Tag Archives: baking

Relaxing Hobbies to Help You Unwind During Finals

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Finals suck. The massive projects worth ⅓ of your grade, the crazy long essays that have to be a test, everyone wearing pajamas and giving up. Yup, finals: everyone’s favorite time. 

But, finals don’t have to suck this year. Here are some relaxing hobbies to help you calm down and enjoy life during this hard time.

  • Coloring! Get out your sketchbook and draw, or print some cute coloring pages online and color them in. This is a perfect hobby because NOTHING has to be perfect, you can make it as messy or as perfect as you want. Coloring is shown to help improve your focus and boost your creativity, so definitely consider coloring this May.

  • Baking! Who doesn’t love a delicious warm chocolate chip cookie, or an amazing decorated slice of cake? Take some time to bake sweet treats for yourself, your friends, and your families. Not only is this a great hobby because you can tune out to some music and just follow a recipe (which takes almost no brain power), but you also get to eat your incredible creations afterwards.

  • Gardening! Personally, I can’t really garden, but this is a proven hobby to help people destress. By going outside and connecting with nature, you’re letting your brain drift away. This helps your cognitive function, which then helps you with testing.

  • Literally anything you want. Any hobby of yours can help you keep your mind off of testing. Whether you’re playing video games or biking, just doing something you enjoy will help you feel better.

    Take care of yourself this testing season. Try your best to get around 8 hours of sleep. I know it’s hard with sports and clubs, but by doing this you will feel less exhausted and your brain WILL WORK BETTER. Don’t stay up all night studying, because you will eventually fall asleep and not retain anything. So, ENJOY YOURSELF and STOP STRESSING.

How to Bake an Apple Crisp – for ONE

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Apple Crisps were a staple of my childhood, and this recipe was an adaptation of my grandmother’s recipe. This recipe creates a combination of sweet and tart, and if you love cinnamon-y desserts, then this recipe is for you.

Yields: 1 serving

Ingredients:

Filling:

  • 1 Granny Smith apple (or another baking apple)
  • 1 Tablespoon of Sugar
  • Pinch of Cinnamon (measure with your heart)

Topping:

  • 2 Tablespoons of Oats
  • 2 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons of Flour
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoon of Butter melted or very soft

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit
  2. Peel and slice apples into slices, just under 1/4″ thick and roughly 1″ in length. In a bowl, sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over the apple slices, and toss until well coated. Set aside.
  3. Combine the dry ingredients (flour, oats, brown sugar, & cinnamon)
  4. Add melted/very soft butter
  5. Mix until well combined.
  6. Place the sliced apples in a thick paper baking cup or a small oven safe bowl or ramekin.
  7. Spoon the topping “crisp” over the apples.
  8. Bake for 25 minutes or until the apples are soft (you can check with a fork) and the topping is golden and crisp.
  9. Cool as needed, but I think it tastes best while warm.

Serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, and enjoy! Personally, I think this apple crisp recipe is pretty hard to beat. Try it for yourself!

-Jenna G.

How to Bake Buttermilk Biscuits

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Image from https://www.bakingbeauty.net/buttermilk-biscuits/

Well, this recipe was introduced to me by one of my teachers, but I removed a couple of ingredients from that list for simplicity and tweaked the directions a bit to help with efficiency. I’ve fallen in love with these biscuits, and baking has slowly started to become a hobby of mine as a result. This recipe only requires six simple ingredients and is overall a perfect recipe for amateur bakers.

Yields: 8-12 biscuits depending on size

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups (260 grams) Flour, plus more for shaping/kneading the biscuits
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt (if using regular butter that contains salt, only use 1/2 teaspoon of salt)
  • 5 Tablespoons (2.5 ounces) cold no-salt butter cut into chunks
  • 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons of Buttermilk or Yogurt (If you don’t have Buttermilk or Yogurt, you can use regular milk, add 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to one cup of milk, let stand for 5 minutes. Or add 1 & 3/4 teaspoons of cream of tartar to one cup of milk.)

Do Ahead: Cut the 5 Tablespoons of butter into small chunks (about 10-15) and place in a small plate/bowl in the refrigerator. When you are ready to make your biscuits, the cold butter will work better in this recipe.

Directions:

  1. Heat the oven/air fryer to 450 degrees F
  2. Mix the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together in a large bowl.
  3. Add the cold butter and press it into the flour mixture until well combined.
  4. Add the buttermilk and stir just until the mixture until the mixture is well combined.
  5. Spread some flour on your work surface and turn the dough out onto the flour
  6. Knead the dough a few times. Add flour to hands if dough is sticky.
  7. Press the dough into 3/4 inch thickness and cut into biscuit rounds. You can use a glass or can to do this.
  8. Put the biscuits on an ungreased baking sheet.
  9. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.

These buttermilk biscuits are great with butter and/or honey and are also an amazing way to involve carbs and fiber in your diet!

Enjoy!

-Jenna G.

Churro Cookies – recipe

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Since the holidays are around the corner, I thought making churro cookies would be a unique twist on traditional holiday cookies. Similar to snickerdoodles, these chewy cinnamon desserts make a perfect companion for a glass of milk or eggnog!

Ingredients

Cookies (12)

  • 1/2 cup softened butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Cinnamon sugar mix

  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Buttercream

  • 1/4 cup room temperature butter
  • 1-2 (up to you) tbsp cinnamon
  • splash of heavy whipping cream

Instructions

Mix + Bake cookies (Don’t incorporate buttercream ingredients.)

  1. Mix cinnamon sugar
  2. preheat oven to 350 fahrenheit
  3. cream butter & sugar until fluffy and light
  4. scrape sides and beat in egg & vanilla
  5. scrape sides and add flour, baking soda, & cinnamon.
  6. Make dough balls, dip them in mixed cinnamon sugar, flatten, and arrange on pan.
  7. Bake for 14-17 minutes, make sure they’re not glossy

Make frosting and frost!

8. Whip butter until smooth, add sugar, whipping cream, & cinnamon. Pipe and serve!

How To Make A Better Cake From A Box Mix

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I love baking. I love it, but rarely have the time for it. So, I use a good ol’ cake box mix when I can. Here is a way to elevate YOUR box mix so your family is drooling over your sweets.

Materials you will need:

  • Box mix of your choice (I used a red velvet box mix)
  • One 3.4 ounce box of INSTANT pudding mix. Make sure you choose a pudding flavor that goes with your cake mix (Vanilla->Vanilla, Chocolate/Red Velvet-> Chocolate, etc.)
  •  One cup of sour cream or plain greek yogurt (You don’t need much, get the smallest container)
  •  4 Eggs
  • ½ cup of water
  • ½ cup of vegetable/canola/olive (what ever you have) oil
  • 1 cup of chocolate chips if you choose chocolate or red velvet cake

For starters, just listen to the box mix for oven temperature. Put the first 6 ingredients in a bowl and mix on medium with an electric mixer. After that, pour the batter into your respected pan and bake for however long the cake box says.

Using these steps, your cake triples its moisture factor. They also become a lot thicker, making them GREAT bundt cakes.  I really recommend using these steps to make your cakes (or cupcakes) even tastier!

The Bliss Trilogy by Kathryn Littlewood

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bliss_klittlewood*Note: the last two summaries may include spoilers to their previous book

Over the summer, I became engulfed in an intriguing book series, the Bliss trilogy. In the first book, Bliss, problems arise when the Bliss parents go on a baking retreat for one week. Their children, Thyme, Sage, Leigh, and Rosemary, the main character, are left with an unfriendly babysitter to take care of them and their magical bakery. The kids know they must protect the secret of the magical bakery while their parents are away. However, when the mysterious Aunt Lily arrives unexpectedly, things quickly get out of hand. Humorous turns of events create chaos when several enchanted recipes completely turn around the people of their hometown, Calamity Falls. Unsure of whom to trust, will Rosemary Bliss and her two brothers be able to save their home before it all comes crashing down?

In the smashing sequel to the first book, A Dash of Magic, nefarious Aunt Lily has stolen the Bliss family magical cookbook. Rosemary Bliss must defeat her mighty Aunt Lily in a baking contest, France’s Gala des Gateaux Grands, in order to save her family’s all-powerful cookbook. Along with an alliance of a talking cat and mouse, her great-great-great grandfather Balthazar, and her brother Ty, Rose encounters many close calls and wacky magical ingredients. A Dash of Magic is a thrilling book, which many Bliss fans will love.

Finally, the grand finale to the inspiring Bliss trilogy is called Bite Sized Magic. All Rose had ever wanted was to be famous, but after winning the Gala des Gateaux Grands, she realizes it is a lot more work than she imagined. She is soon kidnapped by the Mostess snack company, which uses kitchen magic for evil rather than good. They threaten her into perfecting their best selling (and most evil) recipes in a mere five days. To save her family and herself, and to defeat this wicked baking company, Rose must face one of her most fearsome challenges yet.

This trilogy is hilarious, wacky, magical, and fascinating, all rolled up into one series! I would recommend these books for all ages, although they might be overwhelmingly long for younger kids. Since I love baking and reading, I was thrilled when I received the first book as a gift from one of my friends, and I immediately bought the next two. I fell in love with the hilarious wit and charm included in each and every novel, and the incredible imagery made me feel like I was traveling alongside Rose, all the way from Calamity Falls to the majestic city of Paris. Her handsome brother Ty, sweet sister Leigh, comedic brother Sage, encouraging parents, and her crazy pets and grandfather all make the story that much more enticing. Readers will fall in love with all of the characters, the plot, and a sensational touch of magic while reading the outstanding Bliss trilogy!

-Alaina K., 7th Grade

The Bliss Trilogy is available for check out from the Mission Viejo Public Library.