Quick and easy baking ideas
Easy chocolate brownies
A classic, gooey chocolate brownie recipe ready in forty five minutes that can be ramped up with added ingredients. We’ve included three suggestions of additional ingredients for more opportunities (excuses) to bake this wonder.
Triple chocolate chip cookies
You can’t beat the smell of freshly baked cookies wafting through your kitchen – these luxurious ones combine dark, milk and white chocolate.
Fairy cakes
For an easy spot of afternoon baking, you can’t go wrong with light and spongy fairy cakes. Jazz them up with extra decorations of your choice, if you like.
More like this
Easter lemon and elderflower almond cake
Serve up a pretty, seasonal bake this Easter with elderflower cordial soaked almond sponges, creamy lemon curd filling and edible flowers to decorate.
Chocolate drip cake
Take your love of chocolate cake one step further with this impressive chocolate drip cake, where chocolate sponge is slathered in chocolate buttercream and topped with a layer of glossy ganache.
Vanilla and raspberry mascarpone loaf cake
This is a beautifully moist cake with pops of berries throughout – excellent on its own or with a cup of earl grey tea.
Carrot cake loaf
Make this carrot cake loaf extra-special with brown butter soft cheese frosting, if you like, or simply leave it off if you’re short on time.
Biscoff cupcakes
A batch of these malty, biscuity cupcakes are easy to whip up – they require less than an hour of hands-on time. Check out more Biscoff recipes for you to try.
Malted milk chocolate traybake
If you like chocolate-covered malted milk biscuits, you'll love this cake. A mixture of Horlicks powder and Maltesers creates the classic flavour.
Salted caramel and pear blondies
Check out these moreish blondies with salted caramel and pears. Whip these up in under an hour for an easy treat to serve friends or family.
Salted maple brownies
How do you make brownies even better? Add sea salt and maple of course! This recipe is really easy to make but looks impressive and delivers big flavours. Our top brownie recipes are here.
Classic banana bread
Okay, so this perhaps takes a tiny bit longer than an hour, but it's super simple and requires just six ingredients. A real classic, and perfect for a teatime treat or breakfast snack.
For more baking ideas and recipe inspiration, try our banana recipes.
Sugar cookies
Taking just 30 minutes to make, check out these charming vanilla-flavoured biscuits topped with a light frosting.
Classic marble cake
A cake that requires very little effort, the trick here is not to over-swirl the mixture as you want a clear definition between flavours. Of course this cake can be made with different flavours and colours, but we stand by the classic pairing of chocolate and vanilla.
Vanilla cupcakes
Bake these sweet and fluffy vanilla cupcakes for a celebration or simply as a treat with your afternoon cuppa.
Chocolate chip banana bread
Take banana bread to the next level by topping with an indulgent chocolate sauce and caramelised bananas. Even better when served with a morning brew.
Chocolate mug cake
This nifty microwave mug cake recipe is the perfect bake for impatient chocolate lovers, ready in just five minutes.
Brioche
Master sweet, fluffy brioche with our foolproof recipe. If you happen to have leftovers, it can be transformed into our brioche bread and butter pudding.
Cardamom buns
Check out this cheat’s version of classic spiced buns. Bread mixes make a genius shortcut – just add butter and spices for the ultimate swirl bun.
Fudge
Silky, creamy fudge is offset by a smattering of chunky sea salt flakes in this speedy recipe.
White chocolate, tahini and pretzel cookies
Tahini gives a lovely sweet/salty kick to these crisp, grown-up cookies, while pretzels add extra crunch.
Rock cakes
A rustic version of scones, have a go at baking these easy-to-make rock cakes for a sweet treat to enjoy at the weekend.
Biscotti
These twice-baked biscuits are the perfect accompaniment to a cup of tea. They are traditionally made with skin-on almonds that give a delicate nutty flavour.
Classic Swiss roll
Enjoy a light and airy sponge, coated in crunchy sugar and bursting with fruity jam for a vintage teatime treat.
Classic millionaire's shortbread
This is the perfect trio of buttery shortbread, gooey caramel and thick, sweet chocolate. Ideal for enjoying with an afternoon cup of tea, keep you biscuit tin filled to the brim with these moreish beauties.
Classic vegan carrot cake
Invite your vegan friends for afternoon tea and bake this British classic, ready in just 1 hour! Our frosted carrot cake is made with a surprising (vegan) ingredient that guarantees a moist sponge every time.
Snickerdoodles
Roll cookie dough in cinnamon sugar to satisfy your sweet tooth – you can even freeze the unbaked dough balls for whenever you need a last-minute treat.
Chocolate concrete
Crunchy and crumbly, this chocolate treat is somewhere between a cake and a biscuit – serve with a hot cup of tea and some custard.
Almond cake
An easy bake recipe to have up your sleeve, this cake pairs beautifully with fresh berries and cream and, of course, a hot cuppa. No ground almonds? Not too worry, grinding the same amount of blanched whole or flaked almonds will do the trick.
Empire biscuits
Make these crumbly shortbread-style biscuits for an afternoon treat. Raspberry jam acts as a sharp contrast to the sweet icing.
Brioche bread and butter pudding
Rich brioche makes the perfect base for this classic pudding. Swap the lemon zest for orange zest if you prefer.
Quick and easy chocolate fudge cake
Need to bake a last-minute birthday cake? Our chocolate fudge cake recipe is super quick and easy to make so it is perfect for a simple yet decadent cake for a special occasion. You don't need to use a chocolate with a high % for this, just standard dark chocolate is fine.
Biscoff cookies
Chewy, golden cookies with crunchy biscuit crumbs and a melting Biscoff middle. These mouth-watering cookies will disappear in a flash.
Vegan lemon loaf cake
A delicate, zingy vegan lemon cake made without eggs, milk or butter! The key to that lemony tang is a decent lemon extract (we use Nielsen-Massey), ready in just 1 hour!
Quick Victoria sponge
A classic, simple Victoria sponge is one of the recipes that you should have in your repertoire as it's ready in under an hour. This traditional sponge cake uses an all-in-one method making it quick, easy and the perfect party cake. Once you master this, bake sales and afternoon tea will no longer be daunting, and making variations will be easy. Try our easy cake recipes here...
Classic chocolate tiffin
We use the word ‘baking’ loosely here, as classic chocolate tiffin is known as the perfect no-bake treat. Requiring a handful of ingredients, it just needs time to set in the fridge before serving.
Chocolate muffins
Is there anything better than a soft, spongy, oven-warm chocolate muffin with melting milk chocolate chunks? Our foolproof recipe shows you how to make them in just 35 minutes.
Ultimate chocolate fudge cake
Enjoy a slice of heaven in under an hour! Our decadent chocolate cake is covered in silky smooth frosting and we teach you how to create dark chocolate curls for an artisan finish.
Cheat’s ginger, salted caramel and rum cake
Transform simple ginger loaf into this boozy cake in just 25 minutes by soaking in rum and caramel then layering with boozy caramel cream.
Quick cinnamon buns
Check out our easiest ever cinnamon buns that are quick to make because they use ready made puff pastry. Bake and enjoy now or save for a weekend breakfast – just make sure to eat them warm from the oven.
Cherry bakewell tart
Our cherry bakewell tart is an exceedingly good tart – serve with a cup of builder’s tea for a proper English teatime treat, perfect to serve when guests come for tea last minute.
Quick coffee cake
Classic coffee cake is one of our all-time favourite afternoon treats. In this recipe, we've given it a modern twist to include deliciously crunchy pecan brittle. It makes a quick baking recipe that's really impressive.
Croissant cinnamon buns
Check out these easy-to-make, moreish cinnamon buns. This simple cinnamon bun recipe uses Jus-Rol croissant dough making them extra flaky and extra crispy.
Butterfly cakes
These little cakes make a perfect gateway to baking, requiring minimal effort with fun results. They make a great addition to parties or afternoon tea.
Jammie Dodger blondies
Check out these super easy super fun blondies using a children's classic biscuit, Jammie Dodgers. These fudgy moreish white chocolate blondies are a great alternative to a traditional chocolate brownie, and will go perfectly with your afternoon cuppa.
Chocolate chip cookie pizza
This chocolate chip cookie pizza is super easy to make and great fun with all the family. Crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, this giant cookie makes for a great alternative to a birthday cake that's quick to make.
Salted caramel shortbread
Sweet and salty flavours are an ongoing trend and this shortbread recipe is the perfect way to blend these flavours. It's quick and easy baking and will please a crowd. Find our quick and easy traybake recipes here...
Tottenham cake
This easy traybake combines a light sponge recipe with raspberry icing, making it a very pretty addition to any gathering.
Texas sheet cake
Our birthday traybake works brilliantly as a base for any kid's birthday cake. It's actually a 'sheet cake', a standard baking treat in Texas. We've added a chocolate topping here, but you could it personalise it any way you like. Try our epic birthday cake recipes for everyone here...
Jaffa cupcakes
Check out these fun and easy orange cupcakes with silky smooth chocolate frosting and old school Jaffa cakes. Make these cupcakes for an impressive alternative to a showstopping birthday cake.
Easy white chocolate fudge cake
Our white chocolate fudge cake is easy to make, looks fantastic and is guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser.
Peanut butter and jelly scones
Peanut butter and jelly is a classic American flavour combination. This combined with an English classic to make peanut butter and jelly scones is sure to be a new favourite.
Sticky honey cakes
This recipe for sticky honey cakes is really easy to make and they look great. The combination of honey, lemon and ginger works really well together and they're surprisingly low-cal.
Ginger shortbreads
Try our easy shortbread recipe for triple ginger biscuits. These crumbly ginger shortbreads are perfect for elevenses with a hot cup of tea or alternatively with strawberries and cream for dessert.
Jam tarts
This is a perfect tea-time recipe for the whole family. Recruit the kids to help you dolloping jam into the delicate pastry cases and use different jams to get a multicoloured plateful.
Peanut butter thumbprint cookies
These peanut butter thumbprint cookies use the classic peanut butter and jam (or jelly) combination in a fun new way. They're best eaten the day they're made.
Bourbon biscuit brownies
What's better than a chocolate Bourbon biscuit? Chocolate Bourbon brownies! This is one of our favourite recipes of 2016 - trust us, you'll need to make a double batch.
Frosted lemon fairy cakes
These cute little lemon cupcakes would work equally well for a kids party, baby shower or just a treat to serve with afternoon tea. If you are short of time make the sponges ahead and store in an airtight box then ice on the day.
Cobnut and chocolate shortbreads
Chocolate shortbreads, our favourite biscuit already, but add cobnuts (part of the hazelnut family) and your teatime treat just got a whole lot better.
Coffee and walnut cupcakes
Coffee and walnut cake is a teatime favourite. With this recipe, we've given it a modern makeover by giving it the cupcake treatment. Pipe the icing sky-high for maximum cake drama.
Custard cream blondies
Ever thought of adding custard creams to your blondie mixture? It's genius! Have a go this weekend and let us know how you get on (@olivemagazine).
Salted peanut and honeycomb rocky road
These salted peanut and honeycomb rocky road squares are a great twist on a classic and will please everyone. Plus, they're really easy and only take 15 minutes of work.
Apricot Swiss roll
The classic sponge gets a seasonal twist, using apricots in a juicy compote as well as in an accompanying boozy syrup.
Portuguese custard tarts
Portuguese custard tarts made easy with with step-by-step help from the olive test kitchen. Use ready-made puff pastry to make this recipe ready in under an hour. Dusting the pastry with icing sugar gives the tarts a golden, caramelised crust when cooked.
Piña colada tarts
Add a Caribbean twist to your baking with pineapple, coconut and rum flavours of piña colada. Use ready-baked tarts if you want to make this dessert even easier.
Apricot and white chocolate cookies
These apricot and white chocolate cookies are really quick and easy to make but taste delicious. They are ideal for a bit of baking and only take 40 minutes. Try our biscuit recipes here.
Quick apricot and hazelnut pastries
Check out these flaky apricot pastries with creamy fresh custard and sweet apricots, the perfect weekend breakfast treat ready in 35 minutes.
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olive magazine podcast ep77 - giant cookie pizzas, Christmas drinks and wild adventures in Sweden
This week on the olive magazine podcast, the cookery team talk about next-generation food gifts, including gin and tonic dip dabs and giant pizza cookies.
