Caroline Vincent, Reporter
@cvincentcourant
While being in self-isolation is necessary to flatten the curve and has a tremendous positive impact on the world, quarantine has also had a significant negative effect on most teens’ personal lives. From some school districts canceling the 2020 school year to the possibility of being in lockdown all summer, quarantine has been viewed mostly as a burden. However, one positive, besides the apparent fact that self-isolation saves lives, is that there is finally no excuse not to try new things. Many teens, including myself, have taken this time to become master chefs. As someone who typically has a hectic schedule, I usually tend to eat whatever my family has made for meals, or I keep it simple by putting whatever I can find in the freezer in the oven. But, with all this new free time, I have redeveloped my love for cooking, especially baking. Four of my favorite quarantine recipes have been flapjacks, apple cake, banana oat chocolate chip cookies, and cocadas. Disclaimer, I am not a chef. I tend not always to follow the recipes, I enjoy freestyle cooking because all the specific directions and instructions are no fun. I rarely see Gordon Ramsay look at a cookbook, so to become a master chef, I tend to follow his lead. But, these four recipes are super simple, and they have easy, understandable recipes so that you can also live out the master chef fantasy.
In my family, flapjacks are a very popular snack/ dessert. My great grandfather fought for England in World War II, and in the war, soldiers would be given flapjacks to eat. Flapjacks stay good for an extended amount of time, are easy to store, and are delicious, so they were perfect for the soldiers. Flapjacks are super simple to make and are perfect as a snack or as dessert (especially when served with ice cream)!
- Flapjacks
Butter: ¾ cup
Dark brown sugar: 1 cup
Quaker old fashioned oats: 2 cups
Any square dish
Directions: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. In a medium sized bowl, mix butter and sugar with a spoon until a smooth and creamy mixture. Gradually stir in oats. Add the mixture to a square dish and pat it down with a spoon. Bake for 15- 20 minutes, and cool and keep the flapjacks in the pan to serve.
I cannot recommend this apple cake enough. It is absolutely amazing and is the perfect combination of crisp, goey, and apple! Whenever we make this cake, it is gone by the next morning; it is that good! Plus, when you eat it, it’s technically not as bad for you because there are apples… right?
- Apple cake
Oil: 1 Cup
Apples: 2 cups of peeled and diced (~3 apples, cut up)
Eggs: 3 eggs, well beaten
Sugar: 2 cups
Flour: 3 cups
Baking Soda: 1 teaspoon
Salt: 1 teaspoon
Vanilla: 2 teaspoon
Bundt pan
Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine oil, apples, eggs, and sugar. After mixing well, then add flour, baking soda, salt, and vanilla. Grease and flour the bundt pan. Spread batter evenly in pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until the knife comes out clean (cook for a few more minutes if still runny). Cool in pan for 10 minutes and remove immediately (it should come out easily if turned over on a plate after 10 minutes). If desired, dust with confectioners sugar.
Cocadas are a fairly new addition to my family book of recipes, but they are insanely good, and I highly recommend them. Cocadas are a traditional Latin American dessert and are relatively similar to coconut macaroons. I made them as my dessert for international day, and ever since then, my family has been hooked. Be warned; they are very sweet, and very addicting. There is no possible way that someone could eat one and then not continue to eat more!
- Cocadas
Shredded sweetened coconut: 3 ½ cup
Sweetened condensed milk: ¾ cup
Cornstarch: 2 ½ tablespoon
Almond extract: ½ teaspoon
Vanilla extract: 1 teaspoon
Confectioners sugar: 4 cups
Directions: preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine ingredients and let it sit for 3-5 minutes. Drop rounded heapfuls onto a parchment lined baking sheet 1 inch apart. Cook for 5-7 minutes, and watch closely. Take out when lightly golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and dust with confectioners sugar. Store loosely covered until ready to serve.
Last but not least, we have banana oat chocolate chip cookies. These are the perfect healthy alternative to good old fashion chocolate chip cookies (to be completely honest, nothing will ever beat a classic chocolate chip cookie, but I think these are as close as you can get). This recipe is insanely simple and very tasty. You can add extra ingredients if you please, such as protein powder or cinnamon, but these cookies are a perfect quick snack or dessert (you could even eat them for breakfast!). You can shape the cookie; however, you might please; though, I recommend making them on the flatter side so that they cook better and become crisper. I would definitely try these cookies out if you are looking for a healthy quarantine snack!
- Banana oat chocolate chip cookies
Quick oats: 1 cup (must be quick oats, old fashioned and steel cut oats don’t cook the same)
Banana: 1 large and overripe
Chocolate chips: ½ cup
Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mashed the banana until smooth. Add the oats. Mix with a fork until it becomes an evenly mixed thick batter. Mix in the chocolate chips. Make around 8 round balls from the batter and place onto the baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Gently press down on each ball so that it flattens into a round disc (cookies will not spread much during baking, so keep that in mind when shaping and flattening your disks). Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly brown and set. The cookie bottoms should also be brown and easily come off of the parchment paper. Let the cookies cool before eating (allowing them to set even more) and store uneaten cookies in the fridge.
