Sally's Baking 101: Foolproof Recipes from Easy to Advanced

by Sally McKenney

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The ultimate baking book for home cooks of all skill levels with 101 sweet and savory, foolproof recipes plus helpful tips for best results—from the creator of the beloved website Sally’s Baking Addiction.

“Sally has a gift for creating recipes that bakers trust and that families and friends crave. There’s so much to learn and so much to love here.”—New York Times bestselling author Dorie Greenspan

A LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

For years, Sally’s Baking Addiction has been the trusted online resource for anyone who wants to make delicious baked goods from scratch. An expert self-taught baker, Sally McKenney has been dedicated to developing and perfecting a wide range of baking recipes and her devoted audience trusts her implicitly. In this collection of 101 irresistible recipes, she presents an array of crowd-pleasing bakes to suit every occasion and craving, from cookies and bars to cakes, pies, breads, and brunch fare. Sprinkled throughout the book, you’ll find a selection of her most treasured fan favorites, including Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, Strawberry Cake, Homemade Pizza Dough, and Classic Apple Pie.

Sally shares everything you need to know to be a successful home baker including basic baking principles, tools and ingredients, detailed how-to’s, and step-by-step photos. She also offers her best tips and tricks, such as how to brown butter, prepare your baking pans, freeze baked goods, test for doneness, and so much more. Simpler recipes are included if your time is limited or you’re just beginning your baking journey, like Chewy Banana Walnut Cookies, Thick & Fudgy Brownies, Lemon Lavender Olive Oil Cake, and the Ultimate Fruit Crisp. Advanced bakers will be excited to try Cream Cheese Puff Pastry Danishes, Tiramisu Cake Roll, Sky-High Chocolate Mousse Pie, and Asparagus & Smoked Salmon Tart. Many of the recipes are somewhere in between, including Buttermilk Chive Fantail Rolls, Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies, Caramel Sheet Cake, and Butternut Squash & Sage Chicken Pot Pie.

With Sally’s Baking 101 as your guide, you’ll gain the knowledge you need to feel confident baking from scratch with tempting, reliable recipes guaranteed to delight family and friends.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 2, 2025

Reviews

[Violet]

The title would imply that this is a baking book for beginners but there are plenty of recipes that advanced bakers will be excited to make. 101 Refers to the number of recipes in the book. Every recipe has a skill level, so that you know what to expect before starting:
Beginner: Recipes that have simple steps and require minimal technique.
Intermediate: Recipes that need more precision and/or specialty baking tools.
Advanced: Recipes that use more advanced techniques and tools and make for an exciting yet challenging baking project.

The beautiful photos and detailed recipes are enticing and irresistible.

Recipes I’ve already made are the Chocolate Peanut Butter–Covered Shortbread Cookies and the Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread. Next on my list is the Pumpkin Cheesecake.

I’ve never had a bad baking experience while following recipes from Sally’s website. Her detailed recipes are easy to follow, and the results are delicious.

[Lisa]

It took me almost the whole month to go through the cookbook, simply because there were so many new recipes to tag and put on my “to-be-baked” list! To be fair, I’ve followed Sally and made her recipes since back in the blog days, and never had a recipe fail to deliver on the yumminess. That success, coupled with the ease of her clear directions, use of mostly pantry staples ingredients, and the fact that my family knows and loves every recipe made pre-ordering the cookbook a no-brainer!

Lots to try from each section, but writing some down for my own ease in recollection (and *highest priority):

Strawberry Lemon Drops, Pistachio Crinkles, Chocolate Peanut Butter Shortbread

Thick & Fudgy Brownies, Millionaire’s Shortbread

Chocolate Ganache Cake, Almond Poppyseed Loaf Cake, *Tiramisu Cake Roll, Coconut Hi-Hat Cupcakes, *Espresso Chocolate Truffle Cupcakes, *Pumpkin Cheesecake

Sky-High Chocolate Mousse Pie, Chocolate Raspberry Tart

Pecan Sticky Bun Cake, *Bacon & Cheddar Biscuits, Lemon Blueberry Scones

*Apple Cider Spiced Bread, *Pumpkin Spice Latte Muffins

Brioche-Style Sandwich Rolls, *Buttermilk Chive Fantail Rolls, *Soft Pretzels w/Cheese Dip

Let the fall baking begin! #nomnomnom

Four plus stars!

[Miss✧Pickypants ᓚᘏᗢ]

This is an excellent cookbook, especially for less experienced bakers. Recipes are very well-written and there are pictures galore, every dish is shown and there are plenty of how-to pictorials. Every recipe has a level of difficulty with the majority falling under the Beginner category and most should be able to tackle these and the Intermediate ones with ease given the stellar instructions. The handful of Advanced dishes were a bit more complex but not unattainable, thanks again to the well-constructed recipes.

I was pleasantly surprised to find some savoy dishes like quiche, tomato-zuchini cobbler and beer bread (the suggestion for using a pumpkin beer is genius). My only critique would be there could have been a little more guidance in the bakes that included making caramel since boiling sugar splatter can be a burn risk. But otherwise, this is a wonderful baking cookbook.

[Eva Levy]

The most perfect recipes! The explanations, the pictures, the organization- my favorite new cookbook!

[Mariah Kaminsky]

I’m still making my way through the book, but have tried about 15 of Sally’s 101 recipes and they all have turned out SO great. I’m making something new every week and loving it.

[Amy]

Sally has proven herself to me time and time again with her recipes online. I am positive that every single one of the recipes in this cookbook will be absolute bangers. I loved reading this cookbook cover to cover basically immediately after receiving it, and there are SO many recipes I am excited to try!

Such an amazing array of recipes from cookies to cakes to brunch to bread. I'm making the first of many of these recipes first thing in the morning. Sally, you are the GOAT! 🐐

[Karen]

Has ANYONE in these reviews actually MADE any of her recipes? Or are we just fans who want to boost her ratings? I want to know if the cookbook is worth buying. Are the recipes good?

[Chelsea]

So many tagged to try. Focaccia and scones are great!

[Elaine]

I don't read cookbooks because I cook or bake.

I just ❤️❤️❤️ cake and baked goods!

I've never heard of the author or her website but selected her book from my library because it was about baking and I knew there would be gorgeous photos to drool over.

Sally's Baking 101 is exactly what it is - simple, straightforward recipes that even a dopey baker (like me) can pull off.

I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, at least the easy ones, but they do look easy to handle.

I probably shouldn't jinx myself. 😆

[Kayleigh Medhurst]

I’ve been using Sally’s recipes for years and I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad one. This cookbook is perfect for beginners and people who have been baking for years. It has a variety of recipes including sweet and savory with varying difficulty levels. She does a wonderful job explaining some of the reasoning behind different steps in the baking process while not being overly-wordy. I also appreciate that every recipe has a picture.

[sasha rojer]

I made the brownies recipe last week, and LOVED it! Was a huge hit with my friends as well. Going to try the bread rolls and will update.

[Sarah]

Dear Lord, every single recipe here looks just delicious and compelling. I can tell they’ll produce results to be envied!

[Allison Heron]

Love this book, easy to follow & well tested recipes. Also includes foundational tips and kitchen must haves for the home baker. Highly recommend for finding go-to base recipes if you like to swap on hand ingredients in and out (like muffins/ scones/ cookies/ breads). Happy baking!

Made the following so far:

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Focaccia
Soft Pretzels
Blueberry Muffins
French Toast Casserole
Brown Butter Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

[Sara Rishforth]

The Oatmeal Wheat Sandwich Bread is so so good! Looking forward to making more recipes!

[Cherie]

Funny - I never felt so connected to the website, but really loved this cookbook. Lots of great recipes that I can't wait to try! The banana cookies are just what I need living in Hawai'i!

[MacKenzie Boone]

Sally makes baking feel fun, approachable, and totally doable. Baking 101 isn’t just a recipe book, it’s a guide that explains the why behind the steps, which gave me so much confidence in the kitchen many years ago (because her blog and now website are incredible). Every recipe I’ve tried has turned out perfectly (her cookies are a must, even if you think you have a good cookie recipe, I always consult Sally). The photos are gorgeous, the instructions are crystal clear, and the whole book feels like baking with a friend.

[Rada]

This cookbook, or should I say bakingbook, is so special. There is so much good baking information and advice. Even a seasoned baker like myself learned something new. You can trust that every recipe in here will absolutely 100% work. It is not a regurgitation of what you can find on Sally's website, but new recipes with a few fan favorites thrown in. The book is so pretty! The pictures are gorgeous making you want to immediately eat or bake what you're looking at and the binding is pretty too! I love the pink ruffled edge holding the cover together. The recipes contained herein are both sweet and savory, but the entire book leans more toward sweet. If you can only have one baking book in your house, let this be the one. You will want to make these recipes over and over again. In fact, I’ll just go and get my pans out right now 😀.

[Kristen Barenthaler]

I will absolutely be making everything in this cookbook as soon as I get home!

[Kate]

Apple Cider Spice Bread 3/5
Brown butter pumpkin oatmeal cookie 2/5
Maple brown sugar Cookie 3.5/5
Chai spice bar 3/5
Salted Brown butter Pecan Bar 3.5/5
Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcake 2.5/5

[kashiichan]

It's too difficult to rate recipe books, but I can still review them!

In the introduction, baker/author Sally McKinney notes that the majority of these recipes are new, with just a few Fan Favorites from her website. Each recipe is given a difficulty level:
* Beginner: Recipes that have simple steps and require minimal technique.
* Intermediate: Recipes that need more precision and/or specialty baking tools.
* Advanced: Recipes that use more advanced techniques and tools, and make for an exciting yet challenging baking project.

The book starts off with an excellent dive into ‘baking basics’, including clear instructions on how to measure both dry and wet ingredients; information about ingredients (e.g. a recipe for DIY buttermilk; explanations of different flours and sugars, and why each are used); a list of ‘essential tools’; tips and tricks; and guidance on how to freeze different kinds of baked goods.

There are 101 recipes in this book, which have been grouped into seven categories: cookies; brownies and bars; cakes of all sorts; pies and beyond; brunch bakes; quick breads and muffins; yeast breads and pizza. Each recipe has at least one colour photograph; a note on the serving size, skill level, prep time, bake time, and total time (with cooling/chilling/drying time clearly noted); and guidance on how to store your baked goods once you've made them.

One thing to be aware of is that McKinney considers food processors, hand mixers, stand mixers, and pastry blenders to be ‘essential tools’. Recipes do not always include a description of what things should look like once mixed, so without these tools it can be difficult to know when your ingredients have been mixed appropriately. As a result, I'd consider bumping up the difficulty level for some of these recipes; pure beginners are not going to have the experience needed to know when their mixture is ready to bake, or how to tell when it's been over-mixed.

This book is a nice solid hardback with flexible binding, so you can lie it flat or lean it against something and it won't close itself. However, the copy of the book I'm reviewing has an unfortunate manufacturing error and the bottom binding is misaligned; this leaves three of the paper bundles without extra support. This would definitely affect the sturdiness of the book, so it'd need to be treated gently; for a recipe book, that's not ideal.

All in all, I do think this book is worth checking out! I particularly like the Crumb Cake Cookies (29), Chocolate Peppermint Sandwich Cookies (39), Strawberry Cake (89), Sky-High Chocolate Mousse Pie (153), Chocolate Raspberry Tart (160), Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake (174), and Jam-Swirled Donut Muffins (232).

[Stephanie]

It’s not often that I dole out 5 stars for a book, let alone a cookbook. This one is by food blogger Sally McKenney. Unlike a lot of social media food influencers, Sally has put out an excellent cookbook on baking. Although none of the recipes are new or unique, they are what Sally considers her best recipes. There are seven chapters that cover cookies, brownies & bars, cakes, pies, brunch, quick breads & muffins & yeast breads/pizza. Each chapter has a dozen recipes - more or less. Most of the recipes are for sweets, but she has included some tantalizingly tempting savory ones such as butternut squash & sage chicken pot pie and spinach, tomato & feta quiche. The recipes are for beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Each recipe is written clearly and concisely. Any seasoned cook or baker can make these recipes. Each recipe not only has a photo but every photo tempts you make them. I’ll definitely be trying out some of these recipes soon. This would be a nice addition to anybody’s cookbook collection. Happy Baking!

[Julie Trapp]

For years, Sally’s Baking Addiction has been the trusted online resource for anyone who wants to make delicious baked goods from scratch. An expert self-taught baker, Sally McKenney has been dedicated to developing and perfecting a wide range of baking recipes and her devoted audience trusts her implicitly. In this collection of 101 irresistible recipes, she presents an array of crowd-pleasing bakes to suit every occasion and craving, from cookies and bars to cakes, pies, breads, and brunch fare. Sprinkled throughout the book, you’ll find a selection of her most treasured fan favorites, including Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, Strawberry Cake, Homemade Pizza Dough, and Classic Apple Pie. [amazon synopsis]

Yummy recipes. She tends to get a bit over excited at times. Too many gadgets. Great recipes though. For beginners. Her "expert" recipes are still for beginners.

[Kristine Grimes]

I've been following Sally and her blog since about 2014 and I ONLY use her recipes! I know they've been tested over and over until perfection and won't fail me. This is the only cookbook of Sally's that I own(hubby gifted it to me for Christmas) and this one is a keeper.

I've already made a lot of the recipes but some standouts were Millionaire's Shortbread Bars, Pistachio crinkles (the taste and texture of those are to die for) and the Blueberry Bundt cake. There's still many recipes in the book I want to try!

This is an amazing cookbook for not only the sharpest bakers, but also for beginners. I highly recommend you purchase this book if you love to bake or as a gift for a loved one or friend that loves to bake.

[Ann Rosas]

Do you ever really ‘finish’ reading a cookbook? I will be returning to this cookbook many times to try recipes and enjoy the resulting baked goods! I’ve already made the chocolate chip cookie recipe twice. Each time the result was a delicious chewy cookie. The recipe, notes, and tips, have already changed my baking techniques. I now see the wisdom in measuring many ingredients using a scale. Chilling my cookie dough before baking used to seem like a waste of time, now I know why it is so important! You can’t go wrong with this cookbook on your bookshelf.

[Grant Garcia]

I didn’t make every recipe, just the ones that interested me. I did find a few keepers. The Chocolate Chip Crumb Cake is particularly excellent. But the amount of prep time on many of these dishes is ungodly. Not only that, but the prep for each ingredient is terrible at times. I don’t want to leave the butter out for an hour: I wanna microwave it for thirty seconds and achieve the same result. This woman is on crack and has an enormous amount of free time. But the few recipes in here that I liked were quite good; thus, four stars.

[Marissa Jernigan]

I’ve really been enjoying this cookbook! There’s a great variety of recipes, and everything is easy to follow. Some of my favorite recipes so far are the Thick and Fudgy Brownies, Banana Walnut Cookies, Banana Bread Loved Around the World, and Chocolate Zucchini Muffins.
I also love that this cookbook isn’t just full of sweet recipes. There are savory recipes included too, which makes it feel much more versatile. It’s definitely a cookbook I’ll continue coming back to and working my way through.

[Sydney]

I’ve been using Sally’s Baking Addiction website for almost a year, and it has never let me down. When I first started baking, her recipes were my go‑to, and they always turned out perfectly—easy to follow, reliable, and total crowd‑pleasers. This cookbook already includes many of my longtime favorites, and I’m excited to dive into even more of her recipes. It’s a fantastic addition to any home baker’s kitchen.

[Sherri]

Add this to your cookbook shelf! I've tried many of her recipes off her website and is a go-to for a baking recipe when needed.

This book has all kinds of baked goods that have delicious photos to accompany! Easy instructions, how-to's, substitutions if allowed. All stages of skill: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

[Nathanael]

A collection of recipes from Sally McKenney, creator of the popular baking blog, Sally's Baking Addiction. The recipes were well laid out, with excellent photography and frequent step-by-step instructional photos. There's a fairly good variety of types of baking recipes and the few recipes I've already tried from it have turned out excellent.

[Sam Lavin]

I bought this today and spent an hour reading every recipe. I am so stinking excited about this book. She put so much detail and thought into each recipe. I learned new things and I would call myself an experienced baker. I can't wait to make every single one of these recipes. The pictures were also gorgeous! What a well-done cookbook. Definitely one you want to have in your kitchen!