And you’re either a cook, or you’re a baker. I have spent most of my life thinking I’m neither; lord knows I don’t go out of my way to bake most of the time, largely because Dave doesn’t really care so much about dessert. But we’ve had this big stress thing going on for the past little while that’s kept us from getting very adventurous about…like, leaving the house, and though the stress has been an excellent appetite suppressant, it’s also reminded me of how I used to eat when I lived on my own. To wit: pizza pops. Lots of them. Sure, I make an effort to make balanced food choices now, but they still tend more toward food that gets assembled rather than food that gets cooked. Like, oatmeal with diced apples or tuna scooped up with celery sticks or soup. I just don’t like to cook, and I don’t mind ghetto meals. It’s infuriating to Dave — who does like to cook (fortunately for the household) — to know that I would almost be as happy having a lovely dinner of curry or fajitas as I would a can of pork and beans. I don’t know. It’s just the way I am.
But it turns out I actually like baking. On Monday, facing a day of doing nothing but sitting at my desk waiting for people to email me, I decided to get out of my office and spend the afternoon making cupcakes. (Or, if you prefer, stresscakes.) Now, granted, it wasn’t real baking — I used a mix. Actually, three different ones. And even if I didn’t have to sift flour or somehow acquire a confectioner’s thermometer or anything, I did feel an immense sense of accomplishment when it was all over, gazing at the two hundred or so cupcakes that were spread out all over the kitchen island. (The best part was that I have one regular-sized muffin tin but two minis, so I ended up with four times as many little ones as regular ones; it was like recess at Cupcake School.) And then I remembered that when I have baked things from scratch — IT HAPPENS! — I have the same sense of accomplishment, and I think that’s why I like baking better. When you cook a meal, you eat it and it’s gone that night. When you bake, the sense of achievement lasts as long as the batch is extant. It feels…more, somehow. And on top of that, the process — with breaks built in while things are actually baking — is very restful.
So I’m going to try to start baking things. Recipe recommendations?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
You said “extant”.
If you’re open to things other than desserts, bread can be equally restful and stress-relieving — lots of kneading and punching of dough in between periods of waiting and baking. The bread recipes (with illustrations) in one of the Moosewood cookbooks (Enchanted Broccoli Forest, I think) helped me get over my bread anxiety really quickly. The challah is particularly nice, and makes for excellent french toast.
I’m a fan of the ‘bars’ and cookies. Peanut Butter Squares (no, not the ones with ‘krispies, the ones with marshmallows, geez) Nanaimo Bars, peanut butter cookies(made with smoothy not crunchy) old fashioned oatmeal raisin cookies, something called hermit cookies (with walnuts). Kraft has a great recipe website. I would love to bake but I have no self control when it comes to baked goods so I would be 300 lbs.
I have some of Grandma’s cookie recipes if you want them. Her Aggression Cookies are supposed to help with stress (it says so on the index card).
Do you throw the Aggression Cookies at
peoplethe wall?Aunt Eliza’s Sugar Cookies
Dry Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda (not baking powder for you newbies)
1/2 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
1/2 cup (one stick) butter, soft but not melted
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
Steps
1. Mix Dry Ingredients together.
2. Mix Wet Ingredients together.
3. Mix Wet and Dry Ingredients together.
4. Dollop out scoops (I like them about a half a tablespoon) with space between them, at least an inch and a half on all sides.
5. Take a flat-bottomed something (like a measuring cup) and shove the bottom into the remaining dough. With no dough hanging onto the cup, dip it in a plate of granulated sugar. There should be sugar smoothly coating the bottom of the cup.
6. Smoosh a dough dollop with the sugar-coated cup. Dip the cup back in the plate of sugar to recoat. Repeat until all are smooshed.
7. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes (until light brown around the bottom edges). Let rest on baking sheet for a minute before removing to cooling rack.
8. Mmmm. Cookies.
Other Things:
* When mixing the wet ingredients, I start with the butter and granulated sugar to get the lumps out of both.
* You shouldn’t have to sift the flour but make sure the baking soda doesn’t lump (as is its wont) or you’ll get a mouthful of bitter at some point.
* Use brown sugar instead of granulated sugar for a carmelly flavor.
* Add a 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper for an interesting hot and sugary effect.
* Use another flavor instead of vanilla, such as mint or orange extract (not orange juice; too watery).
* Melt some chocolate (using a double-boiler; I usually put a Pyrex bowl over a pan of boiling water) and sploot some on the back of one cookie. Moosh back-to-back with a similar-sized cookie. (Very nice with the mint or orange mentioned above.)
* Man, I hope I remembered all of the ingredients correctly.
Also, M. Giant did a sugar cookie recipe contest a few years ago and posted the winnah somewhere in the archives now. It’s not as good as Aunt Eliza’s –nothing is– but it has its own quirky appeal.
I always forget how much I love baking until I decide to bake something. I’m a big fan of the chocolate chip cookie recipe that’s ‘on the bag when you buy the chocolate chips — as far as I can tell it’s always basically the same, and is also impossible to mess up.
Also, I have had recent success with snickerdoodles, which I lately realized have nothing to do with snickers and kind of taste like those tiny donuts you get at fairs. (I used the recipe in How To Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson, but they’re all basically the same, and you get to roll your little cookies in cinnamon sugar, which is about as calming and domestic-feeling as it gets). The Nigella book is pretty good in general though.
As long as you have the muffin pans right there, muffins and quick breads are great when you don’t have much time; toss together some flour with other dry stuff, toss together eggs with other wet stuff, mix ‘em together and drop the batter in the appropriate pan. Fifteen minutes later, you have wrought muffins or bread. (I don’t understand muffin mixes, because they cut out maybe three minutes from the process and make the muffins taste chemical-ly.)
A secret tip from me to you: if you’re ever looking for a recipe, just type “world’s best [insert dish name] recipe” into Google. It works perfectly every time. To wit, The World’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies, and trust me, I know from cookies.
I second (third?) the quick breads suggestion. I make banana bread all the time, to use up overripe bananas, and even JOHN likes it. And you know how he is about food that anyone other than him makes. Just make sure you add chocolate chips to the batter. I forgot once and felt cheated and bitter until the loaf was gone. And cornbread is stupidly easy to make. From start to finish it takes about 30 minutes, and it’s awesome with soups and salads.
Now, if you want to get into pie territory, call me!
Apropos of absolutely nothing, am I the only one watching the trailer for Reign Over Me and thinking “It’s our generation’s The Fisher King“? Does our generation NEED a Fisher King?
ANYTHING by Maida Heatter is worth making. She writes the best baking books around.
These are much easier than they sound. Very easy, very pretty and very tasty. You should be amazed. I don’t bother with the drizzle.
Raspberry and Almond Shortbread Thumbprints (36)
1 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium bowl, cream together butter and white sugar until smooth.
Mix in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract.
Mix in flour until dough comes together.
Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place on ungreased cookie sheets.
Make a small hole in the center of each ball, using your thumb and finger, and fill the hole with preserves.
Bake for 14 to 18 minutes in preheated oven, or until lightly browned.
Let cool 1 minute on the cookie sheet.
In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners’ sugar, 3/4 teaspoon almond extract, and milk until smooth. Drizzle lightly over warm cookies.
Oatmeal Cranberry Dark Chocolate Cookies:
http://judgmentcall.blogspot.com/2003_11_01_archive.html#106970394573044927
I agree with LTG on the bread-making. Nothing is more awesome than the smell of baking bread, except maybe the taste of a fresh slice of just-baked bread, buttered and chewy and awesome.
Now I just drooled all over my keyboard.