Claire Saffitz Project: The Power Ranking

 Over the course of the next couple of years, I'm committed to making every recipe out of Claire Saffitz's cookbooks, Dessert Person and What's for Dessert. Here you'll find all the recipes I've made so far ranked in order from my favorite to least favorite. This list will be regularly updated as I make and review more recipes, and keep in mind that this is just my personal preference - I reserve every right to be as subjective as I want (sorry, meringue) because this is my ranking! If you'd like to read more about what I thought of a specific recipe, I've linked my more detailed reviews as well.

1. Salted Halvah Blondies

Although I underbaked them slightly, I feel confident in saying that these are the best blondies I've ever had. The inclusion of three different forms of sesame - tahini, halvah, and sesame seeds - give them a delicious nuttiness that keeps them from being overpoweringly sweet. For how easy these are to make, they feel very fancy and impressive, and the payoff is huge. 10/10

2. Malted & Salted Caramel Pudding

I've always been slightly prejudiced against non-baked desserts, and wrongly so. This was the first stovetop recipe I made for the project, and I loved its silky texture and toasty salted caramel flavor. The addition of whipped cream and crumbled Biscoff cookies elevate it into "special" territory, but it's delicious straight out of the bowl as well. 10/10

3. Malted "Forever" Brownies

I tend to be skeptical whenever someone claims to have invented the "perfect" version of something as simple as a brownie, but this recipe really exceeded my expectations. It produced a delightfully dense, fudgy, and chewy brownie with a pure chocolate flavor. The addition of malted milk powder differentiates this recipe from others, but it doesn't make or break the brownie in my opinion. 9/10

4. Cinnamon Sugar Palmiers

Palmiers are probably one of the most crowd-pleasing cookies out there - I don't know anyone who would turn down a caramelized piece of shatteringly flaky puff pastry. Claire's version is flavored with cinnamon and demerara sugar and can be made with either rough puff pastry or pie dough. This is a simple, not-too-sweet but delicious cookie that's perfect for any time of day and looks a lot more difficult to make than it actually is. 9/10

5. Crystallized Meyer Lemon Bundt Cake

In my opinion, there are few things more happiness-inducing in life than a lemon drizzle cake. This version, which uses a very Californian/Mediterranean pairing of floral Meyer lemons and olive oil, has an extraordinarily light, tender crumb and delicate, perfumey lemon flavor. It's a perfect dose of sunshine during the depressing winter months. 9/10

6. Chocolate Coupes

This is a dessert that, in theory, is so simple I'd usually thumb my nose at it. But it's just too delicious. It's a very good silky chocolate pudding layered with whipped cream and crushed chocolate cookies, and it strikes a good balance between elegant and nostalgic (but more leaning towards nostalgic). The whipped cream and cookies are a nice touch, but most days I'd just want to eat the pudding straight out of the bowl. 9/10

7. No-Bake Grapefruit Bars

I've refused to succumb to the no-bake lifestyle, but these grapefruit bars may have opened my mind a little. I cut them when they were still a little loose, so they didn't look the cleanest, but they had a deliciously silky texture and slightly citrusy, creamsicle-like flavor. The fresh grapefruit segments on top make them look very pretty and nicely offset the creaminess of the filling. 8/10

8. Blood Orange Pudding Cake

This cake is unlike anything I've ever tasted. It's almost more of a custard than a cake, with a curd-like layer on top and an ultra-soft sponge on the bottom. The flavor of blood orange comes through brightly and sharply, and the inclusion of Greek yogurt adds an extra layer of richness. Plus, it just looks so beautiful. It makes for a lovely, unique winter dessert. 8/10

9. Almond Butter Banana Bread

I don't love bananas, but I do love banana bread, and this is a very good version. It's cakey and moist, but what really sets it apart is its ample use of almond butter - both mixed into the batter and swirled on top - as well as roasted almonds, which give this banana bread a nutty, toasty, sweet-and-savory vibe. That being said, there are a few ingredients, such as cardamom and coconut oil, that get lost in the final product.  8/10

10. Cranberry Anadama Cake

This very easy cake is flavored with cornmeal, molasses, and both whole and cooked-down cranberries and drizzled with a simple powdered sugar icing. It's not too sweet, very unique, and is equally appropriate as a breakfast, snacking, or dessert cake. Its flavors are especially suited to the fall and winter months. 8/10

11. Salty Cashew Blondies

I generally don't love blondies, for the reason that they are usually very sweet and one-note. This blondie incorporates toffee-coated roasted cashews for an element of saltiness and nuttiness. It's not bad by any means, but it still had some of the problems I associate with a typical blondie. For a blondie that has more of a wow factor and can convince a skeptic like me, I'd recommend Claire's Salted Halvah Blondies. 7/10

12. Salty Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches

These ice cream sandwiches, which are filled with cookies and cream ice cream between two thin layers of brownie, are very delicious, fun, and crowd-pleasing. However, I just don't feel like ice cream-based desserts are the type of desserts I enjoy making myself or find to be significantly better than the store-bought version. 7/10

13. Marbled Sheet Cake

This is a very fun, nostalgic cake that feels special enough as, say, a birthday cake without being too fussy. It has a few unique, don't-knock-it-till-you-try-it touches like the addition of mayonnaise to the batter and cooked flour to the frosting. It produced a very bouncy crumb and worked well with the fluffy, slightly-tangy frosting on top, but in general, it was a bit too sweet and one-note for my taste. 7/10

14. Coffee Coffee Cake

The concept of this cake is simple yet genius: a classic coffee cake that actually tastes like coffee. I loved the flavor of this cake, which uses brewed coffee and instant coffee granules to imbue a noticeable but not overpowering coffee flavor through every component, but I found the texture to be slightly denser and drier than I was hoping for. 7/10

15. Mango-Yogurt Mousse

This very tropical mousse, inspired by the flavors of a mango lassi, is thickened with gelatin and folded with whipped cream for lightness. It's not a bad dessert by any means, but I felt like the whipped cream diluted the beautiful flavor of the mango curd and made the whole thing feel a little like eating flavored whipped cream. I would've preferred a higher ratio of yogurt and mango curd. 7/10

16. Aunt Rose's Mondel Bread

Mondel bread is an Ashkenazi Jewish cookie that's similar to biscotti and flavored with toasted almonds and cinnamon sugar. It's a family recipe for Claire, and she's presented it in Dessert Person more or less identical to her Aunt Rose's version. I don't really like biscotti, and I found this cookie to be similarly dry and hard as well as a little plainly flavored, but I appreciate the sentimental value it has for Claire. 6/10