Believe it or not, the answer is relatively simple: bake what you like to eat.

For most bake sale customers, this will be an impulse buy. With 9 bakes sale locations at local grocery stores, restaurants, and bakeries, food will be on people’s minds, whether they are shopping for Memorial Day weekend festivities, hosting out-of-town guests for graduation, or just out and about enjoying a meal. They might see a coffee cake that would be great for feeding a crowd the next morning, a pie to serve after dinner, or an irresistible cookie, cupcake, or brownie for immediate gratification. A range of serving sizes is a good thing, so don’t be afraid to donate a whole cake if that’s your thing. Cute, decorated items have a broad appeal, especially for kids, but don’t feel like it’s necessary to leave your comfort zone. In fact, baking is often all about comfort. An adorably decorated cupcake will sell, and so will a classic chocolate chip cookie. If you adhere to any special diets like vegan or gluten-free, stick to that, someone else will be interested as well. Just ask yourself what you would be likely to buy, and your answer to the question of what to bake will follow.

To get your creative juices flowing, here are some photos of items that have been donated to previous Austin Bakes bake sale.

If you’d still like to muse a little more, here are some links that might be useful:

• The Secrets of Bake Sale Best Sellers The Kitchen
• 6 Favorite Bake Sale Goodies Real Simple
• Bake Sale Treats Martha Stewart
• 31 Recipes for Easy Bake Sale Goodies Delish
• Austin Bakes Pinterest Board for Bake Sale Recipe Ideas

Whatever you decide, sign up today so that we can begin gauging how much we will have available at each location (just put “TBD” if you’re undecided, we’re okay with that, but it helps us to know that people are planning to bring something). Just click the link for any of the locations below to go to our sign-up sheets:

• DOWNTOWN  Whole Foods Market Lamar, 525 N Lamar Blvd.
• CENTRAL  Stiles Switch BBQ & Brew, 6610 N Lamar Blvd.
• NORTH  Whole Foods Market Gateway, 9607 Research Blvd.
• SOUTH  Whole Foods Market Arbor Trails, 4301 W William Cannon Dr.
• SOUTH  Crema Bakery & Cafe, 9001 Brodie Lane
• SOUTH  Whip In, 1950 IH35 South
• EAST  Micklethwait Craft Meats,1309 Rosewood Ave, Austin, TX 78702 ***Due to rain, there will not be tables set up, but you can still purchase baked goods from the trailer.***
• EAST  Springdale Farm, 755 Springdale Rd.
• WEST  Whole Foods Market Bee Cave, 12601 Hill Country Blvd.

And a couple of important reminders… don’t forget that according to Texas Cottage Food law, only non-perishable items may be sold at a bake sale (no cheesecake and the like), and they must be individually wrapped. Also, be sure to shop Make It Sweet at 9070 Research Blvd., Set 203, Austin, TX 78758 for your ingredients and supplies. Mention “Austin Bakes” as you check out, and they’ll donate 25% of the sale to Austin Bakes for Nepal! The offer is good through Friday, May 22.

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