A College Student’s Guide To Baking
When you’re a college student, having homemade baked goods is a luxury. Most students don’t have the time or the supplies to bake very often, but if you have access to a few main things and ingredients, there’s a lot you can do! From cookies to breads to cupcakes, you can really do it all! Baking in college doesn’t have to be complicated and overwhelming, so here’s our full guide—complete with tips and recipes—to help you become a college baker.
Tip #1
You really just need an oven! Don’t worry about a lot of the other technologies used for baking, such as electric mixers—you can usually mix things by hand. If you can get access to a regular oven—either on your floor, in your dorm, or in your room—you should be pretty good to go.
Recipe #1
Chocolate chip cookies are one of the most popular baked goods of all time, if not the absolute most. They’re also very easy to make from scratch, so this is a great recipe to help you begin your foray into the world of baking! Here are the ingredients you’ll need:
- 1 ¾ cups of flour
- 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup of sugar
- ¼ cup of brown sugar
- ½ cup of butter (softened)
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon of baking soda
- ½ teaspoon of salt
Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. After that, combine the softened butter and both the sugars in a large bowl, making sure to mix thoroughly. Next, add the egg and vanilla and continue to mix.
Finally, add in the rest of the dry ingredients (not including the chocolate chips yet) and stir everything in until the mixture is well combined, and the dough is smooth. At this point you can begin to fold in the chocolate chips.
Now grab a baking sheet and place a couple tablespoons of dough every two inches apart on the sheet. Bake these for about 7-10 minutes, let them cool, and they’re ready to serve and enjoy!
Tip #2
If you have a few basic baking containers, you can make most recipes. This includes a square or rectangular pan, a cake tin, a cupcake tin, and a baking sheet. These items are pretty cheap and easy to find at most grocery, and they’ll last you a long time so it’s a great investment!
Recipe #2
Homemade cupcakes always taste so much better than ones made from a box mix. This super easy vanilla cupcake recipe will guarantee you moist, delicious cupcakes that taste like they were made with love! Here’s what you will need:
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 ½ cups of flour
- ½ cup of butter (softened)
- ½ cup of milk
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- A pinch of salt
First you need to make sure you have a cupcake pan lined with paper liners and an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then begin by mixing together the eggs and the sugar in a large bowl. Once those are well mixed, add in the softened butter and vanilla extract.
Now add in the rest of the dry ingredients, and then begin to add the milk in small increments as you continue to stir. Once everything has been added, mix the batter until it is smooth (but make sure not to overmix).
You can pour or scoop the batter into each cupcake liner—about 2/3rds of the way—and then place the tin in the oven for about 17-20 minutes. Make sure to let these cool thoroughly before adding frosting!
Bonus: Buttercream Frosting Recipe
Those cupcakes simply won’t be complete without some delicious frosting, and buttercream is something that you can add to lots of baked goods! Know a simple and yummy recipe for frosting is important, so here’s a good one to follow—you’ll need these ingredients:
- 7 tablespoons of butter (softened)
- 1 ¾ cups of powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons of heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Just mix all these ingredients together extremely well (and quite quickly) and you’ll have whipped up a super easy buttercream frosting that can go on your cupcakes, as well as anything else you’d ever need to frost!
Tip #3
When it comes to buying ingredients and saving money, just make sure to have the basics: flour, sugar, butter, eggs, and sometimes milk and vanilla extract. You can do a lot with just these few items, and things like flour and sugar will lost for a pretty long time; you won’t have to repurchase those ingredients often. Baking really isn’t that expensive, especially if you budget well and use things sparingly!
Recipe #3
Brownies are a classic treat, and they can be enjoyed either plain or with some vanilla ice cream on the side! No matter you decide to eat them, they don’t take much effort to make, and the recipe is quite simple. You just need the following ingredients:
- 1 bag (12 ounces) of semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup of butter
- 1 ½ cups of sugar
- 1 ½ cups of flour
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon of salt
First and foremost, as usual, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, either over the stove or in the microwave, begin melting the butter and chocolate chips together. No matter which method you use, make sure to stir intermittently and often so that the mixture doesn’t burn.
Once you’ve melted your butter and chocolate, mix in the sugar and vanilla. Then add in your eggs and make sure that each egg is fully mixed in. Now you can put in the flour and salt and combine it all together until you have smooth, chocolatey batter.
Pour the batter into a greased pan (either square or rectangular) and bake for about 20 minutes. Then, turn the heat down to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for another 10 minutes. Once you’ve let the pan cool, you can enjoy your delicious and easy homemade brownies!
