Out of all of the things I’ve made, these chocolate chip cookies will always be my favorite thing to bake. Even though it’s a simple chocolate chip recipe and there are plenty of ways to elevate them — browning my butter, for one — I’ll always return to this recipe. These chocolate chip cookies are one of the first things I baked from scratch, something that everyone always loved. I fondly look back to high school and think of all the nights I stayed up to make these cookies for my friends. Not only would they be my go-to dish to bring during a potluck, but they would be the perfect stress-relieving procrastination method; rather than completing my various homework assignments, I would take the time to bake almost 40 cookies. While it was a long-term detriment to my sleep schedule, as I would inevitably have to finish my homework assignments later at night, baking cookies was my way of shedding all of my other worries. Even now, regardless of what I’m baking, I allow myself to empty my brain, replacing my stressful thoughts with how many cups of flour I need, or how many teaspoons of vanilla to add, or what temperature I need to set the oven to.
To some, cooking and baking are on the same level; and as someone who loves both I can assure you they are not. As I cook, I am hyper aware of how much of each ingredient I’m adding, not because cooking requires diligence, but because it can go so awry so quickly. While adding more seasonings may not randomly cause the food to go bad or burn, it may make the food uneatable. On the other hand, baked goods may end up sour for other reasons; it’s more dependent on the chemical reactions between the lipids, the baking soda/powder, and the heat, making room for experimentation slim. I’m particular about what ingredients I add to the bowl, and the exact quantity. For this reason, it is easier to turn off my brain and simply follow the recipe. As I cream the sugars and butter together, I follow the motion of the whisk around the bowl, focusing on how my arm moves to create the motion. Regardless of what emotion I might be feeling at that moment, baking is an easy way to redirect my attention. Rather than being anxious about various aspects of my life, I can choose to channel those anxieties into the comforting act of mixing wet ingredients, sifting dry ingredients, and eventually combining both to create my dough. Even before I wrote this article and finished my lab report, I chose to make another batch of chocolate chip cookies to avoid my responsibilities.