What does an aspiring perfectionist who has little to no control over her life do during a national emergency? Well, apparently she excessively bakes and cleans. 

Over spring break, while trapped inside my house, insomnia was becoming my worst enemy. At midnight on Thursday, I broke down and felt a strange and unusual urge to immediately bake. As I previously mentioned, I hate the possibility of failure which is why I never was one to bake or cook. But, when I have Pinterest instructions and a recipe in front of me, I am unstoppable. 

Now, if you’re wondering what I made that night, it was pretty simple: oatmeal chocolate-chip cookies. But, ever since then the difficulty has increased for the majority of the treats. I made cinnamon sugar doughnut muffins, which were relatively easy. Then, for breakfast over the weekend, I made sheet-pan pancakes with strawberries and pecans (pictured). Finally – and by far the most challenging – I baked a tres leches (three milks) cake, which was absolutely delicious. And later on in the week, I plan on making brookies, which are chocolate chip brownie bars. 

Here are a few tips that I have now that I am somewhat well-versed in, in the baking world. Be sure to be on the lookout for recipes that have the dry ingredients and wet ingredients in separate bowls. Never forget to grease your pan. When the recipe calls for melted butter, check to see if the melted butter needs to be cooled before it is incorporated into the dough/batter. Also, double-check pan sizes and how many baked goods each recipe yields. ( I accidentally baked about 30 cookies at midnight.)  And here is a quick Pinterest tip: when choosing recipes from a Pinterest search, try to only select recipes that have reviews and positive comments underneath the post. 

Below are links to the recipes I have used and plan to use!)

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins

Sheet Pan Pancakes

Tres Leches Cake

Cinnamon Crumble Banana Bread

Confetti Cake Batter Cookies

Brookies

Image courtesy of Maya McCall ’20.