Church Bake Sale 2014

12 years ago

Our church bake sale is this weekend, and instead of making my usual 80 + items, I scaled it back (I'm recovering from a bit of surgery). The only smaller items I made in bulk were 35 snack bags using different kinds of popcorn with regular and peanut M&Ms, peanuts, and pretzels.

Instead of making individually-wrapped chocolate dipped pretzel rods rolled in different things as I had in the past, I made some candy that was white chocolate honey roasted peanut clusters with Himalayan sea salt sprinkled over them. YUM!

I also made a couple of 8" x 8" aluminum pans of "doctored up" boxed cake mixes, like spice cake, triple chocolate cake, lemon cake, and sour cream raspberry cake, and two pans of scratch-made brownies with homemade ganache.

Since so many people are allergic or sensitive to things, I made a couple of LARGE signs on bright orange paper that said:
NOTE & WARNING:
...MAY CONTAIN PEANUTS, CHOCOLATE, EGGS, WHEAT PRODUCTS and OTHER ITEMS THAT MAY CAUSE AN ALLERGIC REACTION TO SENSITIVE & OTHER INDIVIDUALS.
EAT AT YOUR OWN RISK.

AnnieD's post about perhaps serving rocks to people with dietary issues (on her thread about alternative to pie crust) sure made me smile, and nod my head in understanding!

My friend who organizes this every year commented that we didn't get as many baked goods as were expected and volunteered. She's going to call me later today and let me know how we did with the sales.

Smiles,
Sooz

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Comments (6)

grainlady_ks
12 years ago
If you are looking for a new idea.... Our neighbors attend a little "country" church just outside of town that has a very small congregation. They have a pancake feed the first Saturday of every month that became their big money maker when the bake sales began to fizzle out. They draw people from a 3-county region and are especially busy during hunting season with a huge number of hunters and they open at 5 a.m. during hunting season to accommodate them. They charge $1 per pancake (children 10 and under free) and a dollar for coffee and juice (tax included - just to make it easy).

They serve plain pancakes made with bleached all-purpose flour, a multi-grain mix (and a heartier pancake), and now they have added gluten-free pancakes (made with Pamala's Gluten-Free Baking and Pancake Mix) and have had even more business by adding the gluten-free pancakes.

They still have a table of other baked goods, but the pancakes are their "golden goose".

-Grainlady
plllog
12 years ago
I leave a donation when the school has a bake sale, but I don't want the baked goods. I have a, ahem, "primitive" vase from when they sold pupils' artwork. I think it was made by a primary kid, and pretty sophisticated for the age, if something of an eyesore with context removed. I only ever get in sweets for company, however.

Maybe an idea for the future could be sweets and snacks? Some traditional baking, but some kale chips, dried and seasoned mushrooms, and that kind of thing? The "healthy" snacks that are a bother to make but delicious.
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Peanut Butter Brownies with Chocolate Frosting. Yum! Peanut Butter Brownies 1 cup peanut butter 2/3 cup margarine or butter 1 1/3 cup sugar 1 cup packed brown sugar 4 eggs 2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt Chocolate Frosting Grease 9x13 pan. Mix peanut butter & margarine till creamy. Gradually add sugars, beating until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well mixed. Set aside. In another bowl, stir together flower, baking powder and salt. Gradually stir flour mixture into peanut butter mixture until well blended. Bake at 350 Â° for 35 to 40 minutes. (Until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.) Cool and frost with chocolate frosting. (I use the ready-made frosting found in the cake section of the store.)
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I found out the painful way that the cupcakes that are lovingly baked and piped and decorated will sit there much longer than the 10 minute homemade rice krispy treats. :) Here's a salted and browned butter version of rice krispy treats that are incredibly popular where I am: Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats (Smitten Kitchen) Makes 16 2-inch squares or 32 1- x 2-inch small bars 4 ounces (1/4 pound or 1 stick) unsalted butter, plus extra for the pan 1 10-ounce bag marshmallows Heaping 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal (about half a 12-ounce box) Butter (or coat with non-stick spray) an 8-inch square cake pan with 2-inch sides. In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Don't take your eyes off the pot as while you may be impatient for it to start browning, the period between the time the butter begins to take on color and the point where it burns is often less than a minute. As soon as the butter takes on a nutty color, turn the heat off and stir in the marshmallows. The residual heat from the melted butter should be enough to melt them, but if it is not, turn it back on low until the marshmallows are smooth. Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the salt and cereal together. Quickly spread into prepared pan. I liked to use a piece of waxed or parchment paper that I've sprayed with oil to press it firmly and evenly into the edges and corners, though a silicon spatula works almost as well. Let cool, cut into squares and get ready to make new friends. Here is a link that might be useful: Smitten Kitchen Salted Brown Butter Crispy Treats
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We just had a bake sale and we charged 50c for 2 muffins, or 2 cupcakes, 5.00 homemade Angel Food cake, 1.00 for 6 cookies etc. If you have a school with a PTA ask them. You have to price reasonably or else you won't sell. Remember these are all donated free so it is all profit. Don't forget to get change ahead of time I had 50 in ones and some 10 & 5. I had a roll of quarters. Price everything even. If someone hands you a large bill, 50 or 100, just ask for something smaller. Even at the beginning people will give you 20's and if the sale is small, do not be afraid to ask for smaller bills. Keep it in a cash box, and have someone stay with the money all the time, away from the public, but not where you have to turn your back. Seperate table etc.Make sure you do have a helper or more.Do not try to sell, make change and watch the items. All items should be wrapped or in plastic bags. Have a supply of grocery bags or small boxes to put the items in. Price everything, Sell what is posted, no changing unless it is right at the end with just a few items less. Brownies sell for 6 for about 2.00. No free samples.
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sooz
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi, Grainlady, that's a great idea about pancakes, but one of the other clubs/associations always does the pancake breakfasts.

Plllog, that's a good idea about sweets and (healthy) snacks...the congregation, who didn't exactly embrace the no-preservatives doggie biscuits from last year, might be in shock seeing kale chips and mushrooms etc! lol ! I think trail mix might be as "out there" as they'd go! :O)

Still, it was nice to be a participant and see all the different things people baked.

This post was edited by sooz on Sun, Jun 8, 14 at 15:06
bcskye
12 years ago
They call me the baker at my church. I started out making tons of fruit breads in both the regular sized and smaller sized aluminum pans. They sold out so fast it made our heads swim. Most people were only making cookies and a few cupcakes. I did the summer tort in potpie sized pans and they went over very well. I try to do two sizes in whatever I make because we have a large number of single elderly people in our parish. I have made some coffee cakes, too. I also try to make a nice selection of sugar free items as well because so many people are diabetic. Last time I made a batch of Peanut Butter Buddies for the pups (which can be eaten by humans, too) and they sold out almost immediately. I can't wait for the first bake sale of this year.

Madonna
sooz
Original Author
12 years ago
Hi, Madonna,

Glad to read you've had really great success with the bake sales at your church! Your summer tort sounds like a great idea--if you don't mind sharing the recipe, or pointing me to a website with a good T&T recipe, I'd appreciate it!

While I'm picking your brain, do you have any sugar free recipes that taste good? One of my diabetic acquaintances used to make sugar free chocolate chip cookies every year for Christmas, and I'd try them but they were ghastly, so I always said I was going to save them for after dinner!

The coffee cakes didn't seem to go over well. I think small cheesecakes would sell really well, but since we don't have refrigeration available, they'd have to be kept in an igloo on ice, and after the 5 PM Mass on Saturday, brought back again the next day for the Masses on Sunday.

Here's a photo of the dog yummies I made last year--I didn't set the prices, but maybe they were priced too high? They were very very dry if a person wanted to munch on them! I used rubber stamps for the dog, the heart, and the paw print.

Smiles,
Sooz
plllog
12 years ago
I don't know if trendy items would sell well for you. The current vogue are things like cupcakes, whoopie pies, French macarons, and anything tiny: mini-brownies, mini-muffins, mini-cheesecakes, mini-cupcakes, etc.

Maybe the real trick is to get groups together to bake at the home of a good baker, so the others can learn?

Church Bake Sale 2014

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Church Bake Sale 2014

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soozOriginal Author

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