20 tasty baked goods to perfect this winter

Croissants are so, so tasty and have a multitude of culinary uses, but they aren’t easy to make. They’re a major time commitment and require care and precision. Spend this winter perfecting the recipe so you can serve them throughout the spring and summer.

Macarons aren’t an easy baked good to master, either. What’s especially difficult about them is they are very sensitive to humidity, but that makes winter the perfect time to perfect the recipe. Dry weather is great for macaron practice. 

Cheesecake is an awfully finicky dessert to bake, which is why it requires so much practice to perfect. When it’s cold and snowy outside, what could be better than spending the day working out the kinks in your cheesecake recipe? 

If you can perfect a homemade doughnut recipe, you’re a true baker. Spend this winter figuring out which doughnut style you prefer and which topping type is your signature. 

Once you’ve mastered the chocolate lava cake, you’ll feel prepared to take on any recipe. This dessert gives you confidence. It can, however, take some time to sort out, so iron out any wrinkles during the colder months. 

Caramels are a great baked good to whip out whenever you need something, whether for you or someone else. However, anything that involves melting sugar doesn’t always come naturally. Start perfecting this recipe over the winter so you can share it with all your family and friends when you exit hibernation. 

Who doesn’t love a cannoli? If you want to impress people with your baking skills, perfect a cannoli. Use the winter to try different recipes and flavors, and once you have your top options, you’ll be able to share your findings with your loved ones. 

Scones aren’t a particularly difficult baked good to make, but they can turn out very dry if you’re not careful. But if you can make a scone that’s not dry in the winter, you’ll be an unstoppable scone-making force. 

The dough is the most difficult part of a pie to make, especially the top. But with practice, it becomes totally achievable. Spend this winter perfecting your recipe, rationing, edging, fluting, latticing, and all other verbs associated with pie doughs. If you can make a pie dough, you can make any pie you like. 

Meringue is used to top many desserts, but lots of people love to eat it plain, too. It’s a top-down recipe that makes all other recipes seem easier. If you can master meringue, you can make anything. 

Making a simple batch of cupcakes is easy, but frosting them is much more difficult. You don’t have to become an expert at frosting, but you’ll feel much better about your baking self if you’ve perfected a couple of basic piping techniques so you can make a beautiful batch of cupcakes whenever necessary. 

Every single baker on Earth needs a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. It doesn’t matter whether you like yours flat, puffy, crispy, or chewy. You just need to have a signature recipe, so spend this winter finding yours. 

Most bakers should have a signature homemade bread recipe, too. Again, it doesn’t matter which one you like. If you’re a sourdough fan, make that. If you love buttermilk bread, opt for that. Just pick something and start perfecting loaves. 

You can stick to using a box recipe (and honestly, it’s not a bad call; boxed brownies are incredible), but you’ll feel much better about yourself if you have a stellar homemade brownie recipe. Work on perfecting one with a chewy edge and a flaky top. 

Blueberry muffins are a classic, and they’re perfect for any occasion. If you only want to be proficient at making one baked good, let it be blueberry muffins, and let this winter be the season you perfect the recipe. 

People love chocolate cake, and you can make them very happy if you can provide them with a delicious homemade one. This winter, work on perfecting your chocolate cake recipe. You’ll have plenty of time to let the cake cool before frosting, as you’ll be indoors avoiding frosting yourself. 

Your family will love you if you spend the winter perfecting a cinnamon roll recipe. They’ll be delicious for a Saturday morning brunch or a weeknight chili dinner. 

There are few things tastier in life than homemade dinner rolls. And winter is the perfect season to perfect the recipe because you’ll have notes from the holidays on how to improve and plenty of hearty meals to serve them with. 

Every serious baker needs to have at least one fruity dessert in their recipe arsenal that isn’t pie, and for many, the best option is lemon bars. They’re so darn delicious, and you can get fresh lemons year-round, so there’s no excuse not to perfect the recipe in the winter. 

Banana bread shouldn’t take you long to perfect, but you should work on the recipe anyway. And you’ll want to perfect it because you never know when you’re going to need an emergency loaf of banana bread.