make ahead bakes

Make this ginger cake traybake in advance and you can freeze it before adding the icing - in fact freezing improves the taste.

Ginger and treacle spiced traybake

225 grams/8 ounces margarine, softened

sugar

black treacle

flour

tsp baking powder

tsp ground mixed spice

allspice

free-range eggs

tbsp milk

ginger

75 grams/2½oz icing sugar, sieved

tbsp stem ginger syrup

These delicious raspberry and white chocolate muffins couldn’t be simpler to make and use frozen raspberries for ease. For really light, well-risen muffins, it’s important not to over-mix. Don't worry about any tiny smears of flour in the batter.

Raspberry and white chocolate muffins 

300 grams/10½oz plain flour

caster sugar

1½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

salt

100 milliliters/3½fl oz milk

100 milliliters/3½fl oz soured cream

eggs,

sunflower oil

vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

grams/5½oz raspberries

grams/3½oz white chocolate chips

Mary Berry's lemon drizzle traybake cake has been a hit since the 1960s, and this is the recipe she is most asked for when stopped in the street.

Equipment and preparation: for this recipe you will need a 30x23cm/12x9in tray bake tin.

Each serving provides 290 kcal, 4g protein, 38.5g carbohydrates (of which 25g sugars), 13.5g fat (of which 8g saturates), 0.7g fibre and 0.6g salt.

Lemon drizzle traybake cake

butter

level tsp baking powder

lemons,

lemon verbena (optional)

lemons, juice only

Mary Berry makes her lemon verbena drizzle cake.

Lemon Verbena Drizzle Cake

Mary Berry's ginger biscuits are simple to make, crunchy and very tasty. The mixture spreads out to give very thin, crisp biscuits, so they need to be spaced well apart on the baking trays. 


Ginger oat crunch biscuits

150 grams/5½oz butter, diced if cold

golden syrup (see recipe tip below)

grams/2⅓oz self-raising flour

grams/1¾oz semolina

grams/3½oz porridge oats (standard

Mary Berry bakes her delicious Ginger Oat Crunch Biscuits.

Ginger Oat Crunch Biscuits

Batch-bake this moist, spiced, nutty banana loaf, then eat what you can for breakfast, brunch or tea and freeze the rest.

Banana bread loaf

bananas

125 milliliters/4½fl oz vegetable oil

115 grams/4 ounces butter, softened,

335 grams/11½oz caster sugar

450 grams/1lb plain flour

cinnamon

cloves

raisins

pecans

Our easy carrot cake recipe only needs one tin and two bowls – just add the wet ingredients to the dry and bake.  This classic carrot cake has a touch of orange and walnuts plus the obligatory cream cheese icing. It's incredibly quick to put together, but because it is baked in a single layer, it needs to cook slowly all the way through to the centre. This results in a dense, moist carrot cake that isn't too sweet with too much icing. It will keep for several days in an air-tight tin, if you can restrain yourself.

Easy carrot cake

200 milliliters/7fl oz vegetable

grams/3½oz walnut pieces,

orange, zest only

tsp mixed spice

tsp bicarbonate of soda

light brown sugar

grams/5½oz unsalted butter, softened

tbsp caster sugar

300 grams/10½oz full-fat cream cheese,

One of my favourite bakes is a recipe for apple cake I created many years ago. This is a version of the same recipe but made up into individual cakes, which could be served warm as a dinner party dessert or cold as a delicious picnic treat. 

Equipment and preparation: for this recipe you will need six 7cm/2¾in cooking rings.

Mini apple and almond cakes

grams/2¾oz butter, melted, plus extra for greasing

grams/3½oz self-raising flour,

grams/3½oz caster sugar

egg,

almond extract

60 grams/2¼oz Bramley apples, peeled and thinly sliced

almonds

(optional)

An easy cherry loaf cake that's moist and tender with ground almonds that just needs a cup of tea. Remember to coat the cherries in a little flour so they don't all sink to the bottom of the cake. 


Easy cherry cake

natural coloured glacé cherries

plain flour

175 grams/6 ounces caster sugar, plus 1½ tbsp

tsp vanilla extract or almond extract

tsp finely grated lemon zest

1½ tsp baking powder

75 grams/2½oz ground almonds

This healthy banana muffin recipe makes eating cake for breakfast guilt-free! Ripe bananas add sweetness to muffins, so you don't have to use much sugar. Wholemeal flour give the muffins plenty of fibre, keeping you full for longer.

Equipment: You will need a six-hole muffin tin.

Each muffin provides 206 kcal, 4.5g protein, 30g carbohydrate (of which 13g sugars), 7.5g fat (of which 0.8g saturates), 1g fibre and 0.4g salt.


Healthy banana muffins

grams/4½oz wholemeal flour

tbsp light muscovado sugar

medium free-range egg, beaten

grams/1¾oz low-fat plain yoghurt

milliliters/2fl oz rapeseed oil,

bananas (175 grams/6 ounces peeled weight), roughly mashed

Taking tea in muffin form seems ideal for breakfast, and the warm spices of chai bring scented richness without heft. I’ve made these dairy-free, but if you want to, you can easily use semi-skimmed milk in place of the almond milk. I want to make it as easy as possible for you to make these, as this is a particularly splendid specimen of muffin.

Chai muffins

225 milliliters/8fl oz unsweetened almond milk

Chai teabags

white spelt flour

2½ tsp baking powder

150 grams/5½oz soft light brown sugar

75 grams/2½oz natural skin-on almonds, roughly chopped

eggs

150 milliliters/5fl oz sunflower oil

The star here is the buckwheat, not only because it makes these cookies gluten-free, but mainly because I feel it brings its own nutty flavour and unique texture, creating a cookie that has softness and a shortbready bite, as well as a subtle smokiness. Those who like a truly chewy cookie might find these a little cakey, but I like chewiness in a cookie and yet find constant excuses to make these.

Triple chocolate buckwheat cookies

chocolate chips

dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)

grams/4½oz buckwheat flour

cocoa powder, sieved

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

½ tsp fine sea salt

60 grams/2¼oz soft unsalted butter

grams/4½oz soft dark brown sugar

vanilla paste

free-range eggs, fridge-cold

Buckwheat triple chocolate cookies

Skyr is an Icelandic cultured dairy product similar to Greek yoghurt. It goes really well with honey and vanilla in these blueberry skyr muffins.

Blueberry skyr muffins

240 grams/8½oz plain flour

grams/3½oz butter, melted

150 grams/5½oz natural skyr, Greek yoghurt

milliliters/2fl oz honey

tsp vanilla extract

blueberries

granulated

This super easy chocolate marble cake recipe has a mocha twist, adding a rich flavour. A perfect teatime treat.

Marble cake

vanilla extract

cocoa powder

tbsp strong black coffee, cooled

Mary Berry's ultimate apple cake – a Victoria sponge that stays really moist from grated apple. The lemon-flavoured cream keeps it fresh-tasting. 

You will need two 20cm/8in round, loose-bottomed sandwich tins and an electric hand whisk.


Apple sandwich cake

225 grams/8 ounces baking spread, straight

free-range eggs, beaten

eating apples, peeled, cored and grated (see Recipe Tips)

icing sugar,

150 milliliters/5fl oz double cream

lemon curd

This is my go-to recipe when I want to make a classic chocolate chip cookie, but feel free to swap the chocolate for any other fillings you fancy. Treat this recipe like a master cookie dough and experiment with your favourite flavours. Ideally make the dough the night before you want to eat the cookies.
Each serving provides 248 kcal, 2.9g protein, 34.6g carbohydrate (of which 23g sugars), 10.6g fat (of which 6.4g saturates), 1.7g fibre and 0.33g salt.


Perfect chocolate chip cookies

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp sea salt flakes,

110 grams/3¾oz unsalted butter,

110 grams/3¾oz light brown sugar

110 grams/3¾oz caster sugar

chocolate (see tip)

Edd Kimber's go-to recipe when he wants to make a classic chocolate chip cookie.

This simple lemon drizzle cake recipe is super-quick to bake and perfect with an afternoon cup of tea. It's made in a food processor, so in 10 minutes you'll have it in the oven! 

This recipe makes a lemon drizzle loaf, but if you want to make a cake in a different shape, try our <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/sponge_cake_calculator">cake calculator</a>.
Each serving provides 401 kcal, 5.3g protein, 47.5g carbohydrate (of which 31.3g sugars), 20.9g fat (of which 12.4g saturates), 0.9g fibre and 0.29g salt.


Easy lemon drizzle cake

225 grams/8 ounces unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

lemon,

icing sugar sugar

Top 16 make ahead bakes recipes from across the web

The most viewed make ahead bakes recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Ginger and treacle spiced traybake

Raspberry and white chocolate muffi...

Lemon drizzle traybake cake

Ginger oat crunch biscuits

Banana bread loaf

Easy carrot cake

Mini apple and almond cakes

Easy cherry cake

Healthy banana muffins

Chai muffins

Triple chocolate buckwheat cookies

Blueberry skyr muffins

Marble cake

Apple sandwich cake

Perfect chocolate chip cookies

Easy lemon drizzle cake

Top 16 make ahead bakes recipes from across the web

The most viewed make ahead bakes recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Ginger and treacle spiced traybake

Raspberry and white chocolate muffi...

Lemon drizzle traybake cake

Ginger oat crunch biscuits

Banana bread loaf

Easy carrot cake

Mini apple and almond cakes

Easy cherry cake

Healthy banana muffins

Chai muffins

Triple chocolate buckwheat cookies

Blueberry skyr muffins

Marble cake

Apple sandwich cake

Perfect chocolate chip cookies

Easy lemon drizzle cake

The most viewed make ahead bakes recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine