The 15 best recipes to bake in May
Ruby-red rhubarb bars, strawberry shortcake cookies, and much more.
If you’re looking for a new recipe to try this month, we’ve got you covered. Already got your hands on some rhubarb? Add it to your coffee cake. Need a cake for graduation season? Consider layers of coconut cake covered in a flurry of coconut flakes. Eager for strawberry shortcake? We have a creative cookie version that will hold you over until fresh berries arrive. Let’s get baking!
1) Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
This clever recipe turns strawberry shortcakes into a batch of adorable sandwich cookies. Tender cream-based cookies surround a pink-hued filling that gets its flavor and color from freeze-dried strawberries — so if you don’t have a mountain of ripe berries to bake with just yet, you don’t have to worry.
Get the recipe: Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
Shop the recipe: Sparkling Sugar
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Strawberries & Cream Scones, Strawberry Lemonade Bars
2) Swirled Rhubarb Bars
These bars might be the best way to bake with rhubarb this season. In addition to the rhubarb, which is cooked into a ruby-red stovetop jam in roughly 10 minutes, the bars are also studded with chopped white chocolate. To make the recipe even easier (and faster), the batter is mixed by hand so you can enjoy these tangy, buttery bars with little effort.
Get the recipe: Swirled Rhubarb Bars
Shop the recipe: Square Pan Liners
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Rhubarb Dream Bars, Rhubarb-Walnut Quick Bread
3) Big and Bubbly Cinnamon Roll Focaccia
Our 2025 Recipe of the Year, Big and Bubbly Focaccia, inspired this sweet and spiced mashup. Cinnamon Sweet Bits are folded into the pillowy dough for pockets of gooey sweetness, while the dimpled top gets spread with a buttery, brown sugar-cinnamon mixture. For the ultimate cinnamon roll effect, the whole thing gets drizzled with icing after it's baked.
Get the recipe: Big and Bubbly Cinnamon Roll Focaccia
Shop the recipe: Fabulous Focaccia Pan and Cinnamon Sweet Bits
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Perfectly Pillowy Cinnamon Rolls, Giant Cinnamon Roll
4) Chocolate Sourdough Discard Cookies
Think of these cookies as a reward for maintaining your sourdough starter. Discard is combined with cocoa and milk chocolate for double chocolate flavor, and the result is a crisp-edged cookie with a chewy center. As one of my colleagues recently raved in a work chat: “They are so scrumptious and easy to make. These are going to be on rotation for sure.”
Get the recipe: Chocolate Sourdough Discard Cookies
Shop the recipe: Valrhona Milk Chocolate Wafers and Triple Cocoa Blend
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies, Super Fudgy Sourdough Brownies
5) Glazed Lemon Sourdough Cake
Still got more sourdough discard? Puckery citrus — in the form of two zested lemons and all their juice — and tangy sourdough discard team up in this elegant snacking cake. Top it with satisfyingly thick, lemony glaze and devour it slice by slice throughout the day.
Get the recipe: Glazed Lemon Sourdough Cake
Shop the recipe: Tea Loaf Pan
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Easy Vegan Lemon Cake, Lemon Bliss Cake
6) Old-Fashioned Coconut Cake
Delicate cardamom-spiced layers of vanilla cake are filled with luscious coconut cream, enveloped in coconut milk buttercream, and finished with a cascade of flaky coconut — perfect for a stunning celebration cake. Garnish with a bouquet of edible flowers to celebrate spring’s gorgeous bounty.
Get the recipe: Old-Fashioned Coconut Cake
Shop the recipe: King Arthur Pure Vanilla Extract
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Coconut Cardamom Cake, Coconut Loaf Cake
7) Fresh Herb Pasta
Transform pasta into something even more stunning (and delicious) by adding fresh herbs and greens. Try a blend of basil, chives, spinach, scallion, and baby kale — or whatever greens and herbs are sitting in your crisper drawer. The pasta is bright and flavorful all on its own, and it doesn’t require much else aside from melted butter and a shower of Parmesan.
Get the recipe: Fresh Herb Pasta
Shop the recipe: Atlas 150 Pasta Machine and Pasta Flour Blend
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Potato Gnocchi, Sourdough Pasta
8) Spring Tonic Quiche
A true celebration of spring, this quiche highlights the best of what’s in season. Chives and asparagus flavor the custard with a healthy helping of grated cheese. Use your favorite pie crust, or take our Test Kitchen’s recommendation to pair this with our Sourdough Pie Crust.
Get the recipe: Spring Tonic Quiche
Shop the recipe: Pie Pan
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Quiche Lorraine, Asparagus and Chive Galette
9) Pizza Bianca
Unlike most pizzas, this rectangular Roman-style version skips the red sauce and cheese, letting its texture take center stage. A crisp, golden crust (thanks to semolina flour) gives way to a light, chewy interior enriched with olive oil. Eat it plain, or use it for your next picnic sandwich.
Get the recipe: Pizza Bianca
Shop the recipe: Semolina Flour and Instant Yeast
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Big and Bubbly Focaccia, Grilled Flatbread
10) Everyday Olive Oil Cake
This plush, moist olive oil cake is perfect for everything from a dinner party to a weeknight snack. Keep it classic, scenting the cake with orange zest and juice, or customize the base recipe with chopped chocolate, toasted nuts, or almond extract.
Get the recipe: Everyday Olive Oil Cake
Shop the recipe: Round Cake Pan
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Chocolate Olive Oil Cake, Olive Oil Chiffon Cake
11) Lemon Meringue Bars
Skip the time-consuming process of making a pie crust with these easy lemon bars. Simply prepare a buttery press-in crust, make the filling with condensed milk and lemon juice, then swoosh and toast your clouds of fluffy meringue. (No torch needed — the meringue browns directly in the oven!)
Get the recipe: Lemon Meringue Bars
Shop the recipe: 9" x 13" pan
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Lemon Chess Pie, Double Lemon Thumbprints
12) Beautiful Burger Buns
Upgrade grilling season with homemade burger buns — they’re worth it, trust us! Use these plush, slightly sweet buns for burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, or tofu sliders. (And let the 1,200+ five-star reviews speak for themselves.)
Get the recipe: Beautiful Burger Buns
Shop the recipe: Hamburger Bun and Mini Pie Pan
If you like this recipe, you may also like: No-Knead Cheese Burger Buns, Mini Picnic Rolls
13) White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
In our perfected version of this classic cookie, buttery macadamia nuts complement pockets of sweet white chocolate. These cookies come together in just one bowl, and yield cookies with crispy edges and delightfully chewy centers.
Get the recipe: White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
Shop the recipe: Nielsen Massey Vanilla Bean Paste
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Coconut and White Chocolate Brownies, Vanilla White Chocolate Drop Cookies
14) Pink Lemonade Cake
This recipe comes from our upcoming kids’ cookbook, Sweet & Salty. (Preorder your copy now so you can get it as soon as it comes out in September, and get some more recipe sneak peeks here!) The simple, super lemony loaf cake gets finished with a pretty pink raspberry glaze. Snack time just got sweeter.
Get the recipe: Pink Lemonade Cake
Shop the recipe: 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" Loaf Pan
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Strawberry Lemonade Bars, Raspberry-Lime Rickey Bars
15) Rhubarb-Ginger Coffee Cake
No part of precious rhubarb goes to waste in this coffee cake. The tart stalks are chopped and macerated to sweeten and soften them, then the tangy fruit and the accumulated juices are incorporated into the cake batter. Topped with a gingery streusel, this coffee cake is anything but boring.
Get the recipe: Rhubarb-Ginger Coffee Cake
Shop the recipe: 9" x 13" Pan
If you like this recipe, you may also like: Rhubarb-Filled Streusel Muffins, Roasted Rhubarb and Rye Scones
Stock up for spring baking with our seasonal favorites.
Cover photo (Swirled Rhubarb Bars) by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Sheila Jarnes.
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