Things Bakers Know: The King Arthur Baking Podcast

With its fluffy crumb, dimply dough, and endless spins, focaccia has stolen the heart of countless bakers — including us. So we decided to dedicate a whole episode to it.  
Jessica and David dissect the current focaccia moment and how this simple bread has evolved from its Italian origins to something truly showstopping. Then Samin Nosrat stops by the show to share the story behind the viral salt-brined focaccia from her TV show Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat and dish on her latest focaccia recipe, found in her newest cookbook Good Things. As always, Jessica and David answer your biggest bread baking questions in Ask the Bakers, then Jessica shares a Jess-opinion about sweet focaccia before closing the show with the recipes they’re making this week.  
Find our 2025 Recipe of the Year: Big and Bubbly Focaccia 
Pick up our Big Book of Bread for even more focaccia  
Order Samin’s latest cookbook, Good Things  
Find Samin’s salt-brined Ligurian Focaccia  
Get some bread flour to make Samin’s latest focaccia recipe  
Check out our Small-Batch Cheesy Focaccia recipe  
Read more about how to make an inside-out focaccia sandwich  
Make our Big and Bubbly Cinnamon Roll Focaccia recipe to hop on the sweet focaccia trend  
What David’s baking this week: Strawberry Lemonade Bars  
What Jessica’s baking this week: Karpatka Cake 
Record your question for our Ask the Bakers segment here!

We’re back, and we’re talking cheesecake! Jessica and David dive into a bit of the history behind this iconic dessert before Jessica sits down with TV host and cookbook author Carla Hall to chat all things cheesecake, including Carla’s best tips and tricks. Then, they answer your biggest cheesecake questions, covering everything from water baths to springform pans. Jessica delivers her Jess-opinion on the best style of cheesecake (hint: It’s not from the US!) before they close the show with the recipes they’re baking this week.   
Recipes and other links from this episode: 
Subscribe to our new Substack: Things Bakers Know!  
Find some of our favorite cheesecake recipes: NY Cheesecake, Cannoli Cheesecake, Irish Whiskey Cheesecake  
Pre-order Carla Hall’s upcoming cookbook, Carla Bakes 
Find our Basque Cheesecake recipe and Pumpkin Basque Cheesecake recipe  
Need a springform pan? Get one here!    
Find our recipe for No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake Bars 
Get our recipe for light, fluffy Japanese-Style Soufflé Cheesecake 
What David’s baking this week: Super Protein Pancakes  
What Jessica’s baking this week: Favorite Fudge Birthday Cake  
Record your question for our Ask the Bakers segment here!

Things Bakers Know, the official podcast from King Arthur Baking Company, is back with a ten episode second season — starting March 23rd! Join King Arthur’s Jessica Battilana and David Tamarkin as they explore every corner of the baking world. Each episode dives deep into a different baked good — its history and lore, tips and tricks, trends and takes — and they'll always leave time to answer baking questions from listeners. Along the way they chat with the best bakers in America to get their expert advice. Plus this season, we are on video! Things Bakers Know is available wherever you get your podcasts, and now on Youtube, or by going to KingArthurBaking.com/podcast!

We’ve officially unveiled our 2026 Recipe of the Year, and we couldn’t be more excited to share it with you. Announcing: Flaky Puff Crust Pizza! 
In this episode, David and Jessica are joined by two of our Test Kitchen stars and the creators of this exceptional recipe, Sarah Jampel and Molly Marzalek-Kelly. They discuss how and why they landed on pizza as this year’s Recipe of the Year, the biggest challenges of recipe development, and the keys to this recipe’s unique success. (Hint: It includes butter.) Jessica and David then answer questions from our listeners about how to maximize their pizza success, from saucing to topping, before closing out the show with the recipes they’re making this week.  
This episode concludes our second season, and we’ll be back in March with the next batch of freshly baked episodes!  
Bake our 2026 Recipe of the Year: Flaky Puff Crust Pizza  
Find all of our past Recipes of the Year here 
Preorder King Arthur Baking Company's Book of Pizza: Recipes for Every Pizza Maker, publishing April 7, 2026  
What David’s baking this week: Delicata Squash Galette with Cheese and Herbs 
What Jessica’s baking this week: Ultimate Flaky Biscuits  
Record your question for our Ask the Bakers segment here! 
This episode is sponsored by Plugra. Learn more about their premium European-style butter at plugra.com.

Celebrating Holiday Cookies with Dan Pelosi 
‘Tis the season to bake as many cookies as you can!  
We kick off the show by unveiling King Arthur’s 2025 holiday cookie lineup before being joined by Dan Pelosi, a baker known for his annual holiday cookie party. He chats with Jessica about the keys to successfully throwing a cookie party, including his holiday cookie philosophy, then David and Jessica answer your burning baking questions with their advice for avoiding cakey cookies and making cutout cookies that actually keep their shape. In this week’s Jess-opinion, Jessica gives her thoughts on the controversial inclusion of chocolate chip cookies in the holiday cookie landscape, and we close the show with the best cookies she and David are baking this season. 
Introducing our 2025 holiday cookie platter  
Find our list of all the classic holiday and Christmas cookies you should bake 
Level up your cookies with our scoop set  
Learn more about Dan and his recent cookbook, Let’s Party, on his website  
Blog: Why you should always bake a few test cookies 
Find our Soft Frosted Sugar Cookies recipe  
We like decorating with this Simple Cookie Glaze  
What David’s baking this week: Rugelach and Piped Vanilla Shortbread Cookies 
What Jessica’s baking this week: Whipped Lemon Shortbread 
Record your question for our Ask the Bakers segment here! 
This episode is sponsored by Plugra. Learn more about their premium European-style butter at plugra.com.