The 15 best recipes to bake in April
From latte-inspired bars to boozy snacking cakes, and much more.
This month, we’re all about fun, whimsical bakes, from tangy strawberry lemonade bars to cheesy pull-apart pizza to delightfully over-the-top churro cupcakes. With spring fruit on the horizon, outdoor gatherings starting up, and holidays like Easter and Passover on the calendar, it’s a great time to hit the kitchen — here are 15 exciting spring recipes to make when you do.
1) Churro Cupcakes
Allow us to introduce you to the cupcake mashup you didn’t know you needed. To evoke the spirit of a churro, pâte à choux is baked in a muffin pan, then the hollow puffs are filled with tender, cinnamon-scented cake batter, baked a second time, rolled in cinnamon sugar, then topped with luscious chocolate ganache for a fancy finish.
Get the recipe: Churro Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache
Shop the recipe: Muffin Pan and Cinnamon Sugar Plus
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Churros, Tiramisu Cupcakes
2) Cannoli Cheesecake
With their creamy ricotta filling, cannoli were practically destined to be transformed into cheesecake. Here, ricotta and cream cheese form the foundation of the filling, which is studded with mini chocolate chips, while waffle cones approximate the crunch of cannoli shells in the crust and garnish.
Get the recipe: Cannoli Cheesecake
Shop the recipe: Springform Pan
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Cannoli Cakes, Carrot Cake Cheesecake
3) Easy Vegan Lemon Cake
This simple yet elegant egg-free cake comes together in mere minutes and doesn’t skimp on bright citrus flavors. Lemon is used in virtually all of its forms: zest, juice, and candied slices, plus a few not-so-secret ingredients that enhance its puckery quality (lemon emulsion and lemon juice powder).
Get the recipe: Easy Vegan Lemon Cake
Shop the recipe: Lemon Emulsion and Lemon Juice Powder
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Lemon Ricotta Cake, Meyer Lemon Chiffon Cake
4) Ricotta Gnocchi
Fast yet fancy, ricotta gnocchi are incredibly simple to make (all you need are five ingredients and 30 minutes) and can accompany nearly any sauce. To achieve gnocchi with a light, tender texture, use good-quality ricotta and handle the dough with a light touch.
Get the recipe: Ricotta Gnocchi
Shop the recipe: Bench Knife
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Potato Gnocchi, Sweet Potato Gnocchi
5) Dirty Chai Bars
Skip the café and enjoy your chai latte as a sweet bar instead. This recipe combines the warm, spicy flavor of chai with the bold bitterness of espresso — and it's all made in one bowl.
Get the recipe: Dirty Chai Bars
Shop the recipe: Vermont Maple Syrup and Espresso Powder
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Vanilla Chai Bars, Chai-Glazed Almond Cookies
6) Matcha Latte Bars
More into matcha than chai? We’ve got a dessert for you too! These pretty green bars are like a bar cookie version of a milk foam-topped matcha latte, with a soft, tender texture thanks in part to the combo of both butter and oil in the dough.
Get the recipe: Matcha Latte Bars
Shop the recipe: Small Offset Spatula
If you like this recipe, you may also like: London Fog Cake, Pumpkin Spice Latte Bars
7) Tequila-Lime Snack Cake
Like a margarita in cake form, this single-layer snacking cake is tart and boozy. It’s also made with masa harina, which yields a toothsome yet tender crumb and imparts a subtle corn flavor that complements the lime and tequila glaze.
Get the recipe: Tequila-Lime Snack Cake
Shop the recipe: King Arthur Organic Masa Harina
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Lemon Blueberry Cornmeal Cakes, Dried Lime Pound Cake with Saffron Glaze
8) Pan de Cristal
Making this bread feels like performing a magic trick — the wet, pancake-like batter transforms into a silky, smooth dough through nothing but time, folds, and the power of bread flour. It then pulls off one final trick: emerging from the oven with an astonishingly open interior and translucent crumb (from which it derives its name, which translates to “glass bread”).
Get the recipe: Pan de Cristal
Shop the recipe: Unbleached Bread Flour
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Everyday French Loaf, Ciabatta Rolls
9) Robin Egg Cake
Turns out all you need for a special Easter cake is some food coloring and a clean paintbrush. To make this cute cake, decorate the outside with blue-tinted buttercream, using a bench knife to create a smooth finish. Then, dip a paintbrush in a mixture of cocoa and water and flick it onto the cake for a speckled, robin’s egg effect. It’s fun and fancy.
Get the recipe: Robin Egg Cake
Shop the recipe: Unbleached Cake Flour and Natural Food Colors Set
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Lemon Blueberry Cake, Lemon Cloud Cake
10) Banana Bread Blondies
If you like banana bread, you’ll love these dense, chewy bars. To achieve their blondie-like texture, the bananas are first cooked on the stovetop to reduce moisture and maximize flavor, and then incorporated into the batter. (And as a bonus, mix the rest of the batter straight in the same saucepan for less cleanup!)
Get the recipe: Banana Bread Blondies
Shop the recipe: Callebaut Semisweet Mini Chocolate Chips
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Banana Bread, Bananas Foster Banana Bread
11) Easy Hot Cross Buns
Celebrate Easter with these soft, squishy buns, distinguished by their characteristic iced top. The sweet yeasted buns are studded with dried fruit and spiced with an aromatic combination of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, plus a dash of apple juice (or rum) in the dough for extra depth.
Get the recipe: Easy Hot Cross Buns
Shop the recipe: Bakers Fruit Blend
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Easter Bread Wreath, Paska
12) Strawberry Lemonade Bars
Embrace sunny days ahead with these cheery bars, which feature a sweet strawberry frosting and chewy, lemon-scented base. Bake them for a last-minute picnic, party, or anytime you need a dose of vitamin D.
Get the recipe: Strawberry Lemonade Bars
Shop the recipe: King Arthur Square Pan
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Lemon Squares, Swirled Rhubarb Bars
13) Pull-Apart Pizza Bread
Switch up pizza night and make this this cheesy pull-apart bread. This recipe is endlessly customizable — choose your favorite cheese and toppings — and it’s make-ahead friendly, meaning you can pull it off on a weeknight. Serve with a large salad and you’ve got dinner covered.
Get the recipe: Pull-Apart Pizza Bread
Shop the recipe: Semolina Flour and Pizza Seasoning
If you like this recipe, you may also like: King Arthur’s Detroit-Style Pizza, Pick-Your-Pan Pizza
14) Our Bakery’s Coconut Macaroons
A Passover classic, coconut macaroons are the sweet, sticky, chewy bites your table needs. These macaroons’ intense coconut flavor has made them a perennial favorite at our Vermont bakery, where customers delight in their moist texture.
Get the recipe: Our Bakery’s Coconut Macaroons
Shop the recipe: Pure Vanilla Extract
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Zingerman’s Chocolate Coconut Macaroons, Coconut Macaroon Cookie Mix
15) King Arthur’s Carrot Cake
Carrot cake is an Easter classic, and ours has been beloved for years. It has nearly 300 perfect five-star reviews, and The Kitchn once described it as “the universally perfect carrot cake everyone you know will love.” What makes it so great? Oil for moisture and tenderness, spices for flavor, loads of grated carrots, and a tangy cream cheese frosting that swoops on easily.
Get the recipe: King Arthur’s Carrot Cake
Shop the recipe: Vietnamese Cinnamon and Ginger
If you like this recipe, you may also like: King Arthur’s Carrot Cake Cupcakes, Carrot Cake Cheesecake
Find more celebratory recipes in our collection of Special Occasion Bakes for Easter.
Cover photo by Patrick Marinello; food styling by Yekaterina Boytsova.
2 Reviews
Tagged:
Filed Under:
Recipes
