Hi bakers! Iโm sharing a different kind of post today. Itโs not a recipe, not a baking article, and itโs not an update on life. Itโs a short post where we can all reflect on what baking means to us, either how insignificant or how profound.
I published todayโs post on my website a few years ago, and am revisiting it. I received so many incredible responses, and learned just how profound the art of baking can be.
If these words resonate with you, I encourage you to share what baking means to you.
What Baking Means to Me
Besides being an obvious means to an end (a baked good), the act of baking is a form of my self expression. I create what I want to create, however little or magnificent that baked good may be. A mindless rice krispie treat or a tall, towering wedding cake.
When I worked a 9-to-5 job in a corporate environment, coming home and baking cupcakes (even from a box mix!) helped me relax and unwind. It simply โfelt like me.โ In a job where I didnโt have much creative freedom, baking truly kept me fulfilled and energized.
And, not to mention, itโs a double whammy of awesomenessโฆ baking makes me happy and baked goods make everyone happy. Spreading joy is immensely powerful.
I was able to make a full-time career out of this passion. 12 years later (!!!), baking still provides the same amount of joy and creative freedom. But on a more serious note, baking also helps manage my anxiety. A chronic worrier since my teen years, I find the structure and focus that baking requires to be soothing. Iโm in control of the outcome (well, mostly!) and that control is important during times that my anxiety feels debilitating. Baking is my work, my โme time,โ and, well, my medicine.
Iโm very grateful Iโm able to do it.
And the same may be true for you, too. Itโs not just about baking cookies, itโs about the joy and calm that come with it. What baking is to me may be knitting, painting, reading, running, yoga, or music to someone else. How incredible that a hobby, or a job, can be a form of therapy.
So, what does baking mean to you?
Photo credit: Paragraphic
Reader Comments and Reviews
Baking makes life a little sweeter! Iโm the only one in my friends/acquaintances who bakes. They see it as a gift.
I have tour cook book Sallyโs Baking Addiction and I LOVE the Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies. Iโd like to gift them. Can I triple the recipe or would that need adjustments?
Thank you for your website. It has been a blessing for me, my family, friends, and community!
I was a stay at home mom for 20 years & now my kids are all grown up. Thatโs been really tough for me. Iโve always loved baking but never had enough time to really get into it. Now I have the time & I absolutely love it. I like to try new recipies & bring some to the kids. Itโs kind of become our new thing trying the new recipes & everyone sharing there opinion. I love your baking challenges, I really look forward to them every month.
Baking has kept us connected & I really needed that.
Thank you so much for sharing your recipies with us.
Iโm a professor, so my days often bleed in to one another, not really starting at 9 or ending at 5, so baking is also my creative outlet. Iโm also high-anxiety, and the process of putting everything together and measuring it out is so calming. The delicious treats at the end are always a huge plus and my students love it too! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for asking about ours!
I love Sallyโs Baking Recipes so much! Iโve been following since I was in high school (now Iโm 25), and my favorite part is how the people in my life begin using Sally too, after they try the recipes I make. Itโs incredible how so many people in my life, through all stages of my life, will text me and say, โHave you tried the latest Sally cookie?โ It makes me so so happy, and Iโm so grateful that youโve created this platform that can spread so much joy! You really bring us together, Sally, and give us peace and fun with your recipes. Thank you so much!
Now this makes ME so happy! Monica, thank you so much for sharing, and Iโm glad my recipes have brought so much joy to so many people around the world, and in your life! Appreciate you trusting and loving my recipes, and for so long. ๐
I had recently retired and was really struggling to find a new routine. I was depressed but didnโt want to go back to work! My sister shared a SBA recipe or two with me and I loved the results. I started following Sally more and more, getting her emails, etc. I have really gotten into baking cookies! Itโs my new โthing.โ I have two of Sallyโs cookbooks which I treasure. If you donโt have her books, go ahead and get one or two! Theyโre beautifully done. To make a long story short, baking cookies has really been a help to me. I find it very peaceful and rewarding. Everything I make that comes from Sally is the best! I just made the Brown Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies today and OMG! Absolutely delicious. I want to add how very much Iโve learned from Sally, things that guarantee perfect results. I tell everyone about Sallyโs Baking Addiction! Iโm addicted! I recently bought my best friend a copy of Sallyโs Baking Addiction cookbook and a cookie scoop for her birthday. She was thrilled. Sheโs told me how she wants to make everything in the cookbook! Thank you to Sally and Staff! Canโt wait for the new cookbook!
I love your website and have made many delicious treats. I am spreading the word as well to family and friends. I taught myself to bake in my 20โs and have loved it ever since. I share everything I bake with many elderly neighbors and since the COVID weโve hosted a drive thru Bake Sale monthly to benefit our firehouse. Residents can request of a baked goodie via e-mail. We sell out every month! Baking is a stress reducer for me as well and I get such joy from it as well as my 6 grandsons. I made your FABULOUS zucchini โ cake โ with the applesauce and it was a slam dunk! Stuffing his mouth with a piece of the cake he exclaimed โ This is the BEST banana cake Iโve ever had Nun nun!โ โโ๏ธ Thank you for your enthusiasm, encouragement and positivity. The boys would tell you โ You rockโ!
I bake because there is nothing! like a fresh, homemade, perfectionist brownie, muffin, or linzer tart. My husband likes box cookies better. I am married for 6 years, and I still think he is lying to me whenever he tell me that. I just canโt fathom that its true. I love the joy it brings to my family and neighbors when presenting them with fresh, love-infused, eat-the-whole-pan-myself baked goods!
I am a Korean who was adopted from an orphanage in Seoul Korea in the late 50โs. The community I grew up in was prejudiced. Mostly it was generational beliefs that had not been questioned. Many good people who had been taught that the was only 1 true human race โ Caucasian.
Baking was the one thing that brought all of us ladies together. Beliefs were left outside of the kitchen. Inside was creation and teaching in the old style of grandmother to youngsters. Sally, your site turned me into the great baker I am today. I get to bring joy to road crews, fire/police people, and a slew of just people. Thank you for sharing your expert knowledge.
This is so special, Sasha, and thank you for sharing. Itโs wonderful to read that baking has brought you so much comfort, confidence, and joy. I appreciate you taking the time to add your comment. Iโve loved reading all of these!
Baking for me is also an escape from my worries. I struggle with a very type A personality which Iโve been trying to change, but at the end of the day Iโm very routine oriented and get frustrated and flustered easily. Baking is so precise, but also so forgiving and easy to improvise with that it really calms that part of me. I also love to bake for others! Nothing makes me happier than having friends or family over for supper and feeding them whatever delicious treats Iโve put together. Or bringing some to work and being able to share a relaxing moment with coworkers in what can be a very non-relaxing environment.
I have loved to bake since I was a little girl. I remember my grandfather giving me a birthday card when I was 7 and it was pages of recipes. My favorite was the fudge recipe. I made it for everyone all the time. It was such a hit. I remember baking with my grandmother and then just for myself. Baking always brings me such peace. Its my escape in a way. I love to bake for other people because it brings them such joy as well so its truly a win/win. I always loved to back with my 2 daughters as well. Now they are grown so I have โadoptedโ the kids across the street from me and now they ask me if they can bake with me! Just this past weekend I needed to make a dairy free cake for a birthday and it was amazing. Everyone raved about it. Iโm always looking for new recipes to try and thatโs why I love Sally so much. I have never been disappointed with any of the recipes Iโve discovered on the website or in her cookbooks.
Iโve always loved to bake. I can be as creative as I want to be. Just the simple act of making cookies, and having them gobbled up, is truly satisfying. I can get a bit anxious at times or get manic sometimes, and baking is the one thing that helps center and calm me. I love to bake for other people and have been told I could open a bakery. But my comment to that is, โThen, it would be a job and Iโm afraid I wouldnโt enjoy it as much.โ I really like baking with my grandsons, Carson and Graham. The kitchenโs a mess when we get done, but thatโs the best part of baking. I also love to cook, but baking for me is my lifeline. My safe place is definitely the kitchen.lol!
Baking is one of my favorite hobbies. I love baking. I love desserts and I love what they represent โฆ A moment of joy, happiness and sharing at the end of a good meal with family or friends!
Thank you for your recipes Sally!
Baking is my favorite hobby. Itโs my stress reliever. I enjoy making tried and true recipes, as well as new ones. I bake for others and love to see them enjoy my baked goods. Baking is also special to me because it reminds me so much of my grandmother, who loved to bake and spent so much time in the kitchen with me. When I bake, I feel her presence and it brings me joy and heals my soul. One of my favorite moments is an early Sunday morning, the house is quiet, windows are open, birds are chirping and Iโm baking. Itโs when I feel most like me.
I can honestly say, whatever recipe I have cooked or baked from your site, I and my family and friends have definitely enjoyed.. Thank you .. Please keep on cooking, baking and sharing