Whether it’s a PTA, church, scouting, or charity event, bake sales have existed for quite some time. Bake sales are especially big in the back-to-school months and the holidays. People love trying new and yummy goods from their peers and learning about new recipes! But because bake sales have been around so long, you may be wary of the traditional bake sale ideas!
One of the most inventive ideas I’ve seen involving food and fundraising was a cultural night at my boys’ school. They invited families to cook or bake different recipes representative of their culture! My family represented our Pennsylvania Dutch heritage by donating a few Shoo-fly pies!
It was a fun way to serve dinner that night since it was more than just baked goods, and it exposed the kids to foods they might never have tried otherwise.
If you have a bake sale event soon and are tired of making the same old cookies or cupcakes, we’re here to help with some unique bake sale ideas!
We scoured some family-friendly blogs and chose some fun and inventive bake sale ideas to help your treats stand out in a crowd and make your organization some real dough!
Homemade Hostess Cupcakes
What could be more fun than making and selling a homemade version of the famous Hostess Cupcakes? This recipe from 52 Kitchen Adventures makes roughly 20 cupcakes and uses ingredients you likely already have in your kitchen!
They’re ooey-gooey and decadent and a definite chocolate lover delight!
Cake Batter Rice Crispy Treats
These colorful treats from Gimme Some Oven are as delicious as they sound and simple to make in large batches, so you’ll get a lot of bang for your buck! Plus, they’re a fun baking activity for little ones to help with.
They’re made similar to traditional Rice Krispy Treats with the added sweetness of yellow cake batter – yum indeed!
Jam Thumbprint Vegan Cookies
If you want a healthy, vegan-friendly bake sale idea, try these jam cookies from The Kitchen. These delicious vegan cookies are made using rolled oats and coconut oil – two of my favorite ingredients to bake with, and I’m not vegan!
This fantastic bake sale idea makes approximately 48 cookies per batch! Plus, your little one can help by using clean hands to create the thumbprint in each cookie.
Apple Pie Cookies
If you’re an experienced baker, make these Apple Pie Cookies from Smitten Kitchen. The perfect fall and winter treat, they are guaranteed to wow the crowd. Thes pies require extra tools like a cookie or biscuit cutter and extra time because they require apple peeling, and the dough has to chill. But we think you’ll be pleased with the results if you put the effort in!
This bake sale idea may be more involved than many others listed here, but it is undoubtedly a crash course in baking for your child!
Toasted Coconut Blondies
Brownies are a staple bake sale idea, but these Toasted Coconut Blondies from The Tasty Kitchen jazz up the brownie in a new way! Buttery and delicious, they provide an option for those who are not chocolate crazy but still want a decadent treat!
What makes these blondies even more fun is you can customize them! Add extras as you see fit, like walnuts, white chocolate chips, or my favorite butterscotch chips!
Allergy-Friendly No-Bake Pretzel Bites
If you need an allergy-friendly bake sale idea, check out these simple No-Bake Pretzel Bites from allergyawesomeness.com. They are free of all the big allergens (gluten, dairy, eggs, peanuts, and tree nuts). As a bonus, they’re also vegan! They can also be soy-free, depending on the ingredients you use. For example, Glutino pretzels are soy-free, and so is Sun Butter.
The bites pictured above have a Christmas theme, but you can use any sprinkles or colors you want if you keep them allergy-free! We recommend these allergy-friendly sprinkles from Rainbow Pop! that are made in the U.S.A. and vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and made from plants.
Updated September 24, 2023, by L. Elizabeth Forry
