If you’ve ever wished you could recreate Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls, Girl Scout Thin Mints, Auntie Anne’s Pretzels, or Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars, I have a collection of recipes that will help.
Rather than being dependent on going to mall for my fix, waiting for seasonally-available treats to come along, or over-paying for storebought, I came up with at-home, copycat versions of the real thing.
Included are 25 of my Favorite Copycat and Restaurant Knock-Off Recipes, and some fun DIY recipes, like making vanilla extract or peanut butter, which save money and taste far better than storebought.
1. Overnight Buttermilk Soft and Fluffy Cinnamon Rolls – My ode to Cinnabons, and I prefer these to the real thing
2. Baked Vanilla Donuts with Vanilla Glaze – The baked version of a Krispy Kreme
3. Ritz Cracker-Stuffed Peanut Butter Cups (No-Bake, Vegan) – I like adding crackers for added crunch along with salty-and-sweet, or try this recipe for classic Peanut Butter Cups (No-Bake, Vegan, GF)
5. Cranberry Bliss Bars – Starbucks Copycat Recipe and the reader feedback on these has been extremely positive
6. Old-Fashioned Butter Mints (no-bake, gluten-free)
7. Homemade Little Debbie Star Crunch (no-bake)
8. Soft Buttery One Hour Pretzels (vegan) – Faster and easier than going to the mall for Auntie Anne’s or Wetzels Pretzels
9. Outback Steakhouse Wheat Bread (vegan) – Copycat Recipe for the soft, brown bread many steakhouses like Longhorn and Outback serve. I don’t eat steak but I do love this bread
10. Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies – My favorite homemade brownies, ever
11. Twinkies
12. Butterfinger Bars (No Bake, Vegan & GF options) – Make in less than 5 minutes in the microwave
13. Homemade Baileys Irish Cream – Make in the blender in 1 minute
14. Homemade Cinnamon-Sugar Graham Crackers
15. Samoas Bars (Vegan & GF options) – The flavors of the Girl Scout classic cookies combined in easy-to-make bars rather than fussy, layered, multi-step cookies
16. Homemade Vanilla Extract (vegan, GF) – A truly work-free recipe. Just wait it out
17. Homemade Ginger Ale (vegan, GF)
18. 10-Minute Homemade Hot Fudge (GF)
19. Homemade Peanut Butter (vegan, GF) – Make in minutes in your food processor. Once you try homemade, you’ll never want storebought
20. Homemade Cookie Butter (vegan, GF) – Very similar to Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter or Biscoff spread
21. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (no-bake, vegan, GF) – Better than Quaker Chewy Granola Bars and ready in minutes
22. Hot Pepper Jelly (vegan, GF) – Like Trader Joe’s Hot Pepper Jelly, which is sometimes only seasonally available
23. Pumpkin Spice Latte (vegan, GF) – Starbucks Copycat Recipe
24. Thin Mints (vegan, no-bake) – Make in minutes and they’re a dead-ringer for the original
25. Orange Push-Up Smoothie (GF, can be kept vegan) – Tastes like an Orange Push-Up, in smoothie form
CopyKat.com’s Dining Out at Home Cookbook: Recipes for the Most Delicious Dishes from America’s Most Popular Restaurants
by Stephanie Manly is packed with the most popular recipes from CopyKat.com
This book offers over 200 unauthorized restaurant re-creations that have been tested and re-tested by people just like you. Each delicious dish is guaranteed to taste like the restaurant original so you can:
•Save money while enjoying all your favorite restaurant dishes
•Mix and match items from different restaurants to create the perfect meal
•Satisfy kids with their fast food favorites while making a fancier dinner for the adults
•Modify original re-creations to make them healthier while maintaining the delicious taste
•Find the ideal recipe for any occasion with the book’s quick reference icons, impress-your-guest dishes, quick-and-easy treats, meat-lover fare and vegetarian options
There are recipes for all your favorite entreés, appetizers, soups, salads, desserts and more from Americas best restaurants, including:
•Boston Market®
•Chili’s®
•Cracker Barrel Old Country Store®
•IHOP®
•Jack in the Box®
•Joe’s Crab Shack®
•Mrs. Fields®
•Olive Garden®
•Outback Steakhouse®
•Red Lobster®
•Taco Bell®
•T.G.I. Friday’s®
•The Cheesecake Factory®
Using Rafflecopter, enter to win the Giveaway by leaving a blog comment below in response to the first question and completing the other tasks to unlock additional entries.
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And for any peanut butter lovers, my cookbook, Peanut Butter Comfort, was released last week. Thank you for your support!
For sure I’d love to be able to make a pumpkin pie blizzard or a shamrock shake! Those are the BEST!
Panera Caesar Salad
Boston Market, Olive Garden, and TGI Fridays. Now living in DC I don’t get to experience them like I can at home in Philly. So making (or knocking off I guess you could call it?) in the comfort of my own home would be stellar. =D I’m sure the roomies from the midwest would enjoy them too!
I’d love to try those cinnabons!
I love good copy cat recipes! They always turn out better than the restaurants in my opinion. These all look so good, what a fun giveaway!
Boston Market’s macaroni and cheese! I swear their cheese sauce is magic! ;)
I have been all about the knock off lately! Today I’m making Fuddrucker knock off buns for our cheesesteaks tomorrow. I hope they turn out. I would LOVE this cookbook!
I recently had the biscuits at The Bristol restaurant. I forgot how yummy they were! I’d love to recreate them at home.
I love the fish tacos from The Cheesecake Factory. And mostly everything from the Cheesecake factory.
I would love to be able to recreate the Southwestern Egg rolls from Chilis..love the avocado cream that comes with them.
I’d love to make Red Lobster’s biscuits–my husband loves those.
I cannot resist Mrs Fields cookies anytime I am at the mall. Would love to bake my own.
I agree with Lynn – having the baseline recipes for popular foods while being able to control exactly what goes in and how they’re prepared would be so helpful. And I can make portions smaller than when I eat out.
Hands down, I’d love to recreate Mrs. Fields’ products =)
I mostly just want to recreate not-so-good-for-you recipes in a healthier fashion, gluten-free, etc. Desserts are where I really like to find alternatives. :)
I have some fond memories of those Red Lobster biscuits. They must put something addicting in them! They would go great with the tomato soup I had in Dublin at The Winding Stair, which I would totally recreate if I could!