pour over buns. Bake for 25min at 350degF.
these were DELICIOUS. i accidentally ate three of them...the coconut sauce is amazing, and the texture of fresh dinner rolls really can't be beat.
(earl gray) caneles from dalmiin
Ingredients: 330g milk, 5g tea, 60g flour, 155g sugar, 30g butter, 1 egg + 2 yolks, 60g rum (or port!!!), 1/2tsp salt.
Into a saucepan, add milk, tea, and butter; keep at medium heat until combined. Let sit until cool. Meanwhile, combine salt, flour, and sugar. Whisk in cooled milk/butter/tea mixture, then eggs, then rum. Store batter in fridge for a day or two. Sieve batter before using. Grease a tin---I use a muffin tin for baking. Fill about 90%. Baking methods will vary. This video recommends 430F for 10min followed by 360F for 1hr. For me, this is consistently a bit underbaked...I haven't tried them since.
- Replaced rum with port. Port flavor came through.
- Iced lemon loaf tea. Good flavor. Trying other teas will be worthwhile.
- Black cask bourbon tea + nonfat milk. Tea was good. If using nonfat milk, definitely need to up fat content. Center wasn't as moist as with whole milk.
- 25g pandan leaf (same method as tea). I thought pandan flavor was too strong + unsubtle. Others really liked it.
notes
- kitchen projects article - double butter for preferred outcome?
- baking instructions to try next time
- FISH SAUCE????
craisins (R) dried cranberries oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies from the back of a bag of craisins
recipe has been cut in half and converted to grams.
Ingredients: 1/3c softened butter (about 76g), 66g sugar, 1 egg, 76g old-fashioned oats, 94g flour, .5tsp baking soda, .25tsp salt, 80g craisins, 56g (white) chocolate chips.
Beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, mix. Combine oats, flour, baking soda, and salt, then combine with butter mixture. Add remaining ingredients. Portion by tsp; 10-12min at 375degF.
Result was meh. I feel like they're missing something...but what?
devil's food cake from kaf
ingredients. at room temp, 6tbsp butter, 2 eggs, 170g milk or water (i used almond milk), 150g sugar, 1/4tsp salt, 120g flour, 32g cocoa powder, 1tsp baking powder, 1tsp vanilla extract.
combine butter, sugar, and salt; beat until fluffy. add eggs; beat until combined. combine with milk/water and vanilla extract. add remaining ingredients one at a time, whisking thoroughly until combined. 30min at 350degF in 7x7.
it's a good cake. pretty sturdy, too; i can see why the recipe says to make it a layer cake (here, i've cut it in half and baked it in a square dish). despite using almond milk, it came out just fine. i think i could add a black tea to it to get some depth of flavor.