34 easy baking recipes ready in under an hour

What could be better than scoffing a Terry’s Chocolate Orange? Adding it to a brownie batter, of course! Try our deliciously decadent recipe today.

White chocolate, tahini and pretzel cookies

Tahini gives a lovely sweet/salty kick to these crisp, grown-up cookies, while pretzels add extra crunch.

Classic vegan carrot cake

Invite your vegan friends for afternoon tea and bake this British classic, ready in just 1 hour! Our frosted carrot cake is made with a surprising (vegan) ingredient that guarantees a moist sponge every time.

Quick and easy chocolate fudge cake

Need to bake a last-minute birthday cake? Our chocolate fudge cake recipe is super quick and easy to make so it is perfect for a simple yet decadent cake for a special occasion. You don’t need to use a chocolate with a high % for this, just standard dark chocolate is fine.

Vegan lemon loaf cake

A delicate, zingy vegan lemon cake made without eggs, milk or butter! The key to that lemony tang is a decent lemon extract (we use Nielsen-Massey), ready in just 1 hour!

Quick Victoria sponge

A classic, simple Victoria sponge is one of the recipes that you should have in your repertoire as it’s ready in under an hour. This traditional sponge cake uses an all-in-one method making it quick, easy and the perfect party cake. Once you master this, bake sales and afternoon tea will no longer be daunting, and making variations will be easy. Try our easy cake recipes here…

Portuguese custard tarts

Portuguese custard tarts made easy with with step-by-step help from the olive test kitchen. Use ready-made puff pastry to make this recipe ready in under an hour. Dusting the pastry with icing sugar gives the tarts a golden, caramelised crust when cooked.

Ultimate chocolate fudge cake

Enjoy a slice of heaven in under an hour! Our decadent chocolate cake is covered in silky smooth frosting and we teach you how to create dark chocolate curls for an artisan finish.

Cheat’s ginger, salted caramel and rum cake

Transform simple ginger loaf into this boozy cake in just 25 minutes by soaking in rum and caramel then layering with boozy caramel cream.

Quick cinnamon buns

Check out our easiest ever cinnamon buns that are quick to make because they use ready made puff pastry. Bake and enjoy now or save for a weekend breakfast – just make sure to eat them warm from the oven.

Easy chocolate brownies

A classic, gooey chocolate brownie recipe ready in forty five minutes that can be ramped up with added ingredients. We’ve included three suggestions of additional ingredients for more opportunities (excuses) to bake this wonder.

Apricot and white chocolate cookies

These apricot and white chocolate cookies are really quick and easy to make but taste delicious. They are ideal for a bit of baking and only take 40 minutes. Try our biscuit recipes here.

Check out these moreish blondies with salted caramel and pears. Whip these up in under an hour for an easy treat to serve friends or family.

Cherry bakewell tart

Our cherry bakewell tart is an exceedingly good tart – serve with a cup of builder’s tea for a proper English teatime treat, perfect to serve when guests come for tea last minute.

Quick coffee cake

Classic coffee cake is one of our all-time favourite afternoon treats. In this recipe, we’ve given it a modern twist to include deliciously crunchy pecan brittle. It makes a quick baking recipe that’s really impressive.

Croissant cinnamon buns

Check out these easy-to-make, moreish cinnamon buns. This simple cinnamon bun recipe uses Jus-Rol croissant dough making them extra flaky and extra crispy.

Jammie Dodger blondies

Check out these super easy super fun blondies using a children’s classic biscuit, Jammie Dodgers. These fudgy moreish white chocolate blondies are a great alternative to a traditional chocolate brownie, and will go perfectly with your afternoon cuppa.

Chocolate chip cookie pizza

This chocolate chip cookie pizza is super easy to make and great fun with all the family. Crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside, this giant cookie makes for a great alternative to a birthday cake that’s quick to make.

Salted caramel shortbread

Sweet and salty flavours are an ongoing trend and this shortbread recipe is the perfect way to blend these flavours. It’s quick and easy baking and will please a crowd. Find our quick and easy traybake recipes here…

Quick apricot and hazelnut pastries

Check out these flaky apricot pastries with creamy fresh custard and sweet apricots, the perfect weekend breakfast treat ready in 35 minutes.

Texas sheet cake

Our birthday traybake works brilliantly as a base for any kid’s birthday cake. It’s actually a ‘sheet cake’, a standard baking treat in Texas. We’ve added a chocolate topping here, but you could it personalise it any way you like. Try our epic birthday cake recipes for everyone here…

Jaffa cupcakes

Check out these fun and easy orange cupcakes with silky smooth chocolate frosting and old school Jaffa cakes. Make these cupcakes for an impressive alternative to a showstopping birthday cake.

Easy white chocolate fudge cake

Our white chocolate fudge cake is easy to make, looks fantastic and is guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser.

Peanut butter and jelly scones

Peanut butter and jelly is a classic American flavour combination. This combined with an English classic to make peanut butter and jelly scones is sure to be a new favourite.

Sticky honey cakes

This recipe for sticky honey cakes is really easy to make and they look great. The combination of honey, lemon and ginger works really well together and they’re surprisingly low-cal.

Ginger shortbreads

Try our easy shortbread recipe for triple ginger biscuits. These crumbly ginger shortbreads are perfect for elevenses with a hot cup of tea or alternatively with strawberries and cream for dessert.

Salted maple brownies

How do you make brownies even better? Add sea salt and maple of course! This recipe is really easy to make but looks impressive and delivers big flavours. Our top brownie recipes are here

Jam tarts

This is a perfect tea-time recipe for the whole family. Recruit the kids to help you dolloping jam into the delicate pastry cases and use different jams to get a multicoloured plateful.

Piña colada tarts

Add a Caribbean twist to your baking with pineapple, coconut and rum flavours of piña colada. Use ready-baked tarts if you want to make this dessert even easier.

Peanut butter thumbprint cookies

These peanut butter thumbprint cookies use the classic peanut butter and jam (or jelly) combination in a fun new way. They’re best eaten the day they’re made.

Bourbon biscuit brownies

What’s better than a chocolate Bourbon biscuit? Chocolate Bourbon brownies! This is one of our favourite recipes of 2016 – trust us, you’ll need to make a double batch.

Frosted lemon fairy cakes

These cute little lemon cupcakes would work equally well for a kids party, baby shower or just a treat to serve with afternoon tea. If you are short of time make the sponges ahead and store in an airtight box then ice on the day.

Cobnut and chocolate shortbreads

Chocolate shortbreads, our favourite biscuit already, but add cobnuts (part of the hazelnut family) and your teatime treat just got a whole lot better.

Coffee and walnut cupcakes

Coffee and walnut cake is a teatime favourite. With this recipe, we’ve given it a modern makeover by giving it the cupcake treatment. Pipe the icing sky-high for maximum cake drama.

Custard cream blondies

Ever thought of adding custard creams to your blondie mixture? It’s genius! Have a go this weekend and let us know how you get on (@olivemagazine).

Salted peanut and honeycomb rocky road

These salted peanut and honeycomb rocky road squares are a great twist on a classic and will please everyone. Plus, they’re really easy and only take 15 minutes of work.

Classic banana bread