6 years and 71 baking challenge recipes!
What started as a mindless “oh let’s try assigning a recipe to readers each month!” in January 2017 turned into a massive success for the past 6 years, with thousands of bakers participating.
I am so thankful for every single baker who participated over the years!
What Is Sally’s Baking Challenge?
Sally’s Baking Challenge is a monthly series on my website where I publish a specific recipe on the 1st of the month and challenge readers to bake it during that month. To enter, you make the recipe, photograph the finished product, and email the recipe photo to my team and me. You are then entered to win a gift card prize! At the end of the month, we randomly select a winner. This has been lots of fun, especially trying something new every single month.
So in addition to all of my regular baking recipes, from February 2017 through December 2022, I published 1 new challenge recipe per month. That’s 71 “challenge” recipes.
Sally’s Baking Challenge in 2023
As we start a new year, I’m knee-deep in a new project! I’m working on my 4th cookbook this year, and it’s with a brand-new publisher: Clarkson Potter under Penguin Random House! Working with such a large publishing house is a big opportunity for me, and I’m beyond thrilled.
I can’t wait to share more about it soon.
To give myself enough time and creative space for this enormous endeavor, the Sally’s Baking Challenge series is taking a pause in 2023. There will still be new recipes on my website, as usual, just no big organized baking challenges this year.
If you’re subscribed to my email list, you won’t miss a thing. (Including new recipes, plus behind-the-scenes cookbook recipe testing and announcements!)
If you want to keep the challenge going for yourself, use this year to catch up on any previous challenge recipes you haven’t tried yet. 🙂
Where Can I Find All of the Previous Challenge Recipes?
You can find all of the 71 previous Sally’s Baking Challenge recipes listed in the Sally’s Baking Challenge Recipes post.
You can also find them all, as well as answers to many FAQs, on the Sally’s Baking Challenge category page.
Some of my favorite challenge recipes over the years include checkerboard cake, homemade croissants, cheese bread, and chocolate soufflé.
Most Popular Challenge Recipe
The purpose of these monthly challenges is to bring bakers out of their comfort zone, and tap into a little creativity. My team and I always saw the most participation in the month of January. Out of all 71 challenges, Homemade Artisan Bread was the most popular. In fact, it’s in the top 10 most popular recipes on my entire website. (And I have more than 1,200 published recipes on the site!)
Which Sally’s Baking Challenge recipe has been your favorite?
December Baking Challenge Results
December 2022 Sally’s Baking Challenge Recipe: Pinwheel Cookies. This shaped and rolled cookie was a fun recipe to wrap up 6 years of Sally’s Baking Challenge! The team and I loved seeing all of your variations with different color doughs, different flavors, sprinkles, chocolate dips, glaze drizzles, and more. Many readers even used peppermint extract to turn them into peppermint pinwheels.
Thank you so much for participating! We gathered as many emailed photo entries as we could and included them below.
December Baking Challenge Winner
Challenge winner for December is Jenn, who has already been notified.
What’s Next?
Even though my Sally’s Baking Challenge series is taking a break in 2023, there will still be new recipes on my website the entire year. In fact, I have a new recipe coming tomorrow! You can find all of the new recipes on my homepage as they are published, and/or subscribe to my email list.
That’s awesome that you have a new publisher! Good luck! 😀
Will you continue the challenge next year?
Without a doubt!
You are my FAVORITE, GO TO source when I need a recipe or just inspiration. Thank you for all you do! I’ve received a ton of compliments for my cooking and baking because of you.
Ms. Grove put it so well! So many people who I talk to about baking know who you are because of how often I reference you. Baking has changed my life, and I have you and your team to thank in part for that.
Congratulations on your new cookbook and new publishers. I enjoy you emails and look forward to them. I used everything I made for Christmas from your recipes.
Thank you.
Sally, the first recipe I found of yours was the Lemon Blueberry Cake. My grand daughter and I made it together when she was in elementary school. Now she is 17! That recipe brings many happy memories, and it is still our favorite cake! Thank you!
Congratulations Sally on all of your challenges. I always enjoy your recipes and am excited to learn of a new cookbook coming. I love your cookbooks and they helped to keep me sane during our time in quarantine during the pandemic. I baked so many of your wonderful recipes from those books. Good luck with the new one and look forward to purchasing it as soon as published which I am thinking maybe sometime in 2024
Sally! This Christmas we wanted to wake up to some nice breakfast (almost) waiting for us. I decided to make your Maple Pecan Sticky Buns. I was worried that the yeast wasn’t working, but when I pulled the buns out of the fridge in the wee hours of the morning (4:00 am), I saw that the buns had definitely increased in size. I put them in the oven (we have a “proof” setting of 100 F), and in an hour they filled the baking dish completely! After baking and in perfect time for Christmas breakfast our sticky buns were the best present of the day! Thank you so much for your most excellent recipes!
I love your caramel apple cheesecake pie! It’s so flavorful. Happy New Year!