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The Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest is officially coming back

After a three year hiatus, the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest will be returning this October — but with a modern twist.
/ Source: TODAY

Move over, "The Great British Baking Show." The original bake-off — the one that started it all — is coming back.

After a three year hiatus, the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest will be returning this fall.

According to a press release issued to TODAY Food, the classic baking brand will be partnering with the Food Network to modernize the contest for a new generation of home cooks. They also hinted there will be a prize package with a once in a lifetime experience that "money can’t buy."

MARON SHULMAN SMITH FISHER BERGER CROW STUTEVILLE GRASGREEN
RON GLASSMAN / AP

“We are in search of the best made-at-home recipes, and the heartfelt, funny, crazy, family stories behind them!” a statement on the contest page reads. Official details of how the bake-off will change this year won’t be announced until October.

Introduced in 1949 and originally called the “Grand National Recipe and Baking Contest,” the contest received thousands of recipe entries for breads, cakes, pies, cookies, entrees and desserts using the required ingredient: Pillsbury Best flour.

One hundred finalists were invited to the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City to make their recipe in hopes of winning the $25,000 grand prize.

A participant pulls her 80 minute bicuits fresh out the oven during the 1949 bake-off.
A participant pulls her 80 minute bicuits fresh out the oven during the 1949 bake-off.Getty Images

The first winning recipe was from a Michigan woman who came up with the No-Knead Water Rising Twists, which uses dough wrapped in a tea towel submerged in warm water for a unique rising technique.

Through the years, Pillsbury has received some pretty amazing recipes, which have only grown in popularity after the contest.

In 1957, we got those now-famous Peanut Blossoms that are a staple on holiday party cookie trays. And in 1966, the Tunnel of Fudge cake became such a cultural icon that it incited a mass demand for the Bundt pan.

Some other fun facts about the contest:

  • The first male participant to win happened in 1996.
  • Also in 1996, the prize money went from $25,000 to $1 million!
  • In 2014, the public was able to vote online for the first time without tasting the entries.

Think your family's favorite blueberry pie is worth big money? Additional contest details and entries will be open beginning in October and the winner will be announced next February.