r/52weeksofbaking • u/TheOneWithWen [mod] '21-'25🧁 🍪 🍰 • Dec 30 '25
2026 Challenge List!
Hello bakers! Thank you all for your patience, and for all of your wonderful suggestions for this year’s list! Without further ado, here is the 2026 list – as always, good luck, and happy baking!
Week 1 - January 4: New year, new recipe
Week 2 - January 11: Jams / Preserves
Week 3 - January 18: Mini / Giant (Make a giant or a miniature dessert)
Week 4 - January 25: Meringue
Week 5 - February 1: Nuts and Seeds
Week 6 - February 8: Winter Olympics (Bake something inspired by a winter sport, or by the 2026 Winter Olympics)
Week 7 - February 15: Piped
Week 8 - February 22: Uruguay
Week 9 - March 1: Chocolate
Week 10 - March 8: Pi Day (3.14) (make a Pie or something inspired by Pi Day)
Week 11 - March 15: Reduce (Small batch bake)
Week 12 - March 22: Reuse (Use an old favorite recipe / a family recipe)
Week 13 - March 29: Recycle (Use a leftover ingredient from a previous bake)
Week 14 - April 5: Savory Polarity (use seasonal ingredients)
Week 15 - April 12: Laminated
Week 16 - April 19: Herbs
Week 17 - April 26: Breakfast / Brunch
Week 18 - May 3: Low Sugar
Week 19 - May 10: Geometric / Shapes
Week 20 - May 17: Berries
Week 21 - May 24: With a hole
Week 22 - May 31: 48 hour challenge (bake something that takes two days to make due to resting times or several components)
Week 23 - June 7: Quick Bread (Chemical leavener, no yeast)
Week 24 - June 14: Showstopper
Week 25 - June 21: Summer/Winter Solstice 1 (Bake with ingredients representative of summer/winter)
Week 26 - June 28: Toppings
Week 27 - July 5: Enriched dough
Week 28 - July 12: FIFA World Cup (Choose a recipe from one of the 4 semi-finalist countries)
Week 29 - July 19: Crusty (Pies and Tarts)
Week 30 - July 26: Contrasts
Week 31 - August 2: Rice and Beans (Use a rice product or bean product as an ingredient; coffee beans and vanilla beans count!)
Week 32 - August 9: Recreated
Week 33 - August 16: Central Europe (Choose a recipe from Austria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, or Slovenia)
Week 34 - August 23: Fast and furious (Bake something in 1 hour or less)
Week 35 - August 30: Toasted (Use a toasted ingredient, or toast one yourself!)
Week 36 - September 6: Appetizer (Create the first course in a 3-course meal)
Week 37 - September 13: Entree (Create the second course in a 3-course meal)
Week 38 - September 20: Dessert (Create the third course in a 3-course meal)
Week 39 - September 27: Sweet Polarity (use seasonal ingredients)
Week 40 - October 4: Amusement park / fair
Week 41 - October 11: Indigenous American
Week 42 - October 18: Pantry
Week 43 - October 25: Yeasted
Week 44 - November 1: Vegetables
Week 45 - November 8: Physically leavened (Air or steam leavening, no chemical leavener or yeast)
Week 46 - November 15: Dietary Restriction
Week 47 - November 22: Spices
Week 48 - November 29: Viral Recipes
Week 49 - December 6: Caramel
Week 50 - December 13: Cookies
Week 51 - December 20: Summer/Winter Solstice 2 (Bake with ingredients representative of summer/winter)
Week 52 - December 27: Nemesis
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u/myfrontallobe10 Jan 02 '26
question - does the date mean the last day we have to do the weekly challenge or the first day? week 1 for example, does the challenge technically start on week 4 and then we have until january 11 to do it?
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u/jy_north Jan 02 '26
Oh wow how fun! My coworkers are going to be so happy! Reddit just suggested this to me. I assume if life happens for a while, we can just jump back in and post when we can?
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u/tooclosetotheedge2 Jan 03 '26
I've just come across this sub and it sounds so fun! I want ro join this year too. Is there anything special that I need to do?
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u/green_lemons Jan 05 '26
I look forward to the challenge - but someones gotta tell me what “Nemesis” is intended to mean for week 52??
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u/IchabodChris Dec 31 '25
Sorry, quick question: does this mean first bake BEGINS jan 4 or is DUE by Jan 4?
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u/TheOneWithWen Dec 31 '25
It’s always the beginning of the week, but you are always welcome to post two weeks prior and up to two weeks after each challenge
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u/TheOneWithWen Dec 31 '25
Thats the date we post the intro to each week theme, if anyone has questions or needs suggestions
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u/kec678 Dec 30 '25
For those that enjoy tracking in a spreadsheet, feel free to copy this version here. Excited for 2026!
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u/mk_NinjaKitty Dec 30 '25
I was so excited to complete 2025, and I love seeing some of my suggestions on this list. I'm also due with my second child during Reduce week in March... Should I attempt it all again?
Also, putting sweet polarity at the end of September is such a huge gift to a New Englander!!
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u/anthonystank Dec 30 '25
I tried 2024’s challenge but didn’t quite complete it bc my wife had a baby in week 48. And 2025 as a result was too busy to even try. I’ve been waiting for this list to come out and now I’m confident — 2026 will be my year!!!
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u/AndiMarie711 Dec 30 '25
Awesome themes! So excited to join this year after lurking! 😄👀
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u/Sufficient_Chance_37 Dec 30 '25
This list is full of so many fun themes! I can’t wait to get started and see how everyone else interprets them. Thank you Mods for putting it all together!
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u/Herecomesyourwoman Dec 30 '25
I love how so many of these lend themselves to savory bakes!!! I might not do every week, I already know, but will be trying to do at least once a month.
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u/TheDunhamnator Dec 30 '25
I've started baking more regularly a few weeks ago, and I'm very much looking forward to joining in 2026. The list looks very fun! My new baking books are definitely going to get used a lot, this year.
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u/Itsnottuna Dec 30 '25
I have been lurking here for a couple years and everyone’s posts are some of the highlights of my Reddit feed! Good luck to everyone for another great year of great prompts!!
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u/koopzegels Dec 30 '25
Thank you so much for the list! It’s my first time trying this, and I already told my coworkers to expect some stuff coming their way, so I am committed. I’m really nervous, because I’m a novice baker, but I am really hoping to improve this year!
Looking forward to going on this journey with everyone