47th Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest Let’s you Pick the Winner of $1-Million Dollars

The 47th Pillsbury Bake-Off® Contest was held in Nashville, Tennessee Monday, and 100 amateur cooks from across the country competed for their chance to win more than $1.3 million in cash and prizes. There were four category winning recipes selected by the judges and now they advance to the competition's final stage—an online public vote.

The four recipes in the running for the Bake-Off® Contest's $1 million grand prize are:

Amazing Doable Dinners Category Winner: Cuban-Style Sandwich Pockets by Courtney Sawyer of Bellingham, Washington
Savory Snacks & Sides Category Winner: Creamy Corn-Filled Sweet Peppers by Jody Walker of Madison, Mississippi
Simply Sweet Treats Category Winner: Peanutty Pie Crust Clusters by Beth Royals of Richmond, Virginia
Weekend Breakfast Wows Category Winner: Chocolate Doughnut Poppers by Megan Beimer of Alexandria, Virginia

Now it's up to America's vote to help determine the $1 million grand prize winner.

America to Help Determine the Grand Prize Winner
For the first time in the Bake-Off® Contest's 65-year history, the public is invited to help select the $1 million grand prize winner. You may go online to vote.bakeoff.com now to view and choose your favorite of the four recipes selected by the judges.

Voting will remain open until 9:59 p.m. CT on December 2, 2014. At the Contest Finals, the judging panel ranked and assigned points to each of the four recipes competing online; similarly, the four recipes will each receive points based on the results of the public vote (points awarded by the judging panel will account for 55 percent of the total possible points versus 45 percent for the public vote). The recipe that receives the most total points will be deemed the $1 million grand prize winning recipe, which will be revealed for the first time on the December 3, 2014 episode of ABC's popular lifestyle series "The Chew" (1:00 p.m. Eastern / Noon Central and Pacific).

There were eight recipes that received special sponsor awards:

Muffuletta Mini Pies by MaryJo Watkins of Scottsdale, Arizona was recognized as the most innovative recipe with the GE Imagination At Work Award and won $5,000 in GE kitchen appliances.

Macaroon-Peanut Butter-Chocolate Tartlets by Brenda Watts of Gaffney, South Carolina won the $5,000 Jif® Peanut Butter Award, which recognized the best recipe using at least 1/4 cup of Jif® Peanut Butter.

Grilled Potato and Roasted Salsa Verde Pizza by Greg Fontenot of The Woodlands, Texas won the $5,000 Crisco is Cooking™ Award, which recognized the best recipe using at least one tablespoon of Crisco® Cooking Oil or at least one tablespoon of Crisco® Baking Sticks All-Vegetable Shortening.

Peanut and Pretzel-Peanut Butter Thumbprints by Barbara Estabrook of Rhinelander, Wisconsin won the $5,000 Eagle Brand® Signature Recipe Award, which recognized the best recipe using one 14-ounce can of Eagle Brand® Sweetened Condensed Milk.

Herbs and Seeds Parmesan Crackers by Merry Graham of Newhall, California won the $5,000 Pillsbury™ Gluten Free Award, which recognized the best recipe that used a Pillsbury™ Gluten Free product and did not contain wheat or any products that include wheat as an ingredient.

Spinach Dip-Stuffed Garlic Rolls by Marie Valdes of Brandon, Florida won the $5,000 Pillsbury™ Clever Twist Award, which recognized the recipe deemed the most clever twist on a family favorite dish.

Very Vanilla Lemon Tarts by Antoinette Leal of Ridgefield, Connecticut won the $5,000 Watkins™ Vanilla Award, which recognized the best recipe using at least 1/4 teaspoon of Watkins Vanilla Extract.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter-Filled Pretzels by Elizabeth Bennett of Seattle, Washington won the $5,000 Reynolds® Baking Magic Award, which recognized the best dessert recipe made using Reynolds® Parchment Paper.

Wow! Makes my kitchen exploits pretty wimpy. Good luck to all.