Baking can be the perfect coping mechanism for stress and anxiety! Here are 4 recipes to try to next time you need some baking therapy.

If you look up the word “procrasti-baking,” you’d probably see a picture of me. That’s because when it comes to procrastinating, baking is my jam. I’ll admit that I have not social distanced to keeping 6 feet away from my oven, and I’ve learned that I’m not alone.

Although I have been working from home for more than 30 years, when it was announced that everyone needed to self-quarantine to prevent the spread of COVID-19, routines were turned upside down. Chasing deadlines, writing stories and completing assignments from my home office was never much of an issue before, but this situation felt very different. With family members at home too, my kitchen is akin to a workplace lunchroom for us, and this room has become our favorite distraction, with my oven as my new BFF.

Baking to De-Stress | Baking can be the perfect coping mechanism for stress and anxiety! Here are 4 recipes to try to next time you need some baking therapy.

Baking as therapy

Baking for many of us is like therapy, providing a source of stress relief. Whisking, sifting, kneading mixing, stirring, measuring and pouring all help provide an outlet using physical skills, while simultaneously resulting in actually producing something. Baked goods are also associated with comfort and warm, cozy feelings. Who doesn’t need a dose of those emotions these days?

It’s true that some people have been concerned about the weight they might gain during this period of time at home, since they’re within close range of the fridge, pantry and freezer. They might also be struggling with more frequent snack times, virtual happy hours and erratic schedules leading to poor or typical food choices.

Yet most of the clients I’ve been consulting with have found the opposite results: The lack of restaurant dining has significantly reduced their caloric intake since warm bread and butter, three-course meals and a tempting dessert cart are not being brought to their tables. They are also experiencing a greater sense of conservation, trying to keep portions sizes smaller than usual.

So if you’re ready to fire up your oven, here’s one of my family’s favorite recipes, along with three tempting treats from my registered dietitian colleagues to bring the welcoming aroma of baked goods to a kitchen near you. Three of these recipes don’t even require flour.

  • Pumpkin Bread with Dark Chocolate Chips and Almonds
  • Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Banana Cookies
  • Coconut Seed Clusters
  • No-Bake Peanut Butter Cereal Bars

I’ve induced a bonus list of ingredient swaps at the end, in case you’re out of, for example, eggs or butter or flour.

Pumpkin Bread with Almonds and Dark Chocolate Chips

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
  • 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 4 egg whites or 1/2 cup liquid egg substitute
  • 1/2 cup avocado oil or extra light olive oil
  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt – plain
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup almond milk – unsweetened
  • 15 ounce can pureed pumpkin – unsweetened
  • 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 1/3 cup slivered almonds
  • Cooking spray

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Spoon flours into dry measuring cups and level with a knife.
  • Whisk together with the next 4 ingredients (through cinnamon) in a large bowl.
  • Combine sugar, egg whites, oil, vanilla extract, yogurt and eggs in a large bowl and beat with a hand mixer at a high speed until blended.
  • Add almond milk and canned pumpkin, beating at a low speed until blended together.
  • Add flour mixture to above mixture and beat at a low speed just until combined. Don’t over mix.
  • Coat two loaf pans (9 X 5 inch each) or muffin tins (24 muffins) with cooking spray.
  • Spoon batter into pans and fill half-way.
  • Sprinkle almonds evenly over batter.
  • Bake breads (in loaf pans) for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, or bake muffins (in muffin tins) for 30 minutes and check as above.
  • Cool in pans for 10 minutes and then remove from pans and cool on wire rack.

Yield is either two loaves or 24 muffins.

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Banana Cookies

Ingredients:

  • 3 large, ripe bananas
  • 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup peanut butter
  • 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • Pinch of salt

Directions:

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
  • Mash the bananas with a fork in a large bowl. Add the oats, peanut butter, chocolate chips, cinnamon and salt, and stir until just combined.
  • You could eat these like so, however, if you have an oven…
  • Scoop out the dough with a cookie scoop and form balls with your hands, pressing the dough together very tightly.
  • Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet.
  • Bake until the edges start to brown, 12 to 15 minutes.

Mashed bananas can work like glue with oats. Adding honey or chopped dates also helps with getting your non-baked or baked goods to stick together.

From LA-based dietitian Carrie Gabriel, owner of Steps2Nutrition.com, creator of live and virtual cooking demos and lessons.

Coconut Seed Clusters

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon water
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut chips or coconut smiles
  • 1/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds
  • 1/3 cups raw sunflower seed
  • 2 tablespoons chia seeds

Directions:

  • Heat oven to 325 degrees F.
  • Stir all the ingredient together until well blended.
  • Spoon teaspoons of coconut mixture onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a baking mat.
  • Bake 13-20 minutes, until coconut is lightly browned.
  • Remove from oven and set pan on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before removing clusters. These harden as they cool, so if they cool completely, they may break when you remove them.

From registered dietitian nutritionist Judy Barbe, Wyoming-based author of “Your 6-Week Guide to LiveBest.”

No Bake Peanut Butter Cereal Bars

  • 1 1/2 cups crunchy peanut butter (Use no added sugar peanut butter, if desired)
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey
  • 2 cups quick oats, uncooked
  • 2 cups plain toasted oat cereal

Directions:

  • Coat a 8″ x 8″ baking pan with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
  • Combine all the ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
  • Press the bar mixture evenly into the pan. Refrigerate for at least one hour.
  • Cut into 12 squares. Keep refrigerated.

From registered dietitian Elizabeth Ward, the Boston-based author of betteristhenewperfect.com.

Out of an Ingredient? Swap with…

Online purchasing has become the go-to grocery shopper – even for those of us that have never used those types of services in the past. But the convenience of home delivery is not always convenient, including long waits and lots of substitutes for our favorite ingredients and brands.

Here are some ingredient swaps you can count on to get those baked goods going, while you’re waiting for your supplies to arrive.

Ingredient Swaps:

  • 1 whole egg: 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, 1/4 cup pumpkin puree, 1/4 cup pureed fruit, 1/4 cup mashed banana (or reconstituted dehydrated banana) or 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds with 3 tablespoons of water
  • 1 cup buttermilk: 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (let stand for 5 minutes) or 1 cup yogurt
  • 1 cup cake flour: 3/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour with 1 tablespoon cornstarch.
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour: 1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
  • 1 cup sour cream: 1 cup plain yogurt
  • 1 cup butter: 1 cup oil or 1 cup applesauce

Generally speaking, different flours can be swapped one-to-one.

All-purpose flour: whole wheat pastry flour, whole wheat flour, white
whole wheat flour, almond flour, oat flour, rice flour, chickpea flour, buckwheat flour, amaranth flour, rye flour, cake flour or bread flour.

This article originally appeared in Bonnie’s U.S.News column.