Bake Away the Day

So, IJH and I are dating now. It's FBO (that's Facebook officially, y'all) and everything. It's definitely added a new element to my life, and all of the silly concerns I had roughly a month ago have flown out of my mind. It's been a fantastic month, getting to know him, and I'm excited (and, of course, nervous) to see where it takes us.

It's had an interesting side effect, though. I've been baking at least once, if not twice, a day for the past week or so. It all began when I made snicker doodles and mint chocolate chip cookies in preparation for our third date. It was a picnic, and yes, it was everything I hoped and wanted.

Contrary to the title, IJH isn't stressing me at all, but I think the convergence of a new relationship with the end of one of my hardest summer classes put my brain in overdrive. How do I compensate?

Baking.

So far, there's been three or so batches of snicker doodles, one batch of mint chocolate chip cookies (complete with a Yoda-shaped cut out for IJH), a dozen almond and vanilla scones, a failed batch of red (green because of my lack of red food dye) velvet cookies, and then tonights creation:

Butterless Sugar Cookies with a Chai-Inspired Sprinkle

I took the recipe from this blogger after a Google search for simple sugar cookie recipes with no butter. I ran out last night after the failed green velvet cookies, but felt compelled to try something new again tonight. 

I set the oven for 375 instead of 400, so I didn't run the risk of burning the bottoms without cooking the insides, and baked them for about 10 minutes. It'll be between 9 and 12 depending on what kind of oven you have. 

Also, I used Bourbon Madagascar Vanilla extract instead of regular vanilla extract, and made the Chai-Inspired Sprinkle myself. Here's the recipe:

Chai-Inspired Sprinkle

1 tbsp white granulated sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 tbsp all spice 

That's it! Sprinkle it on your cookies after they're into balls on the cookie sheet, then pop it in the oven. 

These cookies turned out to be fantastic, perfect to have with milk, tea, or your beverage of choice during an afternoon tea time. In addition, it turned out to be a recipe I didn't need my standing mixer for, instead mixing by hand, and I would recommend everyone else try the same if they have time. It's incredibly therapeutic, especially when you've had a stressful (read: semi-bad grade) day and need to make something with your own hands.

I'll probably make these again for my granddad (henceforth referred to as Star Player) at some point, once he's off his diet. Right now he's still valiantly resisting the scones from the other night even when I catch him staring at them longingly.

You know what else the baking started? Writing. Last night I sat down and pushed out two poems, both titled with cookie names, and they're actually decent. I usually have a love/hate relationship with my writing, but they're pretty decent. Maybe I'll release a cookbook/poetry book combo one of these days.

Until next time, enjoy the recipe.

E xxx