YA Books About Cooking and Baking Competitions

Shireen is delighted to be a competitor on the first-ever Junior Irish Baking Show, and her excitement is tempered only by the fact that her ex, Chris, is also a contestant. Shireen is focused on winning, though — the publicity could help her parents’ struggling donut shop and help her achieve her dreams. But when she starts to fall for fellow contestant Niamh, things get complicated.

Eliza wants to go her own way, but that’s easier said than done with a mom who has plenty of ideas of how she ought to be living her life. When she agrees to help out at her mom’s annual baking competition, she realizes quickly that all of the contestants have been handpicked as eligible young men her mom would like her to date. Against her better judgment, she feels some attraction to James Wong, but the course of true love and baking competitions never did run smoothly.

Rose is a small-town waitress who inadvertently impresses a food critic while on the job and soon finds herself immersed in a competitive baking show with her best friend. The challenges are tough, but the other competitors may prove to be even tougher as they’ll do anything to win.

Reese is a Southern girl who has just landed her dream internship for Friends of Flavor, a popular cooking show. She’s competing with the culinary intern, Benny, for a job after their internship is up, but when they work together on a shoot that goes viral, all bets are off — Reese is determined not to fall for him while competing for the internship slot.

Dylan has entered a mooncake competition in memory of his mom and in the hopes of bringing new business to his aunt’s struggling restaurant. He doesn’t need distractions, but that’s when Theo, a wealthy and cute guy, offers him a chance at a fake date to a wedding in the Hamptons. Dylan agrees and finds himself falling despite the fact that it’s supposed to be a fake relationship.

Peyton is determined to make her way out of her small town and her job as a diner waitress, which is why she applies for Top Teen Chef. If she can win, she’ll get a jumpstart at her dreams — but there’s a lot more to winning than she could ever imagine, especially as she tries to figure out the difference between what’s real and what’s just reality TV.

When Rubi gets waitlisted to her dream college, she needs to find a way to turn the situation around and fast — before her parents find out. Somehow, her plans don’t go as planned, and soon, she finds herself turning to baking. Her parents don’t want Rubi to be a baker because they want her to have a better career path than them. But when a Bake Off competition comes to town, Rubi finds herself itching to enter and follow her own dreams.

When Ellie is dumped on her first day of senior year, she just wants to move on. But instead, she has to take a life skills class with her ex and his new love interest, and she’s paired with a bunch of misfits for a class project. When a class cooking competition gives her a chance to beat her ex, Ellie goes all in.