When the weather cools, there’s nothing like baking something sweet to stave off the dread of shorter, chillier days. And if you look at your calendar, there’s probably a school or holiday event coming up that you need to make something for. These 18 easy recipes are cozy and delicious, feed a crowd and most of them are under an hour, so you can whip up a batch after dinner when your kid just told you about the bake sale tomorrow.
Credit…Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.
“These are SO good! These will not last long in this house. Highly recommend!!”
Maybe you already know that browning the butter for your Rice Krispies treats is an easy way to upgrade the classic gooey bar. But what if you stirred cocoa powder into that browned butter? You get a rich, chocolaty treat reminiscent of hot chocolate, with no Cocoa Krispies required. To give this Samantha Seneviratne recipe a s’mores vibe, add crumbled graham crackers.
Recipe: Cocoa Krispies Treats
Credit…Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.
“Brought these to work today, teachers and high schoolers alike gave them a thumbs up.”
For these tender five-star muffins from Carolina Gelen, use your ripest, spottiest bananas. Olive oil adds savory nuance, while a combination of turbinado sugar and flaky salt sprinkled on the top lends a salty-sweet crunch.
Recipe: Vegan Banana Olive Oil Muffins
Credit…Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.
“This is the best and easiest cookie I’ve made!”
This skillet cookie from Carolina Gelen is not only a lot of fun to make (who doesn’t love a giant cookie?), it’s also quick because its mixed in one pan, and there’s no portioning the dough. It ends up with a delightful mix of textures: crispy on top, then gooey on the bottom. Serve it warm with a dollop of melting vanilla ice cream.
Recipe: Chocolate-Chip Tahini Skillet Cookie
Credit…Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.
“These muffins were sublime. Beautifully spongy, crusty top, and not too sweet. I will definitely make them again.”
This recipe from Sheela Prakash captures the signature flavors and textures of the classic snickerdoodle cookie: a tender, slightly tangy interior with a crunchy cinnamon sugar exterior.
Recipe: Snickerdoodle Muffins
Credit…Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.
“Made her exactly as written this afternoon and she’s lovely, with a moist delicate crumb and subtle flavors of carrot, orange and cardamom.”
This recipe from Kiano Moju is a perfect marriage between two of the arguably best cakes of all time: carrot and olive oil. Unlike traditional carrot cake, there is no grating required. Just toss the carrots into a blender along with the wet ingredients. Cardamom, instead of traditional cinnamon, adds the spiced notes you’ve come to expect in a carrot cake, and pairs especially well with the citrus.
Recipe: Carrot-Orange Olive Oil Cake
Credit…Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Maggie Ruggiero.
“This cake is amazing. My family is crazy for it.”
This one-hour recipe from Yossy Arefi is moist, warmly spiced and delightfully easy to throw together. Feel free to use any premade pumpkin spice mix, but her custom blend includes cardamom, which adds subtle floral and citrus notes.
Recipe: Pumpkin Crumb Cake
Credit…Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.
“There are not enough stars for this cake. I have made it multiple times, for snacking on or to take to potlucks. People go crazy for it and I can understand why.”
Sour cream is the secret to this extra-moist, delicately-crumbed vanilla cake from Yossy Arefi. But really, the cake’s main purpose is to stand back and let the icing — with its caramelized, toasted-spice flavor of Belgian speculoos cookies — shine.
Recipe: Vanilla Cake With Cookie Butter Icing
Credit…Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
“I have been making these cupcakes for 20 years, and it is a family favorite.”
These one-bowl cupcakes from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero, are the perfect bake sale or classroom birthday party treat, as they don’t contain any eggs or dairy. (They do contain flour, so they’re not great for celiacs.) They are rich with deep chocolate flavor and very moist.
Recipe: Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
Credit…Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini. Prop Stylist: Sophia Eleni Pappas.
“Excellent recipe! A keeper.”
This Erin Jeanne McDowell recipe offers all of the signature spices and apple cider vibes of your favorite fall farmers market treat, but they’re baked not fried — and therefore much easier and less messy to execute at home. (And if you don’t have a doughnut baking pan, you can use a muffin pan.)
Recipe: Baked Apple Cider Doughnuts
Credit…Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.
“My 11 year old made these with very little help and they were amazing. Very little work for a big payoff! Definitely a keeper.”
The simple ingredients and moist crumb of these polka dot cupcakes from Samantha Seneviratne appeal to everyone, from 9 to 90.
Recipe: Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
Credit…Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.
“These are a perfect breakfast bar. I made them gluten free and added a handful of chopped walnuts for additional protein. So easy using only one bowl and the bake pan. Highly recommend.”
Is it breakfast, or is it dessert? Who’s to say. These delightfully sticky bars straddle the line deliciously with plenty of apple butter, maple syrup and rolled oats.
Recipe: Apple Butter Breakfast Bars
Credit…Armando Rafael for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.
“These are stunning. Like a warm hug. Or the perfect leaf crunch. Or the smell in the air on October 30th.”
Pumpkin cookies can be veer a little caky (in a not great way), but these Yossy Arefi cookies have a nice chewiness thanks to the addition of oatmeal. One reader put the pumpkin-spiced frosting in between two cookies to make sandwiches. Genius.
Recipe: Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies
Credit…David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
“I love these so much and make them for all kinds of parties and potlucks. You can change up the sprinkles depending on the holiday.”
These colorful bars, adapted from “American Girl Cookies,” provide the nostalgic texture of a supermarket frosted sugar cookie, but without having to portion out the dough. The addition of cream cheese in the batter lends a welcome tang that cuts through all of the sweetness.
Recipe: Sugar Cookie Bars
Credit…Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.
“Scrapped my go-to brownie recipe as soon as I tried this one!”
The trick to these dense, fudgy brownies from Alice Medrich is to cook them at a high temperature, then place them in an ice bath right after they emerge from the oven; this makes the batter collapse into a rich truffle-like texture. Readers note that the quality of the chocolate you use really matters, and that a sprinkle of flaky salt across the top is a welcome addition.
Recipe: New Classic Brownies
Credit…Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
“These are very wonderful and fabulous! I tinted them a very pale pink to help identify the rose flavor, and they are quite lovely!”
Many Moroccans bake batches of these crisp-exterior, soft-middle cookie year round. Recipes vary but this rosewater-infused, almond-laden variety, adapted from “Casablanca: My Moroccan Food” by Nargisse Benkabbou, evoke the candy rose lukum, or Turkish delight.
Recipe: Rose and Almond Ghriba
Credit…Craig Lee for The New York Times
“This is the easiest and best shortbread recipe I’ve tried. I don’t change a thing.”
Reader Amy Casey of Sparta, N.J., sent this recipe in response to a 2012 call out for beloved holiday cookie recipes, and it’s been a reader favorite ever since. It includes rice flour, which, along with the sugared top, creates a pleasantly sandy texture.
Recipe: Sugared Shortbread
Credit…Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.
“These were AMAZING and so, so easy!”
Adapted from Annie Marshall of Everyday Annie, who a tweaked an old Martha Stewart recipe, these slightly caky, slightly fudgy blondies are the ideal cold weather treat. Butterscotch chips melt into the blondie, giving it a moist texture, while white chocolate chips add little pockets of sweetness that complement the earthiness of the pumpkin and spice.
Recipe: Pumpkin Blondies
Credit…Rachel Vanni for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Samantha Seneviratne.
“This recipe is a historical event. I’ve never eaten let alone made a better sugar cookie.”
The transcendent quality of these seven-ingredient sugar cookies from Samantha Seneviratne — they have more than 1,000 five-star ratings — hinges on using the best salted butter and vanilla extract you can find.
Recipe: Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies
Credit…Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.
“Delicious, light fluffy cake, not too sweet, easy recipe.”
Caramelized apples are sandwiched between a tender cake and crunchy oat crumble in this lovely dessert from Yossy Arefi. The best part? No mixer required.
Recipe: Apple Crumb Cake
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