As we approach cooler weather, this time of year calls for cozy feelings of comfort for many college students. Decreasing outside temperatures often call for lazy days or evenings at home, many spent baking.
Personally, I find myself feeling nostalgic much more in college than I ever did before. Spending most of my year in my college apartment, my baking time looks very different than it did when I still lived at home. Living in a colder climate than my home in South Florida leads me to reminisce on some of the coziest aspects of home, those that can help me warm up both inside and outside in Tallahassee.
Recently, I have been thinking about incorporating wholesome flashbacks of childhood baking sessions into my college life. Although my life looks different now as I am in my twenties, one thing that remains is my love for sweets and being in touch with my inner child. Here are three of the recipes I’ve been enjoying baking, as making and eating them does a great job of helping me destress!
1. Chocolate Blackout Cupcakes
First off, this recipe is important to me, because as a child my favorite food was cupcakes —  specifically chocolate ones. I had a tradition with my mom of making cupcakes for every special occasion: our birthdays, holidays, and even when we were just craving them.
The reason these cupcakes stand out to me is their ultra-rich chocolate flavor. I used to love buying these same types of chocolate ganache cupcakes at cupcake shops as a child. However, I wish I had known that it was so easy to make them at home! Instead of making my more basic type of chocolate cupcakes with regular frosting, I could’ve been making these next-level cupcakes. That’s where satisfying your inner child comes in.
2. Apple Pie
Baking apple pie with my family, especially my grandparents, was always a tradition. This apple pie is a classic and reminds me exactly of the apple pies my grandpa and I used to make. Another great part about this recipe is that it can be modified in any way to suit your own taste preferences.
Personally, I like to add ice cream on top of my apple pie, with added chocolate syrup when I’m craving something delightfully sweet. After all, I’ve replicated that same practice since childhood. If this isn’t your forte, you can even play around with adding cheese, changing the crust ingredient, or even adding different fruits along with the apple base.
3. Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
Feeling cozy? One of my favorite sweet treats to eat on a chilly, comfy night is chocolate chip cookies. I still have the same favorite dessert food as I did when I was a child — and that’s exactly where this personal connection stems from.
These chocolate chip cookies, as seen above, mimic the texture and rich flavor you would get from a bakery. Similar to my childhood love for getting chocolate cupcakes at bakeries, I also loved getting chocolate chip cookies, as they were always so much better than frozen sheet cookies. I knew I had to try this top-rated recipe since I first read the title, and I was not disappointed. This cookie recipe brings my chill evenings up an extra notch, accompanying my laptop, blanket, and a feel-good movie.
Those are three of the recipes I’m obsessed with right now, all because they bring me back to childhood in an instant. Though I have my own nostalgic reasons to love them, I’m sure anyone can fall in love with baking these classic sweet treats.
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