How Sally McKenney Found Sweet Success With Her Baking Blog

Years ago, Sally McKenney was working in the corporate world, though she found more joy in bringing baked goods for appreciative co-workers than she did in the actual work.

“There was zero creativity in my job and I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but I’d bake cookies and people would ask for the recipes,” says McKenney. “I thought it would be fun if I put my recipes somewhere I could send to coworkers and friends when they asked—there was no real plan.”

By 2011, McKenney had taught herself how to build a website and soon created a site she dubbed sallysbakingaddiction.com.

“I published a cake-batter chocolate-chip cookie on my website using my then-boyfriend, now-husband’s fancy new camera and it went viral on Pinterest,” recalls McKenney. “It got thousands of page views a day. It dawned on me that maybe I could make a career out of this.”

Thanks to programmatic advertising, she soon had a business. “My first paycheck from my blog was for $80,” she says. “I was so proud of that. I made money from my own creativity—it took off from there.”

To date, the Baltimore County baker has an average of 25-million page views each month on her website, which now includes 1,200 recipes and educational videos. She also has her fourth baking book coming out in September 2025. This one is published by Clarkson Potter, Martha Stewart’s publisher.

How did you learn to bake?
I grew up in a family where we cooked and baked a lot from scratch, from gingersnap cookies to peach crisps and cherry pie. My grandmother on my mom’s side was a baker and cook. She found so much joy in the kitchen and instilled it in my mom, who passed it along to me. I spent the majority of my childhood baking from scratch and cooking with my mom.

Why do you think your blog speaks to so many people?
I love teaching followers how I came up with the recipe and the testing that went into it, as well as sharing the mistakes I made for the recipe to turn out—that makes it personable and relatable. I also focus a lot on teaching. I like to teach, “This is why the batter looks clumpy,” or why you need for the eggs to be room temperature. Teaching them the “why” lets people know they can trust my recipes. I’ve made the mistakes in the kitchen so you don’t have to figure out what works and what doesn’t.

You take all the food photos for your website—and upcoming baking book. What’s it like to photograph food?
Food stays in one place, but it also loses its luster. Yesterday, I was shooting brownies and you wouldn’t believe how much effort goes into making it look effortless. I was moving brownies with this big knife and a spatula to not get fingerprints on anything. You want it to look natural. It’s harder than it looks.

Do you have a sweet tooth?
I’m around desserts so much that at the end of the day I just want a big bag of salty chips.

What do you like about baking?
Baking makes everyone happy, which I find so fulfilling. I love sharing what I create and make. I love the way food can change lives and start new traditions and touch so many lives.