The Pillsbury Bake-Off is an American cooking contest, first run by the Pillsbury Company in 1949. It has been called "one of the most successful promotions in the history of the modern food business".
The first contest was held in 1949 as the Grand National Recipe and Baking Contest and hosted in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.[1] One hundred entries were selected for the final competition (97 women and 3 men). Pillsbury paid all expenses to fly in and host the contestants. At the awards banquet, Eleanor Roosevelt presented the winner with a $50,000 check. Every contestant received at least $100 for their recipe and took home the G.E. electric stove used in the competition. All of the recipes were published in a booklet distributed to grocers nationwide.[2] The only required ingredient in the early contests was Pillsbury's BEST Flour.[3]
The contest was held annually from 1949–1976, 2013 to 2014, and since 2017; from 1978 to 2012, the contest was held biennially.[4] There was no contest in 1965 because the contest was moved from October to February.[5] There was no contest in 2015, 2016 nor 2020.[6] The contest reverted to an annual contest in 2013 and 2014, after the previous 18 contests were held in even-numbered years. Although the 2021 contest was held virtually, the Food Network aired the contest from New York, NY.
From 1996 to 2014, the grand prize was $1,000,000. From 2018 to 2019, the grand prize was $50,000 plus a kitchen makeover from GE Appliances. Occasionally, there has been a male category winner (1978, 1990, 1992, and 2002). The only male champion was Kurt Wait of Redwood City, California, who won in 1996; that year, 14 of the 100 finalists were men.
In 2014, the contest added eight additional "Sponsor Awards" for a prize of $5,000 each.[7] Categories and winners included:[8]
The 2022 edition was the first in the competition's history in which the use of traditional ovens was prohibited; entrants were allowed to use any other cooking appliance. It was promoted as the "Pillsbury Ovens Off Bake-Off Contest".[9]
| Year | Recipe | Grand Prize Winner/City | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | No-Knead Water-Rising Twists | Theodora Smafield (Detroit, MI) | |
| 1950 | Orange Kiss-Me Cake | Lily Wuebel (Redwood City, CA) | |
| 1951 | Starlight Double-Delight Cake | Helen Weston (La Jolla, CA) | |
| 1952 | Snappy Turtle Cookies | Beatrice Harlib (Chicago, IL) | |
| 1953 | "My Inspiration" Cake | Lois Kanago (Weber, SD) | |
| 1954 | Open Sesame Pie | Dorothy Koteen (Washington, DC) | |
| 1955 | Ring-A-Lings | Bertha Jorgensen (Portland, OR) | |
| 1956 | California Casserole | Hildreth H. Hatheway (Santa Barbara, CA) | |
| 1957 | Accordion Treats | Gerda Roderer (Berkeley, CA) | |
| 1958 | Spicy Apple Twists | Dorothy DeVault (Delaware, OH) | |
| 1959 | Mardi Gras Party Cake | Eunice G. Surles (Lake Charles, LA) | |
| 1960 | Dilly Casserole Bread | Leona Schnuelle (Crab Orchard, NE) | |
| 1961 | Candy Bar Cookies | Alice Reese (Minneapolis, MN) | |
| 1962 | Apple Pie '63 | Julia Smogor (South Bend, IN) | |
| 1963 | Hungry Boys' Casserole | Mira Walilko (Detroit, MI) | |
| 1964 | Peacheesy Pie | Janis Boykin (Melbourne, FL) | |
| 1966 | Golden Gate Snack Bread | Mari Petrelli (Las Vegas, NV) | |
| 1967 | Muffin Mix Buffet Bread | Maxine Bullock (Topeka, KS) | |
| 1968 | Buttercream Pound Cake | Phyllis Lidert (Oak Lawn, IL) | |
| 1969 | Magic Marshmallow Crescent Puffs | Edna M. Walker (Hopkins, MN) | |
| 1970 | Onion Lover's Twist | Nan Robb (Huachuca City, AZ) | |
| 1971 | Pecan Pie Surprise Bars | Pearl Hall (Snohomish, WA) | |
| 1972 | Streusel Spice Cake | Rose DeDominicis (Verona, PA) | |
| Quick 'n Chewy Crescent Bars | Isabelle Collins (Elk River, MN) | ||
| 1973 | Quick Crescent Pecan Pie Bars | Mrs. Jerome Flieller, Jr. (Floresville, TX) | |
| Banana Crunch Cake | Mrs. Ronald L. Brooks (Salisbury, MD) | ||
| 1974 | Chocolate Cherry Bars | Francis I. Jerzak (Porter, MN) | |
| Savoury Crescent Chicken Squares | Doris Castle (River Forest, IL) | ||
| 1975 | Easy Crescent Danish Rolls | Barbara S. Gibson (Fort Wayne, IN) | |
| Sour Cream Apple Squares | Luella Maki (Ely, MN) | ||
| 1976 | Crescent Caramel Swirl | Lois A. Groves (Greenwood Village, CO) | |
| Whole Wheat Raisin Loaf | Lenora H. Smith (Baton Rouge, LA) | ||
| 1978 | Nutty Graham Picnic Cake | Esther Tomich (San Pedro, CA) | |
| Chick-&-Broccoli Pot Pies | Linda Mowery (Worthington, IN) | ||
| 1980 | Italian Zucchini Crescent Pie | Millicent (Caplan) Nathan (Boca Ratón, FL) | |
| 1982 | Almond-Filled Cookie Cake | Elizabeth Meijer (Tucson, AZ) | |
| 1984 | Country Apple Coffee Cake | Susan F. Porubcan (Jefferson, WI) | |
| 1986 | Apple Nut Lattice Tart | Mary Lou Warren (Medford, OR) | |
| 1988 | Chocolate Praline Layer Cake | Julie (Konecne) Bengtson (Bemidji, MN) | |
| 1990 | Blueberry-Poppy Seed Brunch Cake | Linda Rahman (Petunia, CA) | |
| 1992 | Pennsylvania Dutch Cake and Custard Pie | Gladys Fulton (Summerville, SC) | |
| 1994 | Fudgy Bonbons | Mary A. Tyndall (Whiteville, NC) | |
| 1996 | Macadamia Fudge Torte | Kurt Wait (Redwood City, CA) | |
| 1998 | Salsa Couscous Chicken | Ellie Mathews (Port Angeles, WA) | |
| 2000 | Cream Cheese Brownie Pie | Roberta Sonefeld (Hopkins, SC) | |
| 2002 | Chicken Florentine Panini | Denise J. Yennie (Nashville, TN) | |
| 2004 | Oats 'n Honey Granola Pie | Suzanne Conrad (Findlay, OH) | |
| 2006 | Baked Chicken and Spinach Stuffing | Anna Ginsberg (Austin, TX) | |
| 2008 | Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies | Carolyn Gurtz (Gaithersburg, MD) | |
| 2010 | Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups | Sue Compton (Delanco, NJ) | |
| 2012 | Pumpkin Ravioli with Salted Caramel Whipped Cream | Christina Verrelli (Devon, PA) | |
| 2013 | Loaded Potato Pinwheels | Glori Spriggs (Henderson, NV) | |
| 2014 | Peanutty Pie Crust Clusters | Beth Royals (Richmond, VA) | |
| 2018 | Bejeweled Cranberry-Orange Rolls | Amy Nelson (Zionville, NC) | |
| 2019 | Dublin Cheeseboard-Stuffed Appetizer Bread | Melissa Jollands (Hudsonville, MI) | |
| 2021 | Sugar Cookie Skillet Pancake | Julie Holden (Austin, TX) | |
| 2022 | Air Fryer Greek Crescent Nachos | Laurie McKenna (Fairfield, OH) |
| Year(s) | Host | Network | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1949–1957 | Arthur Godfrey | CBS | |
| 1958–68 | Art Linkletter | ||
| 1970–84 | Bob Barker | Placed in the same hour as a half-hour episode of The Price is Right (except 1970–1972, when Bob Barker was only hosting Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants for the CBS Network prior to his Price Is Right days) | |
| 1986–88 | Gary Collins | ||
| Mary Ann Mobley | |||
| 1990–1992 | Willard Scott | Willard Scott became the only NBC contracted person to host the Bake-Off for CBS in 1990. | |
| 1994–1998 | Alex Trebek | This was Alex Trebek's second time on the CBS network, he was last seen on the Network 17 years earlier hosting the Goodson-Todman Game Show Double Dare. | |
| 2000 | Phylicia Rashad | The first woman to host. | |
| 2002 | Marie Osmond | ||
| 2004 | Not aired | N/A | Dick Clark hosted the bake-off in 2004, but it wasn't shown on television. |
| 2006 | |||
| 2008 | Keegan Gerhard | Food Network | Aired as an episode of Food Network Challenge |
| 2010 | Oprah Winfrey | Syndication | Winner was announced on The Oprah Winfrey Show |
| 2012 | Martha Stewart | Hallmark Channel | Winner was announced on The Martha Stewart Show |
| 2013 | Padma Lakshmi | Syndication | Winner was announced on The Queen Latifah Show |
| 2014 | Carla Hall | ABC | Winner was announced on The Chew |
| 2018 | Ree Drummond | Food Network | Winners are announced on the Food Network television show The Kitchen |
| 2019 | Sunny Anderson and Jeff Mauro | ||
| 2021 | TBA; virtual |