Apple Cider Doughnuts, that stalwart of autumn and a harbinger of the holidays, are often oily, lacking in apple flavor, and disappointingly stale. But it’s not their fault! Turns out doughnuts are better made at home so they can be eaten fresh, and as long as you follow Claire’s tips for a successful cake doughnut, you can enjoy this perfect taste of fall! Follow along.

I love an elaborate dessert on occasion, but after lots of trial and error, I’ve learned over time that when it comes to apple pie, simplest is always preferable. For Thanksgiving, what I want underneath a scoop of vanilla ice cream is a slice of buttery, cinnamony pie that tastes of apples and features a variety of textures. This pie, with an oat crumble topping rather than a top crust of lattice, checks all of those boxes.

Join us in giving thanks and looking back at a the past year of Dessert Person videos. Thanks to all the subscribers and viewers who supported the channel, made recipes from Dessert Person, and learned a little about the power of baking along the way.

CLAIRE SAFFITZ MAKES JELLY DONUTS

How To Make Sugar Cookies With Claire Saffitz

Allow us to revisit the Claire Saffitz Forever Brownie. Brownie recipes can be cakey, chewy, light, dense, fudgy, tender, shiny, matte, bitter, sweet, thin, thick -- and yet, they’re all brownies. Claire's favorite brownie is chocolatey but not too intense brownies with multiple textures, but chewiness above all. Claire's recipe is so good, it’s pretty much the only one she plans on making until the end of time... Watch along as Claire Saffitz shows us how to adapt her recipe and demonstrates How To Make Brownies 3 Ways.

Who’s ready for a two-parter all about that most delicious and magical of pastry, pate a choux? It’s all-purpose cream puff dough, and in this episode, Claire shows you show to make the base recipe plus Gougères, a warm, cheesy, crisp-yet-soft puff. It’s the most delicious of little bites. Remember to tune in next week for part II, where we take it in a sweeter direction.

Who’s ready for a two-parter all about that most delicious and magical of pastry, pate a choux? It’s all-purpose cream puff dough, and in this episode, Claire shows you show to make Chocolate Eclairs plus profiteroles in the shape of swans. Remember to revisit last week's episode, where we take it in a savory direction.

Ever have a burning baking question you wished you could ask a real baking expert? Baking Soda vs Baking Powder ? Baking For Beginners? Best Baking Tips & Hacks? Well, you might have these questions answered because Claire is back to address all your burning queries in this mini-series called Claire-ified.

Don’t know what to make with your late-summer farmers market fruit haul? Try this simple custard tart — a crisp but tender base filled with a rich vanilla pastry cream — and top with any fruit you like. This is one of those desserts that might call to you from the pastry case in the bakery with its gleaming and perfectly arranged fruit, but homemade is almost always better. Claire walks you through all the steps.

If you're in a hurry and looking for a quick and easy homemade doughnut that isn't too greasy or heavy then this recipe is for you! On this next installment of “Dessert People,” Friend and Author of "Life is What You Bake It" Vallery Lomas shows Claire how to make easy Old-Fashioned Doughnuts. These cake doughnuts come together quick as they are not yeast-raised and the added sour cream provides for a fantastic taste and texture.

Sour Cherry Pie occupies a perch on the dessert hierarchy above all others, sitting high and mighty. That’s because sour cherry pie, when executed well, has juicy but set filling, a balanced sweet-tart flavor, and golden flaky pastry. It’s everything a dessert should be and more. Here is Claire’s, inspired by the pies her mom used to make when she was a kid and informed by all the pie-making wisdom she’s gathered in her baking lifetime. Sour cherry season is fleeting, but seek out frozen ones and make this pie all year long.

In case anyone needs reminding, baking is more than just sweets — it can be dinner! This Crispy, Cheesy Pan Pizza is an all star recipe by the amazing bakers at King Arthur Baking Company, so who better to walk Claire through it than her good friend David Tamarkin, King Arthur’s editorial director. Everyone deserves a little pan pizza in their life, and this one delivers and then some. .

How To Make Buttercream Frosting (3 Ways) | Dessert Person Today on Dessert Person, Claire Saffitz walks you through 3 different variations (Swiss, Italian, French) for buttercream frosting. Although the french-style buttercream requires a bit of choreography - Claire believes it might be the best chocolate frosting you'll ever try. You can find the recipe for Claire's Silkiest Chocolate Buttercream on page 359 in Dessert Person.

Claire Saffitz Makes an Apple Tart

Chewy Molasses Spice Cookies

As a classic Thanksgiving dessert, pumpkin pie really should stay classic. Claire’s recipe amps it up with some brown butter and caramelized honey, but it stays close to home and simply results in the best pumpkin pie you’re likely ever to have — silky, balanced, rich, and not weighed down by too much sugar or spice. Check out this Claire Saffitz video for the foolproof path to the perfect pumpkin pie.

Claire Saffitz Attempts To Make Greatest Gingerbread House | Dessert Person Tis almost the season for holiday baking, and what better way to spend an entire day, evening, and following morning in the kitchen than making and decorating a gingerbread house. It’s a fun project if you’re looking to spend some time in the kitchen, and because it’s almost more crafting than baking, you can make a centerpiece for the entire holiday season. Follow Claire as she goes through the peaks and valleys of the process, and pick up some construction and decorating tips along the way.

Let me tell you a story about rhubarb. It’s a vegetable -- a stalk more specifically -- that grows every spring and has a piercing tart flavor and pretty ruby red hue. Some people don’t like the flavor, but those people don’t get what a special flavor and texture it has! In this rhubarb cake, Claire uses it three ways -- placed in decorative rows on top, cooked down into mush and incorporated into the batter, and chopped and folded into the cake. It’s a celebration of rhubarb, a harbinger of warm weather and an inspiration to dessert people everywhere.

After months of isolation, Claire is overjoyed to welcome kindred spirit dessert people -- friends, colleagues, fellow pastry chefs -- into her kitchen to bake something together. First up in this series we’re calling (what else) Dessert People? Claire's good friend and food stylist (maybe you've seen her work in Dessert Person?) Sue Li. Watch Sue and Claire attempt to make swirled meringue cookies, mostly fail, and then drown their sorrows in a comforting and delicious meatball recipe that Sue has loved since childhood. It's fun, a tad crazed, and delightful.

Ever have a burning baking question you wished you could ask a real baking expert? Does your pie dough flop instead of flake? Ever botched a batch of brownies without knowing why? Well, you might have these questions answered because Claire is here to address all your burning queries in this new mini-series called Claire-ified.

One of the great things about baking is discovering that you can make a pastry at home that tastes better than one from a cafe. On this episode of Dessert People, pastry chef Natasha Pickowicz shows Claire how to do just that — and in the process, convinces her that a proper scone can be tender, light, flavorful, and not at all dry. Check out the episode for all the secrets to making a scone so good that it will change the mind of scone skeptics everywhere.

Is there anything better than birthday cake? I don’t know about you, but to me, bday cake always means yellow cake and chocolate frosting. This vanilla-scented cake bakes up extremely light and tender, but still has the unmistakable richness and color of a yolky batter, while the super-easy frosting gets balance and tang from cream cheese and unsweetened chocolate. Claire gives lots of pointers for layer cake construction, like what to do if you’re trying to frost it in a 90-degree kitchen (hint: it involves an AC window unit).

Think you have to make a zabaglione or ladyfingers or anything technical to make tiramisu? Think again! On this next installment of “Dessert People,” Pal and Munchies Culinary Director Farideh Sadeghin shows Claire how to make easy and non-traditional Nutella and Bourbon Tiramisu.

3 Easy No-Bake Strawberry Dessert Recipes | Dessert Person Friends, there’s still time to enjoy strawberry season, and in this episode of Dessert Person, Claire shows you three quick desserts you could practically make in your sleep to highlight everyone’s favorite berry. No real recipes here, just some easy methods and preparations, because simple is always best, especially when it comes to strawberries.

Follow along as Claire makes a delicious puff pastry recipe from scratch. This recipe, a hybrid of pie dough and traditional puff pastry, relies on a series of rapid folds to flatten slices of butter into thin sheets within the dough, which then release steam during baking and produce a flaky, layered effect. The key to the flakiest pastry is to keep it very cold, so feel free to return the dough to the refrigerator as frequently as needed while you work. Stick around for a bonus recipe as Claire walks us through how to make Palmier cookies.

What do you make for a group of people who love to eat but can’t have gluten or dairy? This Flourless Chocolate Wave Cake! It’s a rich-but-light-at-same-time cake made with almond flour, a dash of amaretto, lots of chocolate, and lightened with egg whites for a mousse texture. This cake might meet a number of dietary restrictions, but you’d never know from the taste.

These soft-on-the-inside and crispy-and-charred-on-the-outside flatbreads have a secret ingredient: cooked potato. It keeps them pillowy and flexible and ideal for stuffing with feta cheese and slathering in zaatar oil. But if you take away nothing else, let it be the delicious eggplant dip that accompanies these flatbreads, which is easy and simple and can be your go-to late summer side dish.

Follow Claire as she walks you through the steps to getting those telltale nooks and crannies in your English muffins and how to make sure they cook all the way through in a skillet or griddle. Whether you like it sweet with jam or savory as the base of a breakfast sandwich, you’ll love the versatility of a freshly cooked English muffin.

Part of being a dessert person is celebrating all the possibilities that baking offers -- in this episode, it’s a beautiful savory tart filled with caramelized onion and endive and topped with a fresh, bright salad of bitter and tender greens (this salad pizza is all dressed up). Who said baking can’t be dinner?

What makes the best chocolate chip cookies? In Claire’s opinion, it’s a chewy edge, soft and chewy center, puddles of chocolate (in this case, dark and milk), a healthy amount of salt, and, crucially, lots of butterscotch-y flavor from the interplay of vanilla, brown sugar, and brown butter. That might sound like a lot, but it all comes together easily in a couple of bowls, no stand mixer required.

In this episode of Dessert Person, Claire teaches her brother-in-law Nick, a dessert enthusiast but amateur baker, how to make Croquembouche. It’s a French tower of caramelized cream puffs and an exceptionally challenging pastry feat that combines lots of technique, precision, and architecture.

Traditional cornbread this is not, but you won’t be overly concerned with strict definitions or categories when you try this savory, slightly spicy, bacony, baked corn [insert name here: cake, bread, pancake, etc.]. It’s a maximalist bakers’ dream, filled with lots of flavorful and textural bits that complement the corn flavor. Best of all, it’s baked in the same skillet used to cook the filling and comes together with two bowls and a whisk.

Heading into spring and summer fruit season, for your consideration: a light, lemony, interesting-in-good-way cheesecake that pairs perfectly with any topping. The key ingredient is goat cheese, which adds a complex flavor, and the key technique is using less filling to keep a reasonable filling-to-crust ratio. See Claire’s tricks for avoiding a soggy bottom and a cracked top!

Claire Saffitz goes through and explains her 9 Essential Pastry/Baking Techniques. Follow along as these techniques and end points will put all home bakers on the road to success.

It might not seem banana bread — a recipe made maybe BILLIONS of times — leaves a lot of room for innovation, but this version from Dessert Person is subtly different than your typical loaf. The almond butter swirl on top and almond butter in the batter adds a savory edge and toasty flavor, while coconut oil and yogurt keeps it tender and moist. Claire demos the very easy, quick recipe that requires little more forethought than forgetting some bananas on your counter until they turn brown.

Honey. Tahini. Challah. It sells itself! But we’ll tell you about it anyway because it’s so good and is a great starter recipe if you’re interesting in getting into bread baking. Challah is a lightly sweet enriched bread in the Jewish baking tradition, and this version is infused with honey, olive oil, and tahini, which gives it a subtle sesame flavor and rich silkiness. If you can braid, you can make challah, and if you can’t, Claire will show you how.

Claire’s been doing some light homesteading with her husband in and around a cabin outside of NYC. The newest members of the household are 4 beautiful hens that give the gift of fresh eggs every morning. Join Claire as she bakes with the eggs for the first time and makes one of the simplest desserts out there — the delicious, eggy, delicate, crème caramel. It’s a custard of eggs, milk, sugar, and vanilla, baked over a caramel layer that dissolves and becomes a rich sauce for the custard. It’s a perfect dessert made better by good eggs.

Fortunately you need no special occasion to make this delicious, celebratory, kid-friendly, and deeply nostalgic confetti cake. A tender white birthday cake studded with rainbow sprinkles and covered in smooth, tangy cream cheese frosting, it tastes like childhood (which is to say, better than the box).

Claire's favorite brownie is chocolatey but not too intense brownies with multiple textures, but chewiness above all. Enter, Claire's recipe for Malted Forever Brownies -- so good, it’s pretty much the only one she plans on making until the end of time.

Claire Saffitz goes through and explains her 13 essential kitchen tools, most of them small, simple and inexpensive, that put her (and all home bakers) on the road to success. Do you need them all? Maybe not. But if you’re committed to learning how to bake at home, these certainly help.

In this special episode of Dessert Person, Claire Saffitz and her special guest go off-script and decide to make a recipe together just for fun. Check it, and learn from the one and only Gaby Melian how to make empanadas with the prettiest twisted edge.

One of Claire’s favorite desserts from childhood is, Gooey Butter Cake, a St. Louis tradition unlike any other cake. While most recipes call for a box cake mix, Claire takes it back to its German origins as a yeasted coffee cake base with a buttery, gooey, vanilla-scented topping. THEN, Claire puts fellow STL-native, longtime friend, and comedian extraordinaire Jo Firestone to the taste test while the two settle old Gooey Butter Cake beefs.

In this episode, Claire shows you how to make the most of whole vanilla beans, from extracting the seeds to making your own vanilla extract. It’s a simple process but will ensure that no part of the splurge-worthy ingredients goes to waste.

After much testing, this is her ideal sticky bun, a soft, nutty, maple-y swirl scented with cardamom and orange zest. Claire thinks it’s a whole lot better than a giant, overly sweet Cinnabon cinnamon roll, although — ahem — some family members disagree. It’s a family affair this episode!

Spring is around the corner, but if you need a pick-me-up in dessert form, look no further than this sunny, zingy, Meyer lemon tart with a hidden ribbon of raspberry jam. It’s one thing Claire loves to make in winter, using the gift of Meyer lemons, but is even more classic if made with regular lemons all year round.

Join Claire as she takes you around her small NYC apartment kitchen for a quick kitchen tour and provides quick tips for making the kitchen as functional as possible.

Claire Saffitz engineered this seedy maple breakfast muffin to actually taste good while also providing some nutrition (in the form of seeds, whole wheat, and blueberries). It’s finally a blueberry muffin you can feel good eating -- and did we mention it’s vegan?

Follow Claire as she walks you through the steps to getting those telltale nooks and crannies in your English muffins and how to make sure they cook all the way through in a skillet or griddle. Whether you like it sweet with jam or savory as the base of a breakfast sandwich, you’ll love the versatility of a freshly cooked English muffin.

Part of being a dessert person is celebrating all the possibilities that baking offers -- in this episode, it’s a beautiful savory tart filled with caramelized onion and endive and topped with a fresh, bright salad of bitter and tender greens (this salad pizza is all dressed up). Who said baking can’t be dinner?

What makes the best chocolate chip cookies? In Claire’s opinion, it’s a chewy edge, soft and chewy center, puddles of chocolate (in this case, dark and milk), a healthy amount of salt, and, crucially, lots of butterscotch-y flavor from the interplay of vanilla, brown sugar, and brown butter. That might sound like a lot, but it all comes together easily in a couple of bowls, no stand mixer required.

In this episode of Dessert Person, Claire teaches her brother-in-law Nick, a dessert enthusiast but amateur baker, how to make Croquembouche. It’s a French tower of caramelized cream puffs and an exceptionally challenging pastry feat that combines lots of technique, precision, and architecture.

Traditional cornbread this is not, but you won’t be overly concerned with strict definitions or categories when you try this savory, slightly spicy, bacony, baked corn [insert name here: cake, bread, pancake, etc.]. It’s a maximalist bakers’ dream, filled with lots of flavorful and textural bits that complement the corn flavor. Best of all, it’s baked in the same skillet used to cook the filling and comes together with two bowls and a whisk.

Heading into spring and summer fruit season, for your consideration: a light, lemony, interesting-in-good-way cheesecake that pairs perfectly with any topping. The key ingredient is goat cheese, which adds a complex flavor, and the key technique is using less filling to keep a reasonable filling-to-crust ratio. See Claire’s tricks for avoiding a soggy bottom and a cracked top!

Watch Claire Saffitz make soft & crispy focaccia, a recipe from her cookbook, Dessert Person. Not only is the recipe forgiving, making it a great introduction to breadmaking for novice bakers, it's incredibly versatile and serves as the perfect accompaniment to any meal (hello, soup weather!). You might be surprised to see just how easy it is to make a tall, fluffy, light focaccia.

In this video Claire will show you a method to help coax out some moisture to help correct the typical problems that happen when making tarts, and leave you with a delicious tarte tatin that is every bit as good as the traditional version. Claire believes this recipe with buttery pastry, caramel, and apples can not be beat in a dessert.

In this episode, Claire Saffitz makes the best oatmeal cookies, the Oat & Pecan Brittle Cookies recipe from her book Dessert Person. This chewy, butterscotchy oat cookie might not be the kind you can casually whip up on a whim. But, if you go through the steps to make it, you will be rewarded with hands-down the most delicious oat cookie you've ever tried.

Claire Saffitz makes carrot and pecan cake from her cookbook, Dessert Person. Claire’s interpretation of a classic carrot cake makes a celebration out of any occasion. This version has lots of well toasted pecans and a brown butter cream cheese frosting that is not to be missed under any circumstances. Watch Claire as she demonstrates how to achieve even, light layers and then assemble them into a cake that’s equal parts, impressive, satisfying, and delicious. Remember, as Julia Child said: “A party without cake is just a meeting!”

In this episode of Dessert Person, Claire Saffitz makes her easiest cake recipe. If there is one recipe nearest and dearest to Claire's heart, it's this one for simple Poppy Seed Almond Cake. It's been a Saffitz family favorite for decades, and still the easiest and most perfect cake Claire knows how to make. It's proof of the truism that simple is often the best, but try it and see for yourself. It's too good not to become a favorite in your family.

Claire Makes Coffee Coffee Cake | Dessert Person. Most cakes are delicious when eaten with a cup of coffee, but what’s even more delicious? A cake that tastes of coffee itself! This coffee coffee cake has a light, silky crumb and a brown sugary flavor that’s perfectly offset by the bitter notes of brewed and instant coffee, which find their way into all three components — the batter, ribbon, and crumb topping. Watch Claire as she makes this new-classic cake from Dessert Person.

Take a look behind the scenes at the making of the Dessert Person cookbook with Claire Saffitz, photographer Alex Lau, food stylist Sue Li, and prop stylist Astrid Chastka. Video brought to you by the inimitable Vincent Cross with lots of help from Tim Sauer.