50 Things to Bake Before You Die: The World's Best Cakes, Pies, Brownies, Cookies, and More from Your Favorite Bakers, Including Christina Tosi, Joanne Chang, and Dominique Ansel

by Allyson Reedy

Turn your home-baking skills into professional-grade desserts with this mouthwatering baking book featuring recipes from some of the most incredible bakers and bakeries—including Tieghan Gerard, Joanne Chang (Flour Bakery), Chelsey White, Christina Tosi (Milk Bar), Daniel Boulud, and more!

This heavenly collection of dessert recipes—gifted to us from the greatest bakers and chefs from small-town café owners to fancy restaurateurs to TV show hosts—is a call to arms, to action, to revolution! Or, at the very least, a call to turn on the oven. Because who has time for the third-best brownie recipe or so-so Nutella-stuffed chocolate chip cookies?

Written with a fun and friendly tone and featuring easy, step-by-step instructions, 50 Things to Bake Before You Die will make you feel right at home as you bake up these world-class desserts,

So bake up Courtney Rich’s sublime Ultimate S’mores Cake, and Joanne Chang’s soul-shaking Homemade Oreos. Bake them—before you die.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Food and Drink, Ebooks

144 pages, Hardcover

Published April 5, 2022

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Allyson Reedy isn’t a professional chef or a baker. She’s just someone who loves food and writes about it for the Denver Post, celebrating the deliciousness she finds. And she’s taken all her best information about top baking recipes and compiled it into this book, 50 Things to Bake Before You Die.

These recipes come from all over the country. There are recipes from famous chefs, hometown bakers, and food bloggers, but each of these recipes is a unique celebration of flavor and texture. The recipes are divided into five sections: Cookies, Cakes, Pies and Tarts, Things You Eat with Your Hands, and Things You Probably Shouldn’t Eat with Your Hands.

There are excellent versions of the classics everyone loves, like Chewy Brownies, Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Classic Apple Pie, Classic, Crème Brulee, and Lemon Bars, the recipes pulled from local bakers and food bloggers. And there are recipes from famous chefs, like Duff Goldman’s Chocolate Babka, Dominique Ansel’s Croissants, Daniel Boulud’s Madeleines, Christina Tosi’s Birthday Layer Cake, and Joanne Chang’s Homemade Oreos.

But when you want to try something a little different, a little more special, you can bake the Brown Butter Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies, Strawberry Champagne Cupcakes, Peanut Butter Pie, Biscoff White Chocolate Blondies, Grapefruit Tiramisu, or Chocolate Soufflés with Chocolate Sauce.

While some of these desserts sound like they’d be difficult recipes, or they look challenging (like that Ultimate S’mores Cake on the cover), they are written for beginning and intermediate bakers. Reedy herself has tried to make all these recipes herself, and she says repeatedly that she is far from a master baker. There are some recipes that are easier than others, or that have fewer components, so if you are just starting out or you’re pinched for time, you still have options for deliciousness.

I love 50 Things to Bake Before You Die. There are recipes from some of my favorite bakers and even a recipe I am so stealing from my favorite local bakery. I probably won’t try to make all these recipes, as I stay pretty true to the flavors I like most, but there are a lot of really interesting things in my wheelhouse. And if you know someone who is look for a baking challenge, then this might be the perfect book for that.

I love that there are photos of all the beautiful finished desserts, but I find it disappointing that there aren’t any photos of the recipes in progress. I think that’s especially helpful for less experienced bakers, or for anyone trying a new technique. But this is still a fun cookbook with lots of amazing recipes, and we all have Allyson Reedy to thank for putting this collection together.

Egalleys for 50 Things to Bake Before You Die were provided by Pacific & Court publicity and digital marketing firm, with many thanks.

[Abbie Mannenbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I made every recipe in the book - there is not a loser in the bunch!! Many are some of the best desserts I or others have eaten!! A fantastic collection of recipes from across the country. I will definitely be returning to these recipes time and time again!

[dessertcomes1st · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who LIVES for dessert, I just about leapt onto this book when I saw it in my feed. It’s a fun volume of recipes from famous pastry chefs and influential baking bloggers. Quick quibble: why couldn’t the title have been “50 DESSERTS” instead of “50 Things…”?

Because the book is independently published, half of the pictures are contributed by the recipe owners, while the remaining half are those of the author’s; the latter’s photos aren’t as appealing for obvious reasons. I just feel that it brought down the book’s quality a bit.

All in all, a good, quick read and some recipes to bake for an afternoon.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way this author writes is 100% my style haha... Made the Nutella-stuffed brown butter chocolate chunk cookies (because, of course I did) and the recipe was fantastic, easy to follow, and turned out well. There's even a recipe from our local pie bakery here in OKC which I'm hoping to try next. All in all, this is a great book. Approachable, fun, and enjoyable. I wish there were weight measurements with the ingredients as I prefer to bake by weight but I still think this book is great.

[Rereader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of these recipes are nothing that can't be found in other cookbooks. The only reason why you would make these recipes specifically is so that you can say, "I made a cake recipe from so-and-so," which if that's what you want, go for it. As for me, I'll stick to what I have.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can't say I was impressed with the recipes I tried.

[Patty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am always up for a baking challenge, that is for sure. That is why I know that once I have my kitchen back (oh let the remodel go smoothly and quickly. Any and all positive thoughts will be most appreciated.) I will be baking up a storm. There are many recipes in the fun compilation that I know I will want to try – some are complex, others seem more on the easy side but I have had recipes fool me in the past.
The book offers the standard baking chapters: cookies, cakes, pies, etc., and two I just adore – things you eat with your hands and foods you probably shouldn’t eat with your hands. I suspect you can glean what is in the “not” chapter.
There are a myriad of recipes from some of the most renown pastry chefs such as Madeleines from Daniel Boulud (I have baked Madeleines – several flavors in fact: lavender, double vanilla, chocolate chip, and vanilla and chocolate), they are a delightful cookie/cake and perfect with a cup of tea or coffee.
You will also find recipes for cookies and cream macarons (I have made macarons, but not cookie and cream which sound delightful), and what are probably at the top of my favorites list – funfetti cookies. So many delicious cookies in fact. Several intrigue….
Then there are the cakes. Mmmmm, cake. From a classic pound cake to a birthday layer cake you will find whatever you might want. I am most interested to try the Yum Yum Banana Coffee Cake with Cheesecake Filling Chocolate Streusel. That recipe along would have had me buying this cookbook! (I have made pound cake and a birthday layer cake.)
Then we move on to pies and tarts. So many delicious recipes here too – I am sure you are getting my point by now. From apple pie (you know I have made apple pie) to strawberry hand tarts (yup, here) you are provided the recipes from pastry chefs to help you create a delicious result. I think my first from this category will be the chocolate caramel tart. Doesn’t that sound amazing?
Then the book moves on the two fun chapters; things you eat with your hands and things you shouldn’t eat with your hands. I suspect they are easy to parse but some examples. I am sure you will be able to figure where each belongs. Croissants (yes, I have made croissants. They are challenging but well worth the effort.) Brownies, lemon bars, scones – all the lunchbox goodies.
The last chapter is the not with your hands chapter and it includes things like creme brulee – which I have never made! Chocolate souffle (yes, this I have done but minus the vanilla sauce.), rhubarb cheesecake – which sounds amazing and may be what I start with from the book as I adore cheesecake.
So, do I sound like I enjoyed reading through this cookbook? I did. There are many recipes I am looking forward to trying when I have my new kitchen. I love to bake and a challenging recipe is always welcome now and again. There are others inside that I have made but I think I will make many of those that I have not.
There’s a s’mores layer cake that may follow quickly behind the rhubarb cheesecake….
The images are mouthwateringly beautiful and the directions seem to be complete and easy to follow. Of course this I cannot completely judge until I try a recipe or two. I will link back to this review when I do but this is a fun cookbook judging from first sight.

[Mary Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

50 desserts

52 weeks in a year, 50 recipes, this is doable! I will be trying to make one a week for my family.

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've made the first recipe and half the second recipe so far. I am less than impressed.

I read the ingredients and skimmed the instructions for each recipe. There are a fairly large number of recipies that call for ingredients I have never heard of, can't find in a local store, and/or would have to buy a fairly large amount for one recipe.

The first recipe in the book, Homemade Oreos, was fairly easy but the cookies were dry and there wasn't nearly enough cream when made according to the book. My kid's friend wouldn't eat them and they eat everything.

The second recipe, Plan Jane Cookies, need to sit in the freezer overnight. The recipe says to let the dough sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before scooping. Do not do this. The dough was pretty think anyway and after chilling for 30 min the dough was so hard it was very difficult to scoop. It broke my cookie scoop so I finished by hand. Also, the recipe says to scoop 2.5 ounces that should be a little smaller than a golf ball. By weight, 2.5 oz of this dough is waaaay bigger than a golf ball. The recipe says it makes 28 cookies but if you make them golf ball sized you are going to get a lot more that 28.

All in all, there are a few other recipies I might try in here but I don't hold out much hope.

[Ligaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, NOT the world's best. But I (kinda) appreciated the effort. I was thinking of buying this but then I realized I have cookbooks by Dominique Ansel and Thomas Keller (no recipes from him...) and been to their bake shops and I've been to Georgetown Cupcakes and Duff Goldman's Charm City Bakery and wasn't that impressed and... Plus, the "world's best" was just too big a boast for me. I like the author's writing style and the photos look delicious. Some recipes are crazy complicated—Christina Tosi's 3-layer 6" Birthday Layer Cake, for one, though I've read her bakes are like that. It was a fun library read, though.

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the idea of this book, but overall it wasn't for me.

This book has mostly high-end or what I'd consider designer type baking which isn't bad, but it just isn't practical for me. It's a nice book if you want to recreate Milk Bar or other famous dessert recipes at home, but not necessarily for adventurous bakers looking to branch out. There's a lot of big names which contributes to this book which is cool, but a lot of these recipes aren't things I'd make on the regular for fun. There's some nice recipes and pictures, but not what I expected.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun cookbook for those who enjoy trying recipes that are hits at famous bakeries & restaurants. Not all are simple ones so it can be challenging for a beginner. Especially if you have grand ideas of success. My family has found we needed some changes to the recipes to make them successful for us.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have not made any of these recipes yet, but all do seem delicious, but also challenging to make. I am challenging myself to make everyone of them. I will make use of the library for certain items such as a Madeleine Pan or cake pans.

The instructions are clear, but the photographs are what makes this book so appealing.

.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borrowed this from the library and I will probably buy it. I am a home baker but very adventurous. I have made croissants, macarons, many varieties of breads and pastries from around the world. This is not for the novice baker looking for first baker ideas but it's fantastic for a challenge

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, I did actually read a cookbook. I love this book, it’s so much fun and features great recipes form all over the US. I’ve baked about 6 of the 50, and I can’t wait to try the rest.

[Abigail Hernon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this cook book, and the recipes are fun. The Nutella filled chocolate chip cookies are a bit hard, but otherwise good.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was AMAZING! Some of the best dessert recipes I have ever seen. I saved so many to use again and again.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

How can I rate this book without baking something? Along with healthy, plant based nutrition in 2025, I'm going to try and bake from this book each month. I'll rate it in December.

[Kristi White · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure anything in this book is a Need to bake EVER much less before I die. I am 7 recipes in and here is what I have discovered.
These aren't the author's recipes. They are recipes given to her by famous cooks. Either they didn't give her the whole recipe or there was something lost in translation or editing. I have recipes (and in some cases books) from most of the original creators and their recipes are vastly more detailed and specific. Baking is a science and a lot of the science is lost in the details of these recipes. Below are a few examples:

1) There really should be weights as well as measurements.
2) Ingredients should be specified (what type of flour, what type of salt, what type of butter, etc.)
3) Some of the original creators most assuredly punked the author. One recipe calls for 5 teaspoons of salt. I cut it back by half and it was still too salty (the entire cake went into the bin).
4) Directions are missing in a lot of them (bake times, whole steps, etc.) If you are an experienced baker, you can fill in the gaps, if you aren't, good luck with that.
5) Some of the recipes the juice is definitely not worth the squeeze (looking at you homemade oreos)

I will say the Butter Pecan Cinnamon Rolls are delightful. Are they any better than a normal cinnamon roll recipe, absolutely NOT. But 10 recipes into this, it's the only recipe that will get a repeat thus far.

I plan to finish the recipes (because I like a good challenge). But thus far, this is a completely lackluster cookbook. And other than being gorgeous, it's not worth the price point.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have a sweet tooth, THIS is your cookbook! Gorgeous pictures, recipes that sound amazing, and don't seem complicated to re-create. It mostly lists types of cakes, brownies, pies and cookies. The photos make it a great coffee table book. This book has a very unique and rich flavor theme. Highly recommend!

[Pia Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

recipes all sound great but

They need converting to easier to use measuring/weighing and working out some ingredients that we Brits might call something else or simply don’t have. Too much effort for my liking.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the title. Some tasty sounding recipes.

[Margaret Gerberding · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are stuck in a baking rut, this book has 50 recipes for you to try!

[Mat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the recipes. The lemon bars were fantastic.

[Carol Austin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of good Baking Recipes

I will be making quite a few of these for my family. I like to bake and these look really interesting.