Try these family-favorite baked goods this summer!

One of my many hobbies includes baking, specifically desserts. My love of baking started around when I was in the fourth grade. My grandma would always throw me into the kitchen, and we would try and create something we found online and thought we might like. Sometimes they come out exactly like we have imagined, and other times they were a failure. Every time we started mixing together another recipe, I would love every minute even more.

Then, I started baking on my own and finding out how to perfect recipes I had made multiple times. Baking has always been one of my many passions because I love sharing it with my friends and family.

My favorite thing to bake is cakes with fun scenes — even though I am not very good at piping. The buttercream and batter almost always turn out exactly how I imagine them. I tend to go for a simple scene with buttercream, but I always get carried away and create a cake that looks different from what I originally had in mind. All the different colors clash together, but they create something that you can tell exactly what is going on.

I’m always super happy with how the cake tastes rather than how it looks.

I like baking so much because it is an excellent way for me to express myself in a way that can be fun for everyone. I also love sharing my ideas through a form of art that usually tastes good.

When I bake, I will usually do it on Sunday, and I will bring my various treats to school, dinner parties, and give them away to the neighbors. On those Sundays, I bake whatever I am in the mood for, and that can range from cookies to cakes. My family gave many different recipes that they have been using for many years, and I love to put my own spin on them.

My recipes all come from different places including online, cookbooks and random sheets of paper that have measurements written out on them.

My favorite recipe to make is a family recipe called Jim’s Mother’s Chocolate Chip Cookies. Every single time that we have made them, they always come out so delicious and everyone loves them. There is also a really fun backstory that goes along with it. Jim was a little boy that lived across the street from my mom’s house, and Jim’s mother would always make the best chocolate chip cookies. She gave that recipe to my grandma, and that is how we started making our favorite chocolate chip cookies.

Baking has always helped me through many boring weekends where we were just sitting at home all day. It keeps me busy, and that is one of the many reasons why I love it so much. It is also a great way for me to share my idea of art without being the most artistic person. Baking is a hobby and a passion of mine.

I hope that whenever I make something, someone always enjoys it, whether they like the picture I’m creating or the taste of it!

JIM'S MOTHER'S CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

1 cup shortening

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

¾ cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon soda in 1 tablespoon hot water

½ teaspoon salt

2 ½ cups flour

12 ounces chocolate chips

1 cup nuts (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Cream shortening and white sugar until light and fluffy.

Mix in eggs and vanilla then add brown sugar, soda/hot water.

Stir in salt, flour, chocolate chips and nuts (optional).

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes at 375 degrees.