Review

Murder, She Baked: Just Desserts—Where Baking Cookies Is Deadly Serious Business

Move over, Baking With the Stars—Murder, She Baked: Just Desserts takes the crown for most suspenseful cookie-baking show ever—because what’s better than freshly baked goods? Well, in this Hallmark Channel movie, the only thing better than a perfectly golden batch of cookies is the unexpected dead body that shows up in your bakery. This Hallmark movie takes baking to a whole new level—where frosting, whisking, and murder investigations all happen in a perfectly quaint little town.

Meet Hannah Swensen, a baking genius who can whip up a mean chocolate chip cookie while solving a murder mystery—because why should crime-solving and sweets-baking be separate hobbies when you can mix them together? Hannah’s bakery isn’t just about making the best cakes and pies—oh no, it’s where crimes get solved one slice of pie at a time. In Just Desserts, the murder victim just happened to have been involved with a little family drama (naturally), and, of course, Hannah ends up right in the middle of it. Why? Because someone has to save the town's good name, and who better than a woman who’s willing to risk her life to make sure the cookies stay crisp and the criminals get caught?

Like all Hallmark movies, there’s more than just crime-solving happening in Just Desserts. Hannah’s love life is as complicated as her cookie recipes (and that's saying something). Between sifting through clues and making pies from scratch, she’s also juggling two very different romantic interests. Is it the charming local detective or the equally charming but totally confused baker from across town? Hallmark movies would never leave us without romantic tension, and Just Desserts serves it up with a side of strawberry shortcake—and a dash of "will she choose the right guy"? (Spoiler: there’s only room for one guy, and the cookie jar is big enough for just one romantic partner).

Meanwhile, the real star of the show is, of course, the town bakery, where you can bet every scene looks like it’s taken straight out of an Instagram food influencer’s dream. If you didn’t already know that baking cookies can be life or death—well, now you do. It’s like The Great British Bake Off, but with more dead bodies and less innocent British accents. Because when you bake in a Hallmark movie, there’s always a chance for danger to rise (like an overbaked loaf of bread).

At the end of the day, Murder, She Baked: Just Desserts is pure Hallmark magic. It’s the kind of cozy mystery that doesn’t just leave you with a sweet tooth, but also with a murderous craving for more. With flour flying, whisking with purpose, and intense scenes where no one knows who’s behind the frosting—this is definitely one Hallmark movie you won’t be able to turn off after one episode.

So grab a cookie (or three) and settle in because Murder, She Baked proves that you can have your pie and solve the mystery too!