• 85 bakes

What Should I Bake for a Bake Sale

Cookies, brownies, bars, cupcakes and loaves that sell by the piece: one bake for the table at a press.

What Should I Bake for a Bake Sale

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  1. Fudgy browniesChill the pan before you cut, and every square comes out with a clean edge.

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All 85 bakes

Cookies 17

  • Chocolate chip cookies The cookie every buyer knows by sight. Bag them in threes.
  • Chocolate crinkle cookies Keep them in a single layer so the powdered sugar stays white.
  • Double chocolate cookies For the buyer who walks past anything pale.
  • Giant cookies, one to a bag A cookie as wide as a hand is sold alone, so there is nothing to count out.
  • Gingersnaps A crisp cookie rides in a tin without bending or sticking to its neighbour.
  • Iced sugar cookies cut in shapes Match the shape to the cause: stars, paws, the school's letter. Let the icing dry overnight.
  • Lemon crinkle cookies A yellow cookie with a cracked sugar top stands out on a brown table.
  • Molasses cookies Soft, dark and spiced: a good fit for an autumn sale.
  • Monster cookies with peanut butter, oats and candy pieces Big, bumpy and bright. The peanut butter goes on the label.
  • Oatmeal raisin cookies Sturdy enough to stack six high in a bag without a crumb lost.
  • Peanut butter cookies The fork marks on top are the classic sign. Write peanut on the label in big letters anyway.
  • Sandwich cookies filled with buttercream Two cookies and a filling make one piece that looks worth its price.
  • Shortbread fingers Bake them a day ahead, then tie a stack of four with string.
  • Snickerdoodles The smell of cinnamon sugar reaches the buyer before the price card does.
  • Sugar cookies with sprinkles Bright from across the hall, and the first thing a small child points at.
  • Thumbprint cookies with jam The spot of jam does the decorating. Pack them in one layer.
  • White chocolate and cranberry cookies Red and white on the plate suit a winter fair.

Bars and brownies 17

  • Apple crumble bars A slice of apple pie that a buyer can hold in one hand.
  • Blondies Brown sugar and butter in a square, for the buyer who passes on chocolate.
  • Brookies Brownie and cookie baked in one square, for the buyer who cannot choose.
  • Brownies with a cream cheese swirl The marbled top shows through clear wrap and sells the square.
  • Cookie bars baked in one pan Cookie dough pressed into a tray: every cookie done in a single trip to the oven.
  • Date squares An oat crust over a date filling: the old bake that grandparents go straight to.
  • Fudgy brownies Chill the pan before you cut, and every square comes out with a clean edge.
  • Lemon bars Sift the sugar over them at the table; it melts into the top on the drive.
  • Millionaire's shortbread Shortbread, caramel and chocolate, three layers that show at every cut.
  • Mint chocolate brownies The green layer shows at the cut edge, so stand them on their sides.
  • Oat and jam crumble bars Any jar of jam in the cupboard will do, and each flavour gets its own label.
  • Oat flapjacks Oats, butter and syrup baked in a tray. They bend where a cookie would snap.
  • Pecan pie bars The pie in a square. The name tells the buyer about the nuts, and the label should too.
  • Pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting Frost the whole slab first, then cut, and every square gets an even top.
  • S'mores bars Cracker crumbs, chocolate and toasted marshmallow, with no campfire to light.
  • Salted caramel brownies A few flakes of salt on top tell the buyer what is inside.
  • Seven-layer bars Chocolate, coconut and nuts on a crumb base. List all three on the label.

Cupcakes and muffins 15

  • Apple cinnamon muffins Bake them in tall paper cases and they need no other wrapping to hold.
  • Banana chocolate chip muffins The use for the bananas going brown on the counter.
  • Blueberry muffins Coarse sugar on top before baking gives a home muffin a bakery crust.
  • Cake pops Stand the sticks in a block of foam so the coating keeps its shape.
  • Carrot cake cupcakes Walnuts in or out is the baker's choice. Write the answer on the label.
  • Chocolate cupcakes One swirl of frosting and a pinch of sprinkles is decoration enough.
  • Confetti cupcakes Sprinkles baked into the cake, so the inside matches the outside.
  • Cornbread muffins The one savoury choice on a table of sugar, for the buyer who came hungry.
  • Double chocolate muffins A breakfast excuse for the buyer who wanted cake.
  • Doughnut muffins filled with jam Rolled in cinnamon sugar while warm, with a spoon of jam in the middle.
  • Lemon cupcakes A curl of zest on top says the flavour without a sign.
  • Lemon poppy seed muffins A thin glaze sets hard, so they can be wrapped without a mess.
  • Mini cupcakes, boxed in fours Small cakes for small buyers, and a box is easier to carry than a plate.
  • Red velvet cupcakes Leave one unwrapped and cut in half on the plate, so the red shows.
  • Vanilla cupcakes with buttercream Carry them in the tin they baked in, so the frosting touches nothing.

Loaves by the slice 12

  • Apple cinnamon loaf Lay apple slices on top before baking and the loaf labels itself.
  • Banana bread Cut thick slices and wrap each one. Keep one loaf whole for the buyer who asks.
  • Chocolate loaf cake A slice for the buyer who wants cake and has no fork.
  • Cinnamon swirl bread Cut it thick so the spiral holds together in the wrapper.
  • Gingerbread loaf Dark, sticky and better on the second day, so bake it early.
  • Lemon drizzle loaf Pour the drizzle on while the loaf is warm, and slice it once it is cold.
  • Marble loaf cake The swirl is on show in every slice, so wrap them in clear film.
  • Mini loaves, sold whole A small loaf in a paper tin with a ribbon is a present the buyer can hand on.
  • Orange and cranberry loaf A sharp, bright slice for a table that runs to chocolate.
  • Pound cake It cuts without crumbling, which makes it the easiest loaf to sell by the slice.
  • Pumpkin bread It smells of autumn through the wrapper. Slice it thick so it does not break.
  • Zucchini bread Say what it is on the label. Nobody guesses, and everybody is curious.

No oven 12

  • Caramel apples One apple on a stick, wrapped in clear film, is one whole sale.
  • Chocolate bark with dried fruit Break it into shards and bag it by the handful.
  • Chocolate cornflake clusters Melt, stir and spoon into paper cases: a bake a child can make alone.
  • Chocolate fudge squares Rich enough that a small bag of four is plenty.
  • Chocolate-dipped pretzel rods Stand them in a jar like a bunch of flowers.
  • Crispy rice cereal treats Butter your hands, press the pan flat, and cut big squares.
  • Dipped marshmallows on sticks Chocolate, then sprinkles, then a stick: sweets for the youngest buyers.
  • Marshmallow popcorn balls Wrap each ball in clear film and twist the top shut.
  • No-bake chocolate, oat and peanut butter cookies Boiled in a pan and set on paper. Peanut goes on the label.
  • Peanut butter bars with a chocolate top They set in the fridge overnight. Put peanut on the label in big letters.
  • Peppermint bark Dark and white chocolate under crushed candy canes, for a December sale.
  • Rocky road squares Marshmallows and dried fruit set in melted chocolate. Add the nuts or not, and say which.

Made without nuts 12

  • Banana loaf with chocolate chips The chips take the place of the walnuts, and children like it better for that.
  • Carrot cake squares with raisins Raisins stand in for the walnuts under the same cream cheese frosting.
  • Chocolate chip biscotti Chips take the almonds' place, and a twice-baked cookie stays crisp in its bag.
  • Cinnamon sugar pretzel bites Bread dough, butter and cinnamon sugar, sold in paper cups.
  • Crumb cake with an oat topping Oats and brown sugar make the crumb where chopped pecans often go.
  • Oat and seed granola bars Pumpkin and sunflower seeds give the crunch.
  • Pretzel and chocolate chip blondies Broken pretzels bring the salt and the crunch that pecans would.
  • Pumpkin seed brittle Seeds in place of peanuts. Crack it into pieces and bag it.
  • Rocky road with mini pretzels Marshmallow, biscuit and pretzel set in chocolate, with no nuts in the mix.
  • Sunflower seed butter cookies Close to a peanut butter cookie in look and taste, with seeds doing the work.
  • Trail mix cookies with seeds and dried fruit Oats, seeds, raisins and chocolate chips: a full cookie with no nut in it.
  • Vanilla fudge with sprinkles Sprinkles give plain fudge the finish that walnuts give it elsewhere.

How it works

What should I bake for a bake sale? Cookies, bars and brownies, cupcakes and muffins, or a loaf to slice. These 85 bakes add sweets that need no oven and a row made without nuts.

Read the full guide

Bake what sells by the piece

A buyer at a bake sale has a few coins and one free hand. Pick a bake that cuts or counts into single pieces, keeps its shape through a morning on a table and can be eaten on the walk home. Wrap each piece, or bag small ones in threes, before you leave the house.

Say what is in it

Write the bake's name and what it holds on every wrapper: nuts, peanut butter, wheat, eggs, milk. The last row swaps the nut for seeds, oats, pretzels or chocolate chips; plain bakes such as sugar cookies and lemon bars have none either. That describes a recipe, not your kitchen or the packets you bought.

  • Ask the organiser what is already promised, so the table does not fill with six trays of brownies.
  • Bake the day before. Icing, glaze and frosting need a night to set before a wrapper goes on.

Questions and answers

What is the easiest thing to bake for a bake sale?

Brownies. One bowl, one pan, no shaping and no frosting, and a chilled pan cuts into squares that stack and wrap. Crispy rice cereal treats are easier still: they are made on the stove and never see the oven.

How should I price items at a bake sale?

Ask the organiser first, since the sale may have set its prices. If it is left to you, price by the piece or the bag in round amounts, so change is quick, and stand a card with the price in front of each plate.

Should I put nuts in fudge for a bake sale?

Leave them out, or make half the pan plain and wrap the two apart. Plain fudge suits more buyers, and sprinkles or a swirl of white chocolate give it a finished look. Either way, the label says which it is.

How much should I bake for a bake sale?

One full batch of one bake, cut and wrapped, does more for the table than half batches of three. For a number, the organiser knows how many bakers have signed up and how many buyers came last time.

What should I not bake for a bake sale?

Anything that has to be cut, plated or kept cold at the table: cream pies, cheesecakes, trifles and tall layer cakes. On a warm day, pick an unfrosted bake too: soft frosting and thin chocolate coatings lose their shape in the heat.

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