Watch for this return of the Pillsbury Bake-Off when it is announced over the summer with a new theme, along with prize money amounts and contest rules.
Meanwhile, keep it here for 2023 updates as they are announced and be sure to check below for Insider tip on how to win!.
In a new twist for 2022, the traditional Pillsbury Bake-Off became "ovens off" for the summer -- when entrants were asked to start their grills, air fryers, slow cookers, or find other cool and ingenius ways to enter.
Last year's 51st Bake-Off awarded one Grand Prize Winner with a check for $50,000 plus an extra $50,000 to donate to an eligible charity.
The 2022 Pillsbury Bake-Off winner was Laurie McKenna from Fairfield, Ohio who wowed
the judges with her Greek-inspired recipe, Air Fryer Crescent Greek Nachos.
As always, a winning recipe should perfectly dovetail with the Pillsbury Bake-off Contest guidelines which call for using a variety of Pillsbury products in new and 'wow'-inducing ways!!
Just up ahead, check out more about the history of the Pillsbury Bake-Off together with insider tips, secrets on how to win, and related resources around the web ...
All about the Pillsbury Bake-Off
In the world of cooking contests, the Pillsbury Bake-Off is the big one.
For the first twenty years of Pillsbury Bake-Off history, the cooking contest was held once a year. Eventually, the contest came to be hosted bi-annually. By the 1990's, the Grand Prize had grown to a cool million dollars plus $50,000 in runners-up prizes.
Along with establishing their baking prowess, lucky winners were featured in a nationally televised event that featured such notable hosts as Bob Barker, Art Linkletter, Alex Trebek, Marie Osmond, Oprah Winfrey, and Martha Stewart.
But over the years, the Pillsbury Bake-Off had become a victim of its own success. Critics grumbled about too many rules and too many contestants. Plus, insiders were beginning to point to the factory-line feel to the once homey baking competition.
The end of the old format finally came with an official press release in 2016 as Pillsbury announced "we are currently assessing how this 67-year-old contest comes to life in a relevant way for a new generation." And a new recipe for the Pillsbury Bake-Off was born.
In 2017 the company revamped the format to include easier rules and a mobile app for submitting entries. Gone was the cool million dollars awarded to the grand prize winner, which was replaced with a check for $50,000, a variety of other prizes and national fame as the winner and new champion of the Pillsbury Bake-Off!
How to win the Pillsbury Bake-Off contest
The twist to the Pillsbury Bake Off is that contestants must use products from a list of products made by Pillsbury.
Past winners have made a wide variety of dishes from
cookies to pies to paninis. Remember that the back story to the recipe is all-important to the total score, so be sure to make it heartwarming, entertaining, and ultimately relatable to millions of other families coast to coast.
Another secret ingredient to a winning bake-off recipe? Avoid the overly-complicated in favor of 'ease and speed', say bake-off veterans.
Keep in mind that recipes are judged in four separate categories including taste, appearance, creativity, and crowd appeal. And maybe more importantly: Has it been done before?
Finalists who send in their recipes, and make it through the judging process, have their recipes hosted on the official
bake-off website where they are judged by visitors. Past winner and finalist recipes are also hosted on the website, along with detailed cooking instructions, ratings, reviews, and plenty of mouth watering pictures.
Will your recipe have a chance to win the grand prize in next year's 2023 Pillsbury Bake-Off? You'll never know unless you try.
So, hey, get baking and ... best of luck!
More
about the Pillsbury Bake-Off around the Web:
Pillsbury
Bake-Off - The official site featuring submission tips, entry form, FAQ, photos and featured recipes from contests past. .
Pillsbury Bake-Off - Wikipedia - Brief overview with a list
of every recipe that took the grand prize from 1942 to the present, with related references and resources.