Winter Break is rapidly approaching and most students are preparing for test after test. Everyone is overwhelmed and exhausted. But Foods and Nutrition, where students are doing cheerful holiday baking, feels the exact opposite. 

For the past few days, students have been choosing festive recipes – from Funfetti Christmas cookies to gingerbread whoopie pies – to bake in two days or less. Junior Anneka Ragan chose a more innovative dessert: snickerdoodle muffins, complete with cinnamon sugar swirls and frosting on top. 

Ragan’s two-day progress began with “putting the batter together and layering the cupcakes with batter and cinnamon sugar.” After baking the cupcakes, she let them cool overnight and frosted them with her group. 

The most popular recipe, however, was peppermint bark cookies. Junior Hunter McDonald recalled that his recipe was pretty easy to make and consisted of melting chocolate chips, adding dry ingredients, dipping the cookies in chocolate, and sprinkling candy on top.

“My favorite part was probably starting the [recipe], thinking about it, and smelling it. I was also excited to see the final product,” McDonald elaborated.  

As for why she chose the theme of holiday baking, Foods teacher Crystal Pate explained that she “enjoy[s] creating a light-hearted environment where multiple groups are decorating cookies.”

Pate added: “It’s also an opportunity for students to share about things they make at home with their families or things a family member makes, and that’s something I like hearing about.” 

Senior Chini Kuntulu also mentioned family and food when describing her baking experience: “You think of cooking as an activity you do at home with your family or friends, but it was really fun working with our teams.” 

To make recipes work well for her class, Pate often modifies recipes. “[Our] biggest constraint is time since each period is only 55 minutes,” she revealed.

55 minutes is still plenty of time to de-stress between classes. Like Kuntulu said, “It’s nice to just take a break from classes.” It’s even nicer to prepare, bake, and, of course, devour decadent desserts.