Welcome!

Hey Everyone!

Can’t tell you how excited I am for this – my very first blog post!

I suppose I should start by introducing myself…
By day, I’m a just a regular cubicle-dwelling gal. No, I’m not a professional pastry chef (but a girl can dream, right?!)… I’m just a girl who LOVES baking. And when I say love, I do mean it… every teeny tiny detail. The sight of all your ingredients laid out on the counter; the sounds of the mixer as it whips up your favourite cake batter; the squishy feeling of a fresh batch of cookie dough; the smell (oh man, the smell!) of cinnamon baking in the oven; and, well obviously, the taste! I think everyone on earth craves the taste of really amazing baked goods, right?!

So, why The Baking Nerd? (although, I feel I may have just answered that one…)

Well, let me ask you this…
Do you dream about recipes? Do you get over-the-top excited about chocolate chips? Or butterscotch chips?? Or peanut butter chips?!? Do you plan your vacations around your baking schedule? If you answered yes to all – then you might be a Baking Nerd, too! I knew it wasn’t just me 😉

Of course, I don’t mean Nerd in the science-y, comic book-y, Big Bang Theory-y kind of way. I just mean that I am completely, passionately obsessed with baking, and everything that comes along with it. And I want to share my nerdy love of all things baking with the world!

(I also might be nerd-level obsessed with other non-baking things… but we’ll get to those later.)

So what kinds of things do I bake?
I’m so glad you asked! The answer is – pretty much anything. I definitely have tons of cookies (and their much more easygoing sibling, the bar cookie) in my regular rotation, but I also do cakes, cupcakes, brownies, loaves, and TONS of no-bake treats. I’m not really fussy about presentation, or decoration (in fact, I’m potentially one of the worst decorators you’ll ever meet!)… as long as they taste incredible, that’s all that matters!

Pretty much, if it contains butter and sugar, then I’m on board.

Ok, so now that we’re all besties… let’s get this show on the road!

I debated pretty hard on what my first ever recipe post would be – so I finally decided just to go back to the beginning of my baking career, with the very first recipe I ever made on my own. Some people call them Chocolate Macaroons, others say Haystacks, but to me, they’re Cocoa Quickies!

These amazing cookies are a definite go-to in my no-bake recipe box. My brothers and I used to whip up a batch of these after school, and since they’re super quick, we had time to devour the whole thing before mom and dad got home! The only problem was waiting for them to cool enough that you didn’t scorch the roof of your mouth on the first bite. I wish I could tell you I only did that once… but… They’re really good, ok?? You  just wait and see!

The whole recipe comes together in no time – and it’s all done in one pot on your stove. There’s so little cleanup involved, there’s really no reason not to make these everyday… in fact, I think you should.

They’re SUPER easy to customize, with what I call the “Mix Ins”. While these are awesome all on their own, you can step it up a notch and throw in any of the following:
~your favourite nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds)
~toffee bits
~baking chips – any flavour! Chocolate, white, PB… anything goes!

Oh, and this is also one of the best licking-the-wooden-spoon recipes ever. I think most people are with me on this being one of the best parts of baking 🙂

I personally use a cookie scoop for these (best baking tool ever!!), but you can use grandma’s tried and true Two Teaspoons method, too.

So go now… make a huge batch, and share them with some awesome people.

Talk soon! =0)
~The Baking Nerd

 

Cocoa Quickies

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 tbsp cocoa
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3 cups oatmeal
• 1 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup Mix In (optional)
  • nuts, toffee bits, baking chips*

In a saucepan, mix together milk, butter, sugar and cocoa; bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add the vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients*. Working quickly, drop by spoonfulls onto waxed paper, or greased cookie sheet. Cool until cookies are firm, about 15 mins. Enjoy!

*Please note, if you’re going to use baking chips as your Mix In, I would recommend putting them into the freezer for at least an hour prior to mixing them in. Also, stir in the oatmeal and coconut first, to allow the mixture time to cool. One you stir in the frozen chips, work quickly to scoop them out – you don’t want to end up with a melty mess – unless that’s what you’re going for 🙂