Sarah Heend, Recipe Tester

A list of all the recipes Sarah Heend has tested.

A no-knead Italian bread loaf, topped with sesame seeds on a black floured surface with a bowl of oil, brush, bowl of sesame seeds, and an eggshell lying beside it.

No-Knead Italian Bread

No-knead Italian bread that’s rustic, crusty, and easy as heck. The hardest part is the waiting, so plan accordingly. But believe us when we tell you that it’s absolutely worth it.

A brown and white pottery bowl filled with bucatini all'Amatriciana, topped with pecorino and parsley.

Bucatini all’Amatriciana

All’Amatriciana—go on, roll that “r” like they do in Italy—means a spicy pasta sauce of tomatoes and pancetta or bacon. Prego.

A glass bottle filled with homemade lemonade syrup, a bowl of lemons, and two glasses on a wooden table.

Homemade Lemonade

Pucker up, cuz you’re going to want to sip the bejeebers out of this ridiculously easy, sweetly tart lemonade. Wowza.

A stone bowl of mint pesto with a knife on top on a metal sheet pan

Mint Pesto

A novel take on the classic. Mint leaves, Parmesan, lemon, garlic, and peanuts (yes, peanuts), are blitzed in a food processor. It’s great on lamb, chicken, salmon, and pasta.

8 birthday cake cookies covered in white frosting and colored sprinkles

Birthday Cake Cookies

All the good stuff from a birthday cake–sprinkles and a creamy buttery frosting–incorporated into soft, tender sugar cookies. That’s something to celebrate.

A round flourless almond cake on a wooden baking paddle with almonds scattered around it

Flourless Almond Cake

A French classic that’s crisp and crunchy on the outside, dense and chewy on the inside, and flourless through and through.

A breakfast pizza topped with egg, bacon, and cheese.

Breakfast Pizza

Baked pizza crust with all the makings of a proper breakfast on top. Seems like a pretty darn good reason to get out of bed to us.

A white baking dish with pieces of butter baked fish seasoned with salt and pepper.

Butter Baked Fish

A weeknight winner with three ingredients—cod, butter, and seasoning—that’s ready in no time at all. Pretty nifty, huh?

Tray of classic dinner rolls glazed with butter, bowl of melted butter with a brush

Classic Dinner Rolls

Practically instant gratification with its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it rise and its straightforward mixing method. And oooooh the taste!

A square of Passover apple cake on a green plate.

Passover Apple Cake

This Passover classic is so memorable you may just find yourself making it all year round. Talk about a godsend.

An unsliced loaf of brown soda bread with a knife resting beside it

Brown Soda Bread

We guarantee you’re going to feel Irish when you sit down and savor a slice of this brown soda bread. Consider it a borrowed Irish birthright.

A cast-iron skillet filled with a cooked sweet potato cornbread with two pats of butter on top and a dish of butter pats beside it.

Sweet Potato Cornbread

We could blather on and on about this surprising (and stealthy healthy) riff on a Southern classic that everyone is swearing is the best cornbread they’ve ever had.

A tin cup on its side with homemade maple sugar spilling out

How to Make Maple Sugar

Making maple sugar at home isn’t difficult or tricky or fearsome. It’s actually crazy simple. And ridiculously tasty. And paleo-friendly.

Baking powder biscuits piled on a white square plate.

Baking Powder Biscuits

These baking powder biscuits morph boring pantry staples into stunningly tender, buttery, pull-apart biscuits that scream to be eaten hot from the oven.

Three pretzel rolls on a sheet of parchment sprinkled with coarse salt.

Pretzel Rolls

You’re gonna be astounded at just how easy pretzel rolls are to make at home. And yes, they taste like the real authentic German deal.

Nine homemade pita bread rounds stacked on a wire rack.

Homemade Pita Bread

Perhaps the best homeschooling you can bring about in the kitchen is homemade pita dough puffing in minutes. Here’s how to make that magic happen.

An apple coffee cake with one slice cut from it on a wire cooling rack with parchment underneath.

Apple Coffee Cake

Elegant enough for company, simple enough for every day, and versatile enough for breakfast and midnight snack and pretty much every moment in between.

A glazed pumpkin pound cake on a plate--a pumpkin Bundt cake with a milk-sugar poured glaze

Glazed Pumpkin Pound Cake

If you’ve been thinking maybe you’re done with pumpkin everything, wait’ll you experience this aromatic pound cake that boasts the perfect balance of sweet and spice.

A white bowl filled with whole berry cranberry sauce with a silver spoon resting in it.

Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

This cranberry sauce veers on the tart side of things, but pleasingly so, with just enough sugar to tease you into wanting it all year long.