Baking Challenge 2026

I pulled the list for a baking contest off of Reddit to give my baking skills a bit of a workout this year. I am going to change some of the topics because I don't see myself paying attention to the Olympics of FIFA anytime soon. Thought might be a good way to try some new techniques and since I like trying new foods, this is a way to push me to do more in the kitchen. I am looking forward to the challenge. Plus a way to keep me from losing my sanity doom scrolling. I'll add some pictures of the items eventually.

New recipe for the new year: A butternut squash custard cake. I have mixed opinions on this. Is it tasty, yes. Is it a cake, not, it is not. I'll admit I didn't do the syrup topping since I am trying to cut back on some sugar. It reminds me more of a cobbler or even a lasagna. Would I make it again? Maybe? I am keeping recipe just to try again if I end up with more squash than I know what to do with.

Rating: 7/10.

I decided to do thumbprint cookies. Nice butter cookie base with apple butter for one half and a homemade cranberry sauce for the other half for the filling. The reipe I used has almond flour in the mix which I was initially worried about using but I am actually happy with the taste. The flour is stupid expensive but I had some left over from cooking for a Thanksgiving meal for some people that couldn't do gluten. This was a good way to use some of it. Will make again, for sure.

Rating: 8.5/10

I altered this one a tiny bit, mostly because I forgot the "dessert" portion of this but it's all in good fun so a mini loaf of bread isn't a bad deviation. I found an awesome "french bread" recipe that I have been making the past few weeks now. I am sure it is not traditional but it sure is tasty. I originally looked up a recipe to make pizzas one night, turned into an addition my regular bread rotation. Also discovered, trying to figure out a crunchy snack that the bread sliced thinnly and baked in the oven for a bit recreates a cracker I haven't been able to find in stores lately. For my mini challenge, I created a mini loaf. It is a bit lazy in the challenge sense but was still worth the try.

Rating: 10/10

I am not really a fan of meringue so this was a bit of a struggle to try and find something worth consuming. Random fact, I have a long standing aversion to meringue since I was a teenager. My sister had a meal plan in college that let her spend down the balance at the end of each semester. She would pring home so many pies that had meringue that I just can't look at them anymore. Anyway, back to my little experiment here: Meringue cookies. I also used my new dehydrator ranther than the oven proper since that seemed like a good idea. I have regrets. I used two different toppings and left one tray plain. Oddly, using lavender on them was the tastiest of the bunch. Cinnamon came in second and the plain was just not much. If you like eating something that has the texture of foam insulation, this was the way to go. Was not a fan.

Rating:3/10 -- only saved by the lavender flavored ones

I opted for some sunflower oatmeal cookies. I probably could have made a different choice here but a worthy test of a different recipe. Not a huge oatmeal cookie fan unless I am really craving them. Adding raisins oddly enough could have made these better to offer a contrasting flavor. Almond flour could have been a nice addition, too.

Rating: 7/10 -- decent but need to be in the mood for them

I made some seasame cookies that are supposed to be Italian. I can't say too much about them. Butter cookie base topped with sesame seeds. They were more biscuit than cookie to be honest. The sesame seeds I used might have been the culprit for the bland taste but maybe not. Not something I would go out of my way to make again.

Rating:6/10--Not a favorite but they did oddly go well with coffee.

I swapped out the weeks for this. I'm using it as a guideline in general so not going to stick too tightly to the order and maybe topic depending on the time and energy I have. I only made half of the sesame cookies from last week. I had the base cookie dough leftover. I didn't want to waste it so I thought maybe I could find a topping to filling to make them better. I folded in some lavendar flowers in half and the other half I folded in some brown sugar, just to see what would happen. Boy did that change the taste of these. I enjoyed these quite a bit. They did not last as long at the first batch with just the sesame so I would say that was a win of an experiment.

Rating: 8.5/10--I would make these again

I am a week behind on making stuff but I will come back to this one in the future. Didn't have a bunch of time despite a holiday.