Thank you to the baking friends, kitchen coworkers, Texas writers, and LGBTQIAP+ communities that have brought so much joy to my life.

A special thanks to Vanessa Lee for making my time in Austin sparkle.

Thank you to everyone who helped test a recipe for this book! That includes my entire family, who have been helping me hone my bakes for years, with an extra helping of thanks to my sisters Christine and Allyson, and a very sweet new generation of bakers: Samantha, Emily, and Walter. More recipe testing was provided by the amazing Ann Dávila Cardinal, Andrea Corbin, Annie Crane, Becky Wright, Christine Engels, Ian McGullum, Jules Bertaut, Lisa Keegan, Lucas Sanders, and Liam Synnott.

A double batch of appreciation to my wonderful friend Jess Taylor, who helped plot, plan, test, and taste with me as I drafted and revised. If you love to bake and enjoyed this book, please check out Jess’s store, Capital Kitchen, in Vermont, and say that I sent you!

As always, thanks to Sara Crowe, the most amazing agent, who also gifted me the best panettone I’ve ever tasted.

This book would not exist without my wonderful editor Miriam Newman, who sent revision cookies along with our very first editorial letter. Fourteen emails into a thread about frosting, I couldn’t help saying “I think I might have a book for you.” The entire Candlewick team has been incredible in their support.

All of my love to Maverick, who started cracking eggs at four years old and is now my favorite baking buddy. I can’t wait to see what we make next.

And to the readers of my books — you make so much of the magic in my life. I wanted to thank you with the perfect proud muffin recipe, but after endless deliberation and a few delicious contenders I realized that it would feel wrong to pick a single one for everybody. Whatever muffin you love most is the proud muffin. But here’s a tip: fill your muffin cups all the way to the top, set your oven twenty-five degrees higher for the first five to ten minutes of bake time, then turn it back down. You’ll end up with a beautiful bakery-style muffin, standing tall and proud.