Easy baking recipes are for everyone, whether you’re a beginner baker or just in need of a no-fuss recipe that delivers stellar results. Here, we’ve rounded up 18 of our easiest recipes, defined by short ingredient lists and simple techniques that don’t require any special tools or equipment.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
1) Easy Vegan Lemon Cake
This tender, citrus-packed cake doesn’t ask much of you. Both the batter and frosting come together with just a whisk and mixing bowl, but the result is a fancy-looking cake with bold lemony flavor. Keeping shelf-stable ingredients like lemon emulsion and lemon juice powder on hand make this recipe a cinch if you forgot lemons at the grocery store.
Get the recipe: Easy Vegan Lemon Cake
Shop the recipe: Lemon Emulsion and Lemon Juice Powder
Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food styling by Kaitlin Wayne; Prop styling by Brooke Deonarine
2) Banana Pancakes
Special enough for a weekend but simple enough for a weekday, these banana pancakes don’t require an elaborate recipe or technique. For a no-nonsense pancake recipe (no whipping egg whites required), keep it simple with cinnamon and ripe bananas. It’s all about the fluffy interior and crispy edges, anyway.
Get the recipe: Banana Pancakes
Shop the recipe: Cinnamon and Maple Syrup
Photography and food styling by Liz Neily
3) The Simplest Sourdough Biscuits
Flaky, buttery biscuits only call for a few ingredients, and this recipe simplifies things even further — the ingredient amounts follow a 1-2-3-4 ratio of liquid to butter, sourdough discard, and flour — make them a few times and you'll probably have the formula committed to memory.
Get the recipe: The Simplest Sourdough Biscuits
Shop the recipe: All-Purpose Flour and Bench Knife
Kristin Teig
4) Fresh Fruit Cobbler
Skip the fuss of pie crust and lean into cobbler’s rustic charm. This cake-style cobbler, which forgoes the biscuit topping, is the epitome of easy summer desserts. The formula is simple: Whisk together the batter, pour it into a 9” pan, simmer your favorite fruit with sugar and liquor for a few minutes, then pour over the batter. You’ll be rewarded with a lovely golden-brown cake cobbler studded with soft, jammy fruit.
Get the recipe: Fresh Fruit Cobbler
Shop the recipe: Whisk and Square Pan
Photography and food styling by Liz Neily
5) Quick Sourdough Herb and Scallion Pancakes
This savory pancake recipe is a genius way to use up a heap of sourdough discard. All it takes is discard whisked with water, salt, and baking powder, boosted with scallions and a fistful of herbs. Ready in mere minutes, they are the perfect snack or side dish to add to dinner.
Get the recipe: Quick Sourdough Herb and Scallion Pancakes
Shop the recipe: Fresh Sourdough Starter and Mixing Bowls
Danielle Sykes
6) Blueberry Grunt
Having a lazy summer day? That’s when easy dessert recipes like New England-style grunts come in. Cook down blueberries over the stove, then add dollops of drop biscuit dough on top and cover to continue cooking on the stove.
Get the recipe: Blueberry Grunt
Shop the recipe: Cinnamon and All-Purpose Flour
Photography and food styling by Liz Neily
7) No-Fuss Focaccia
No kneading or long rising times are required for this fast focaccia, making it perfect for last-minute dinner guests or weekday meals. Supercharge the flavor by adding pizza dough flavor or cheddar powder to the dough.
Get the recipe: No-Fuss Focaccia
Shop the recipe: Pizza Dough Flavor and Cheddar Powder
Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
8) Hot Summer Spoon Cake
The beauty of this cake is in the details: you melt the butter straight in the pan as the oven preheats, then add an almond flour-based batter and macerated fruit. Best of all, this custardy, fruit-packed cake is easy to serve; just spoon it into bowls and top with ice cream.
Get the recipe: Hot Summer Spoon Cake
Shop the recipe: Almond Flour and Vanilla Extract
Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
9) S’more Granola Bars
When you don’t have a roaring campfire to make s’mores, these practical granola bars are the next best thing. The same mixture, which only requires one pot, is used for the bottom crust and top crumble to keep things simple. Finished off with a layer of melty chocolate and broiled marshmallows, these treats are peak campfire nostalgia.
Get the recipe: S’more Granola Bars
Shop the recipe: Maple Syrup and All-Purpose Flour
Photography and food styling by Liz Neily
10) Quick and Easy Flatbreads
This tried-and-true recipe is made with only six basic ingredients, and since the combination of baking powder and yeast helps speed up the rising time, you’ll have freshly griddled flatbreads on the table in only one hour. There’s a reason this recipe has “easy” in its name!
Get the recipe: Quick and Easy Flatbreads
Shop the recipe: Bread Flour and Instant Yeast
Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
11) Easy Drop Biscuits
If you have a bag of self-rising flour, you’re already halfway to a perfect batch of biscuits. Simply mix together the flour and cream, then scoop the batter onto a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Yes, it really is that easy!
Get the recipe: Easy Drop Biscuits
Shop the recipe: Self-Rising Flour and Half-Sheet Pan
Photography and food styling by Liz Neily
12) Easy Ice Cream Pie
Melted butter and graham cracker crumbs make a freezer-friendly press-in pie crust, and the filling is just as simple: whip together cream, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla extract for a no-churn ice cream filling that sets in just six hours.
Get the recipe: Easy Ice Cream Pie
Shop the recipe: Pie Pan and Vanilla Extract
Photography and food styling by Liz Neily
13) No-Knead Crusty White Bread
Made with just four ingredients, this basic bread recipe will show you the wonders of what flour, water, salt, and yeast can do with just time and not much else. The dough is mostly hands off (you can rest it in your fridge for up to a week!), so you can bake it on your schedule.
Get the recipe: No-Knead Crusty White Bread
Shop the recipe: All-Purpose Flour and Instant Yeast
Photography and food styling by Liz Neily
14) Simple Tortillas
If you've only ever had store-bought flour tortillas, these homemade ones will be a revelation. Not only are they incredibly flavorful, they're also simple to make. The three-ingredient dough comes together easily, they're simple to roll out, and they cook quickly.
Get the recipe: Simple Tortillas
Shop the recipe: All-Purpose Flour and Rolling Pin
Kristin Teig
15) Easy Cheesecake
This well-loved cheesecake is a staple of our easy baking recipes thanks to a press-in graham cracker crust and four-ingredient filling. The best parts? No water bath, special springform pan, or long rest cooling in the oven required.
Get the recipe: Easy Cheesecake
Shop the recipe: Pie Pan and Vanilla Extract
Photography by Rick Holbrook; Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne
16) Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Make this for the peanut butter lover in your life, and they won’t be disappointed. Just stir, scoop, and bake — no chilling necessary. Despite the absence of flour (which makes these perfect for gluten-free diets), these cookies are soft and chewy.
Get the recipe: Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Shop the recipe: Chocolate Chips and Vanilla Extract
Photography and food styling by Liz Neily
17) Quick and Easy Fudge Brownies
The dump-and-stir method is as no-fuss as it gets. This one-bowl recipe yields moist, fudgy brownies that are nearly as easy to make as a boxed mix.
Get the recipe: Quick and Easy Fudge Brownies
Shop the recipe: Triple Cocoa Blend and Espresso Powder
Photography by Mark Weinberg; food styling by Liz Neily
18) The Easiest Loaf of Bread You’ll Ever Bake
If you’re a beginner bread baker, start here. This yeasted recipe, made with bread flour, stays true to its name, and the streamlined instructions take you through each step of mixing, kneading, and shaping to ensure an impressive, crusty loaf.
Get the recipe: The Easiest Loaf of Bread You’ll Ever Bake
Shop the recipe: Bread Flour and Instant Yeast
For an even easier baking shortcut, shop our collection of mixes.
Cover photo (Fresh Fruit Cobbler) by Kristin Teig.
