Baking at its best!
If you have ever looked at the ingredient list on baked goods in the grocery store, you may have become dismayed at the unrecognizable and unpronounceable items they use. This alone is enough to spur many people on to doing their own baking. Another reason is that you can make most things for far less money that the packaged items or even boxed mixes. The satisfaction of baking knowing you’ve saved money, saved your family from chemicals and preservatives and gained results that are far superior are all great reasons to give baking a try. The following ten websites are mostly blogs and journals by those with a passion for baking that want to share what they have learned. You’ll find great recipes and articles that you’ll enjoy whether a new baker or an experienced one. The sites are listed in order of their Alexa traffic count rating.
1. Sally’s Baking Addiction: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 29,265
You are going to absolutely love Sally and her uplifting and friendly nature. Her approach to baking appears to be mostly about the pleasure she brings others and this shows through in her blogs. She shares original, innovative recipes. She is a self-taught baker so you feel a relaxed atmosphere rather than a hardcore baker’s school doctrine type of site. She covers plenty of different types of baking categories from the savory to the sweet. You’ll even find some gluten free, vegan and no-bake options.
2. Brown Eyed Baker: http://www.browneyedbaker.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 33,893
Not only will you find great recipes on this website but if you sign up you can save your favorites in your own personal recipe box. Sign up is free and easy, or you can sign in with Facebook. The recipe index is a breeze to use as you can browse by category or ingredient. You can search by keyword as well. The blogs are far more than just great information as she really shares about her personal life and baking journey as well. You’ll feel like fast friends in no time! A couple nice features is the 10 most popular recipes of 2013 and Her 20 favorite recipes of 2013.
3. Joy the Baker: http://joythebaker.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 42,708
Not to be confused with The Joy of Baking, although that’s next on the list, this website is the loving endeavor of Joy in New Orleans, Louisiana. The blog was named Best Baking Blog by Saveur Magazine, and you know how fussy they can be! You will find plenty more besides just baking here including drinks, dinner menus and more. She’s also and author, so you’ll find information about her books on the site. You’ll enjoy the podcasts also.
4. Joy of Baking: http://www.joyofbaking.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 52,513
As promised, here is one of the best known websites about baking out there. They add new video recipes every Thursday by 7 PM EST. It is great fun to learn about baking through the use of videos so this is a very popular site particularly with new bakers that may have difficulty following a recipe at first as they are unfamiliar with some of the terms and techniques. Recipes are categorized nicely on the site. Be sure to check out the top 40 video recipes of 2013.
5. The Fresh Loaf: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 75,519
When you think about baking, often the first thing that comes to mind is bread, but if you are new to baking the thought of baking bread may be very intimidating. Well, don’t let that stop you when you have this website to help! Start with the Lessons tab and go to Lesson One: Your First Loaf. By the time you work through to Lesson Five, you’ll find it isn’t as difficult as you feared and the results are far superior to that squishy, tasteless loaf you find at the grocery store. The site offers plenty for the artisan bread enthusiast with some experience as well. The community nature of the site will make it a great addition to your favorite baking sites list.
6. My Baking Addiction: http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 76,235
This blog site is categorized into fundamentals, essentials, blogging 101, popular categories, beyond the sugar, giveaways and top ten. The archive holds all the blogs back to May of 2008, showing that this has been a long-term endeavor and thus a source for tons of information and recipes. The fundamentals section is a nice place to go for some basic tips such as how to toast nuts and how to measure flour.
7. Baking Bites: http://bakingbites.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 89,317
Baking Bites is written by Nicole Weston, a pastry chef, food writer and recipe developer in Los Angeles, California. She launched her own food blog back in 2004 and has since written four cookbooks. You’ll love the blogs as well as the recipes. The other categories include how-to’s, tips, tools and gadgets and ingredients. She also lists other cookbooks that she likes. You might also find her reviews of products informative and useful.
8. Bakerella: http://www.bakerella.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 109,396
Turn to this site for sweet inspiration and fun baking ideas. One of her focuses is cupcake pops but you’ll find much more than that. The site does not include non-sweet categories, so it is the perfect place to go when your sweet tooth is acting up. You’ll find brownies, cakes, cheesecake, cookies, cupcakes, pies and plenty of pops & bites. The really unique ideas for cake pops, cupcake pops and other bite-size baked concoctions is the strength of this site.
9. Love From the Oven: http://www.lovefromtheoven.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 188,815
This is another baking site dedicated to the sweet side of baking instead of the savory side. You’ll find a uniqueness here that will be refreshing from the typical everyday recipes. For example, there are a number of recipes utilizing PEEPS that are absolutely adorable. There is also a section for lightened up recipes for cutting back a bit on calories for those decadent sweets. She also has a wonderful holiday baking section that will give you great ideas for every holiday throughout the year.
10. Cake Journal: http://cakejournal.com/
Global Alexa Rating: 234,173
Baking and crafting cakes can be a real adventure and the drive to make something almost too beautiful to eat is the goal of many bakers. This site will help you with ideas and tutorials for making true works of art. Learn how to use fondant and gum paste, for example. There are also lessons for making seasonal creations such as an Easter bunny cake topper and marzipan Christmas bites. You’ll be wowing your friends and family in no time!
Whether your baking addiction leans toward savory items such as breads, pizza and such or toward the sweet items like cakes, pies and cookies, you will find tons of inspiration and recipes, along with witty blogs and helpful instruction throughout these ten websites. You might just be inspired to start your own baking blog one day!
