We’ve baked some real classics this past month, friends! Thank you for letting me sneak coriander and ginger into classic lemon bars and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies.ย My tastes lately dictate that a little depth of spice has its place in every classic recipe.
Over the past 15 years as Joy the Baker, I’ve been know to go through phases.ย You might remember back when I was adding bacon to everything (?) and using the world “bonkers” an alarming amount. Mixed into my different baking phases, I’ve managed more than a few tried and true recipes.ย These are the most popular, most baked, most delicious:
First and VERY FOREMOST, Clifford Lesley’s own, very Best Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. Last week Dad and I took to Instagram to bake these cookies and answer your questions and to say my Dad is TV READY would be an understatement so… we’re just waiting on that call from the Food Network.ย We just, casually and humbly, want this to be the only chocolate chip cookie recipe you bake with. They’re that good.
One look at Everybody’s Chocolate Birthday Cake and it’s over.ย This is a classic Hershey’s-inspired chocolate cake so moist I could actually cry.ย The frosting is a recipe I learned at a tiny Los Angeles bakery I worked in waaaay back in the day before I was Joy the Baker and I was just Joy the Girl Who Kneaded Dozens of Batches of Scones by Hand Because the Bakery Didn’t Have Proper Equipment.ย The chocolate frosting alone is worth every day of sore hands.
One Pot Chocolate Sheet Cake is the easiest way to bake that classic Neapolitan flavor into a sweet little birthday cake.ย I highly suggest you serve this cake with Neapolitan Ice Cream to really drive the point home.
We all know that the best recipes come from spiral bound church cookbooks and thisย French Silk Pie is no exception.ย We have my friend Trevor’s mom in South Dakota to thank for this classic.ย God bless Cool Whip.
When it comes to cobbler, I trust my friend Ree Drummond because she has a literal RANCH to feed.ย You can’t be messin’ around with a cowboy’s cobbler.ย My Favorite Blueberry Cobbler has a cakey cobblestone top and it’s worth marking your summer calendar with this recipe for when true blueberry season rolls around.
The oldest classic round here is most definitely these Browned Butter Blueberry Muffins dating back to the year of our lord 2009.ย I talk about getting a pedicure, being ticklish, and trying not to kick the pedicurist in the face.ย Such was the Internet of 2009.ย The muffins still hold up.
My late great Aunt Cordellia was famous (in my heart and belly) for her Potato Dinner Rolls which are so magically tender you’ll wish you’d doubled the recipe.ย Don’t way I didn’t warn you.
The second oldest classic is Dad’s Sweet Potato Pie which has taken human form and become my actual little brother.
Rounding out our classics are these Kitchen Sink Cookies that seem to break the internet every September because they’re a perfect after school cookie and coming off a hot summer of living our best lives โ we all need a cookie when school and work kick back in.
Whenever I move into a new space, which is surprisingly often, I bake this Browned Butter Banana Bread.ย It’s grounding. It makes a house a home time and again.
Your turn!ย What’s your favorite Joy the Baker classic and what are you baking this weekend?
xo
30 Responses
I make the Kitchen Sink Carrot cake, so good!
Your Dadโs Best Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are my absolute favorite. I have tried so many chocolate chip cookie recipes in the pastโฆIโm good now
I made your Everybodyโs Chocolate Birthday Cake and it was a hit!!
Reader since 2011! My husband tells people your chewy molasses chocolate chip cookies will change their lives.
Sara, you’re a real one taking it back that far!
The brown butter chocolate chip cookies ARE the only chocolate chip cookie I ever make, there is no need for another one. Other tried and true classics I always come back to:
– your lemon bars
– your sprinkle confetti cookies
– the cookies n cream cookies
– the cranberry orange coffee cake / loaf
– the gingerbread swirl Bundt cake
I just love you!! And you’re so right – that gingerbread swirl bundt is a CLASSIC! I think it’s my favorite holiday cake!
I love seeing these featured recipes, and the blueberry cobbler, even if blueberries are out of season – blackberries? – is looking really good right now, thank you!
Oooh blackberries would be fun! Definitely more seedy but delicious!
I love the sweet potato pie! Cheers to dad!
Long live the sweet potato pie!
Hands down: your Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Pie. Whhhhhhhhhoa. It is truly the best. It brought my neighborhood cornhole group potluck to a HALT when I made it. So, so, so good. And thank you!
A screeching halt! That’s a good pie!
The Single Lady Pancake, my weekend breakfast treat to myself.
I’m nodding my head yes, friend!
Your cream cheese cinnamon rolls are perfect and have been a part of the last several Christmas mornings. Your blueberry muffins are the best! The buttermilk biscuits and the banana pancakes (from your brunch cookbook) are in regular weekend rotation. Also super love the Marry Me Chicken. It is honestly hard to pick a favorite of your recipes, they’re all so good!
12 frosted cupcakes from 1 stick of butter is my go to for birthday celebrations. They are just perfect in their level of simplicity and heartiness for taking somewhere.
Yes yes yes!
The recipe I’ve made the most and love every time is the Browned Butter Banana Bread. I’ve made it at home, when visiting friends, in vacation rentals, in small and large kitchens, I’ve made it for friends who just moved or who welcomed a new human into their family… It’s my go to recipe for banana bread!
Also, I make the Apple Pie Biscuits several times each fall.
And, not a baking recipe, but it’s a summer staple for me: It’s Not Summer Yet Greek Pasta Salad.
I love this! That Banana Bread really is a staple! I’m so glad it’s made its way into your life, too!
There are so many of your recipes I keep coming back to: Sweet potato waffles, Browned butter carrot cake loaf, Almond Croissants, Lavender brioche, Lavender lemon bars, White bean, kale, & sausage soup…and too many more to list! Thanks for bringing comfort, ease, and delicious food into my kitchen. I am forever grateful.
Hi Joy! You can totally bring back โbonkers awesome!โ Haha! One of my favorite classics is the Everyoneโs Birthday cake – yellow cake (I also used your birthday cake banner tutorial a lot). And I love the twist on these classics – Peanut butter jelly brownies, chocolate espresso cinnamon rolls, and toasted coconut banana bread (I have made this more times than I can count!). You also have some real gems on here for dinners and meal preps. Love your stories and phrases and Tron over the years – get some great laughs!
I also forgot to mention the Confetti cookies – bring on the sprinkles! They are that good that I had to make sure to add this as a favorite!
I’m so glad you’re here, Jenna!
Hi Joy,
Not sure if it’s the case for everyone but when I click on links from your email newsletter it always takes around 30 seconds to load. Sometimes I click away before i see what you wrote. Same on my phone but I have even less patience there.
Im on a mac, safari. Thought your webteam should know as I love your content! I also love cake, and always appreciate substite-able options for no dairy versions!
Kelly
I’ll have the team look into this Kelly! Thanks for letting me know!
Iโd have to to dig through your archive of recipes, but the chocolate Bundt cake with coffee and amazing chocolate glaze was a big time hit and repeat recipe over here for my older teen years. ? Even made it in Guatemala for a friends birthday with not all the correct ingredients and it still turned out amazing!! Chefs kiss. Youโre amazing, Joy!!! ???
I have made Joyโs Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins many times and they are wonderful. They are my go to muffin recipe. I have received so many compliments on them whenever I make them for people.
Joy
My favorite is
The Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls
It is still my go to recipe.
Ken
Maโam I made the chocolate cake with the OG chocolate buttercream frosting and it was a MF dream. I had trouble getting them out of the pans even with them buttered up so next time Iโll lay parchment. You are a treasure.