Time away from your main focus, to bake, might be just the break you need.
When procrastination strikes, as it often does for me, it's important to have a variety of recipes that tailor to my baking needs. Depending on the time and situation of my procrastination I might want to make something extravagant like a three-layer cake with buttercream frosting, or I may be inspired to bake a dessert on the "healthy" side like a vegan cookie. Nonetheless, what follows is a list of emotionally synced forms of baking for when procrastibaking unexpectedly strikes.
The Not Hungry but Want to Create
Sometimes I’m in the mood to cook or bake, usually to avoid schoolwork or cleaning, but I’m not hungry. And when I’m not hungry I rarely have cravings. In these crises I still need to address my cooking needs, therefore I have created a small array of “recipes” that allow me to cook but are “productive” in their own right. So, if I’m not completing the more pressing work, I need to feel that I am completing something. This is one of the reasons that I also view baking as a therapy because it allows you to build confidence- although sometimes false- that you’re doing something valuable. And simply feeling productive can motivate you to do the things that you feel need to be done. Usually, I’ll combine a couple of the cooking/baking tasks below to fill my time in the kitchen because the last thing I want is to be energized to cook and have nowhere to put my energy.
Make a nut butter
Nut butters can be a simple or extravagant task in the kitchen. It starts by roasting nuts, and in the time that your nuts are roasting you can either prepare your ingredients (also called mise en please) or if you want to really go down a cooking rabbit hole start another recipe entirely.
But don’t run off and get too distracted or you may start to smell burning nuts.
Another thing that I love about making nut butter is that when you want to get fancy you can make it a flavored nut butter or make one hundred different varieties. I find it simplest to start with a nut base like almonds then make a batch of sunflower almond butter and a batch of vanilla cinnamon almond butter so you can use one food processor and not contaminate each batch with a couple different nut/seed flavors.
The goal here is to give yourself a task to curve your procrastibaking drive and make something that will last you another week, maybe less if you have a lot of people in your house, because there is no doubt homemade roasted nut butter will be a hit.
Here are some base recipes:
My favorite being from Amy Chaplin in her book At Home in the Whole Foods Kitchen, and one from Minimalist Baker
Mix together a seasoning/spice blend.
I think making a seasoning blend is the perfect procrastibaking task that can be made simply by looking up a recipe and tossing some powders together or can be completely elevated by blending your own spices.
In my pantry I always have at least a couple whole spices, although admittedly I don't use them often because ground is perfect for cooking and baking in a rush. Even though I know they aren’t as fresh or fragrant as the freshly ground spices. Things like black peppercorns, and star anise always seem to be in my pantry whole rather than ground. And these two are perfect for making an East Asian spice blend called Five Spice Powder. With a couple additional spices that are in most pantries you should be on your way to make an extremely unique seasoning distinctly different from most Western palettes. (This spice blend is perfect for making scallion pancakes. The recipe I’ve used before for the pancakes.)
One of my favorite blends to make that is perfect served on almost any seafood or meat is a Cajun blend. I also love mixing together an everything bagel seasoning that is wonderful on soft boiled eggs or avocado toast.
Recipes: everything bagel seasoning (I scale up this recipe to make additional to keep on hand), Cajun seasoning, five spice powder
Making Vanilla Extract
This would be a little too short of a process for me personally to relieve all my procrastibaking energy but it’s no doubt something I wanted to start, and I think you will to.
I had never thought about making my own vanilla extract before I saw Ina Garten showing her opaque jar of “good” homemade vanilla in a NYT cooking video. She went on the explain that it only required two simple ingredients, vanilla beans, and vodka.
Admittedly I was a little hesitant to throw a bunch of expensive vanilla beans into a jar and cover them with vodka: two expensive items. But Ina told me that this would last forever. I can’t guarantee that because it hasn’t been forever since I started my vanilla extract although it has been a good couple month. And frankly the more I think about it the more it makes sense that it will last forever because vodka, being alcohol, preserves things and if I add vodka to the bottle each time I take vanilla from it, then it should last forever.
Despite the size of jar Ina uses I started with a much smaller glass bottle. Since, I was still a little hesitant to go all in on a jar that large filled with an expensive amount of vanilla beans, I’m currently using a recycled glass lemon juice bottle.
For this recipe there is no recipe. Simply place vanilla beans in a jar (I started with about 6 beans for a 6 oz bottle) and fill until the beans are covered in vodka. Then let sit as long as you can before you use it, ideally 6 months minimum so the vodka can take on flavor as well as a brownish color. Although, I won’t lie I only waited about 4 months before using it because the vodka had turned slightly brown, and it smelled like good vanilla.
And for when you feel like taking your sweet time:
Cake.
I love procastibaking cake because there are so many creative routes a cake can travel. There is the opportunity to make a Russian honey cake with thin elegant crepe like layers or a Norwegian blotkake with fresh cream and blackberries or a Nigerian Lane cake with raisins and alcohol. And when you’re feeling nostalgic there is always the opportunity to make a yellow cake with whipped chocolate butter cream. Even if you’re in a healthy mood you can make a cake with almond flour and maple syrup as the natural sweetener. And if you want to make smaller cakes you can bake some cupcakes. Or if it’s cold outside and you’re craving some chocolate you can make a lava cake. Nonetheless, cake provides endless opportunities for creativity and flexibility. If you're not in the mood to make five cake layers each a different flavor like in an earth day cake then a cupcake recipe is sitting right around the corner.
Alternate recipes: Russian honey cake, Norwegian Blotkake, Nigerian Lane cake (no alternate recipe), yellow cake w/ buttercream
Ultimately listen when your mind is telling you to procrastinate because whether you feel that you’ve been working hard enough or not, your mind is telling you to take a break or change scenery. I’ve found that procrastination is the breaking point when I haven’t given myself enough leeway to properly focus and I end up getting less work accomplished. Rather than when I allow myself needed breaks I'm able to find my way back on track. And baking something might be just the kind of break your mind needs.
All photos courtesy of Georgia.