When we did them around here the popular things were the comfort sweets. Brownies, chocolate chip cookies, banana (or other sweet) bread, peanut butter cookies were probably the most popular. Most any bar cookie went well.

Real homemade rice crispy treats always go well. If you are starting the sale before noon, some cinnamon buns and scones would be good to have. If any of your neighbors can make cakes and pies, loaf pan sized pound cake would be good as well as something like the butter tarts I sold at the farmers' market. They are pretty easy too; could be made with dairy case pie crust. You could make them a day ahead and keep chilled until the day of the sale.

Scotcheroos are always a winner:

1 cup white sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups crispy rice cereal
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips

1. Butter a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and corn syrup, and bring to a rolling boil. Remove from heat, and stir in peanut butter. Mix in the rice cereal until evenly coated. Press the mixture into the prepared pan.
3. In a glass bowl in the microwave, melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips, stirring occasionally until smooth and well blended. Spread over the top of the bars. Chill until set, then cut into bars.

Here is a link that might be useful: link to butter tarts recipe

Things that must be eaten right away are not a great choice in my view. Things like iced cupcakes look great but aren't big sellers unless the buyer wants them for that day.

Stick with breads and sweet baked goods that freeze well.

Banana bread is always a good bet. So is carrot cake made into a bread. People can eat some, or all, right away and freeze the rest. Muffins are a good choice as well.

A couple of great recipes that come to mind are Nancy's Banana Bread, Linda's carrot cake ( minus the frosting) and Lemon Sour Cream Cake which I picked up from FOAS but I'm thinking he wasn't the original poster.

Anyhow....got run right now but will post recipes later.

I buy a lot of goodies at a local annual bake sale, and I like getting a pack of 4 nice big cookies for dessert for the two of us, and the $$ markup for the seller is quite nice. This group will also sell some more unusual cookies, usually in packs of 4 or 6, depending on the cookie size. There are some lemon bars and some bourbon balls that are delicious. And they also sell whole bundt cakes, which freeze well, too. Usually not iced, sometimes a glaze. I pick up a couple for Jim to take to the office. I'll buy banana bread or the like if they have it, too.

I am a better customer than seller, obviously!

I can tell you this. I rarely if ever buy anything at bake sales but purchased a package of cinnamon rolls at one recently. I mean to tell you they were huge and wonderful looking. Turns out they really tasted great as well. Also myself I'm incredibly fond of homemade granola bars and a good one is difficult to find.

Best of luck to you.

Kate

What a nice thing for your neighborhood to do. When I had Girl Scouts we did lots of bake sales. Homemade bread, muffin and brownie mixes went really well. We got qt. freezer bags with twist ties and combined all the dry ingredients for a 1 lb. loaf(with little tinfoil packets of yeast for yeast breads). The girls made tags with directions for abm and oven. They sold like hotcakes, but maybe that was the cute 10 year-olds' sales pitches, hehe.

The other thing that sells well here is homemade jam or apple butter, if you happen to be a canner.

Here muffins sell well in the morning, along with scones. Quick breads like blueberry/lemon, chocolate, banana, all sell well, as so cookies packaged 4 or 6 to a package, and homemade fudge. Everyone seems to like brownies and I usually just bake plain white bread or honey wheat and those loaves or dinner rolls seem to be among the first to go, I guess people will make cupcakes with a mix and some canned frosting, but they won't take the time it requires to bake a loaf of bread. the butterflake rolls are good and easy and sell well:

Butterflake Rolls
2 packages active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
6 to 6 1/2 cups flour
1 egg
1/2 cup shortening (use butter)
1/2 cup butter, softened.
In mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, salt and 2 cups flour. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add egg and shortening, mix well, stir in enough flour to form a soft dough. Do not knead. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, punch dough down and divide into 4 portions. Roll each portion into a 14 x 12 inch rectangle, spread 2 tbls butter over dough. Fold in half lengthwise and cut into 12 strips. Tie each strip into a knot, tuck and pinch ends under. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Yield: 4 dozen

Annie

There is a baked goods booth at one of the farmers markets here that sells an incredible number of bagels. They are good, I've tried them.

Bagels are very profitable.

Nancy

Lemon Bars are always among the first to go here.
This is the recipe I use the most often:

Lemon Bars

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
Combine the flour, 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar, and butter.
Pat dough into prepared pan.
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until slightly golden.
While the crust is baking, whisk together eggs, white sugar, flour, and lemon juice until frothy.
Pour this lemon mixture over the hot crust.
Return to the preheated oven for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, or until light golden brown.
Cool on a wire rack. Dust the top with confectioners' sugar.
Cut into squares.

Rusty

Wow! These all sound great. Thanks for the recipes and suggestions...I knew I could count on you to come up with some great ideas.