The 13 best recipes to bake in March
Chocolatey focaccia, tropical pastries, a sticky bun mashup, and more.
This month, we’re going big on flavor. The markets may not be bursting just yet, but we can still lean into bakes that pack a major punch. These include a flaky pastry with a hidden filling of vibrant guava; a pound cake full of zingy lime flavor thanks to a unique ingredient; and a focaccia with chocolate in not one, but two forms. There’s also Guinness for St. Patrick's Day, berries, and bars that have a quadruple hit of ginger. Hope you’re ready for one majorly flavorful month.
(And of course, there’s plenty to celebrate this time of year, so here are 20 spring celebration bakes for Easter, Passover, Ramadan, and beyond.)
1) Basbousa (Semolina Cake)
This syrup-soaked semolina cake from recipe developer Zaynab Issa is sweet, sticky, and super tender. Because it stays soft and flavorful for days, basbousa is the perfect crowd-feeding dessert to make in advance; enjoy it for Ramadan this month, or keep it on the counter for an afternoon snack break all week long. If you have a bag of semolina lying around from making pizza, this is a great way to use it.
Get the recipe: Basbousa (Semolina Cake)
Shop the recipe: Semolina Flour
2) Chocolate Peanut Butter Poke Cake
Poke cakes are typically made by pouring instant Jell-O or prepared boxed pudding mix into a sheet cake poked with holes; for our version, we chose the more indulgent (and homemade) combination of chocolate and peanut butter. In addition to the rich peanut butter ganache filling, there’s also a fluffy peanut butter frosting to top the cake.
Get the recipe: Chocolate Peanut Butter Poke Cake
Shop the recipe: Valrhona Milk Chocolate and Triple Cocoa Blend
3) Dried Lime Pound Cake with Saffron Glaze
For intense, concentrated citrus flavor, this cake uses dried lime powder, an ingredient often used in Persian cuisine to season soups and stews. Here, it adds a zingy, slightly bitter note to the rich butter- and cream cheese-based pound cake, which would be perfect for celebrating Nowruz (Persian New Year). A bright saffron glaze provides additional color and flavor.
Get the recipe: Dried Lime Pound Cake with Saffron Glaze
Shop the recipe: Almond Flour
4) Guava Cream Cheese Pastries (Pastelitos)
These Cuban bakery staples are made with buttery, flaky pastry and filled with tangy, tropical guava paste and luscious cream cheese. If this recipe feels like a daunting baking project, just break it up: Prep the puff pastry dough up to two days in advance, then assemble and bake the pastelitos when you’re ready to enjoy.
Get the recipe: Guava Cream Cheese Pastries (Pastelitos)
Shop the recipe: Sparkling Sugar
5) Sticky Bun Banana Muffins
If you took the sweet, gooey topping of a sticky bun and combined it with a banana muffin, you’d have this decadent breakfast mashup. Each muffin is baked on a bed of maple-brown sugar syrup, then flipped out of the pan to reveal the crunchy, caramelly topping.
Get the recipe: Sticky Bun Banana Muffins
Shop the recipe: Vermont Maple Syrup
6) Double Chocolate Focaccia
This chewy, crispy focaccia proves that chocolate and bread belong together. With ripples of chopped semisweet chocolate and a deep hue from black cocoa, this bread doubles up on the chocolate. Ultimately, it could be served for breakfast or dessert — or both.
Get the recipe: Double Chocolate Focaccia
Shop the recipe: Black Cocoa and Guittard Semisweet Chocolate Wafers
7) Dark and Stormy Ginger Bars
These frosted bar cookies are flavored with ginger, lime, and rum, evoking the cocktail from which they get their name. Spicy ginger shows up four ways — fresh, ground, candied, and in the form of syrup (buy ginger syrup or make it yourself) — while the cream cheese frosting brings the lime and the rum.
Get the recipe: Dark and Stormy Ginger Bars
Shop the recipe: Ginger People Organic Ginger Syrup
8) Neapolitan-Style Pizza
With a crispy, chewy crust that puffs up beautifully, this classic pizza is destined to be your new go-to recipe for pizza night. The key is our '00' Pizza Flour, which is milled to exacting standards to yield the best crust (that’s also easy to shape).
Get the recipe: Neapolitan-Style Pizza Crust
Shop the recipe: '00' Pizza Flour
9) Chocolate Stout Cake
The malty chocolate and coffee flavors of stout pair well with Dutch-process cocoa, adding a remarkable depth of flavor to this deep, dark cake. If you’re feeling St. Patrick’s Day vibes, a Guinness would be the perfect choice in this recipe.
Get the recipe: Chocolate Stout Cake
Shop the recipe: Double Dark Cocoa
10) Mile-High Meringue Pie
At the tail end of citrus season and the beginning of spring, lemon’s zippy flavor is especially welcome. One of the best ways to showcase lemons is in this classic meringue pie, which features a towering cloud of meringue atop the tart citrus filling.
Get the recipe: Mile-High Meringue Pie
Shop the recipe: Instant ClearJel and Meringue Powder
11) Jammin’ Raspberry Buns
A fruity spin on cinnamon rolls, these super-soft raspberry buns are bursting with color and flavor. The secret is freeze-dried raspberries, which are incorporated into the dough and the frosting along with a smear of raspberry jam inside each roll that takes the place of a cinnamon or chocolate filling.
Get the recipe: Jammin’ Raspberry Buns
Shop the recipe: Bread Flour and Baker’s Special Dry Milk
12) Easiest Sourdough Discard Crackers
The easiest way to use up sourdough discard? Turn it into crackers. This recipe lives up to its name: The crackers are made with only sourdough discard, butter, your choice of seasonings, and salt. Mix the four ingredients, spread onto a baking sheet, and bake until crispy. They’ll last in an airtight container at room temperature for several weeks.
Get the recipe: Easiest Sourdough Discard Crackers
Shop the recipe: Small Offset Spatula
13) Chilindrinas
Looking to bake something colorful this spring? Try these Chilindrinas, a soft, sweet bread dough that’s hidden beneath a sweet, crunchy, vibrantly colored cookie-like topping. They get their sunny yellow color from a dash of turmeric, as well as extra sparkle and texture from a garnish of sparkling sugar.
Get the recipe: Chilindrinas
Shop the recipe: Unbleached Bread Flour and Sparkling Sugar
Additional contributions from Laura Scaduto
Cover photo and food styling by Liz Neily.
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