Oh, the dreaded Monday. Back in the spring when we were all doing virtual teaching, Monday didn’t feel quite so scary because it didn’t quite feel like I was actually going to work. I’m currently on Week 14 of face to face teaching (I can’t believe we are actually going to finish a whole semester of in-person school) and all that’s really left is the worst part…grading.

Even if you’re not a teacher, I’m sure you have those little tasks you like to suddenly partake in when you’re trying to procrastinate and put off things that you hate doing. I like to call mine procrasti-baking!

Combine grading procrasti-baking with being stuck inside to social distance, and my oven basically didn’t stop during the spring. Which was totally fine because I LOVE FOOD.

It’s kind of fun to have the time to try out new recipes, though. I have a huge list of recipes, recipe books, and Pinterest boards that have just been sitting around because “I’ll make that one day” and then “one day” never comes. However, one problem with baking all the things is that I haven’t been balancing it with any exercise…

So today I want to share just a few of the recipes that I made during the spring of quarantine!

Doughnuts

First up are doughnuts! (And if you’ve been here before or know me personally, this will not surprise you at all.) Doughnuts are wonderful, and I love them. Unfortunately, we currently don’t have any doughnut shops in our small town (Dunkin’ is currently under construction and should be opening soon!! Woot woot!). Until then, the only way I was going to get my doughnut fix during quarantine was to make them!

I love fried foods, but I hate frying things myself. It’s so messy and I feel like the house smells with that post-fry stench for a long time. For those reasons, I wanted a recipe for baked doughnuts, and since it was my first time making doughnuts – I know, shocking – I wanted something very simple.

I found Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts at Creations by Kara and thought that would be a perfect recipe to try. And, spoiler alert, they were so good that the recipe found its way into my written recipes box so I can easily make them again!

Donut Pan

The recipe was so easy, and the only thing I did different was use Allspice instead of nutmeg (how do I not have nutmeg in my spice cabinet??). They’re definitely the tastiest warm right out of the oven, and I totally could’ve eaten all six; however, I did show restraint and saved some for breakfast the next day.

When writing this I asked my husband if he had anything to add about them. His review: “they were real good.” 

Whole Wheat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had a bag of whole wheat flour that I had previously bought to make a banana bread recipe, and therefore needed something else to make to use that up. One day I was super productive with school and grading and wanted to treat myself with some warm chocolate chip cookies.

After a quick search online, I found a recipe from Betty Crocker that didn’t require any weird ingredients (some recipes I had to pass on because they used things I didn’t have and wouldn’t ever use again, even if I did have them). I’d never made cookies using whole wheat flour, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

But these were delicious (and made so many)! I love my cookies chewy, and these were spot-on for that texture. The whole wheat, nutty taste kind of threw me off at first, and honestly, I wasn’t really sure how I felt about it. But these quickly grew on me, and I will definitely be making them again.

Oreo Cheesecake

My husband loves cheesecake, but it’s something I don’t make that often just because of the time it takes. He loves Oreos, so it was kind of a no-brainer on what flavored cheesecake to make. I used a copycat recipe of the Cheesecake Factory’s Oreo cheesecake that can be found here!

I’m incredibly critical of myself, especially when it comes to baking and cooking, so I felt like it wasn’t packed with flavor. My husband, on the other hand, said it was delicious.

The recipe got a bit confusing because it mentions a water bath that is “highly recommended.” But then it’s not mentioned in the actual recipe. It felt like a lot of extra work, so I took the risk and went without and everything turned out just fine.

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Y’all. Make this. This Twice Baked Potato Casserole is a recipe by The Pioneer Woman and is so delicious! There are only two of us, and I think we ate this for a solid week. My husband was so happy when we finally finished it off, but we’ve made it twice after that if it tells you how much he loves it!

As you can see from the pic, it makes A LOT, so be prepared! The one change we made to the recipe was opting out of the green onions on top. I don’t know if holiday get-togethers will be happening this year, but this is an excellent dish for a potluck or large gathering.

How were you passing the time when we were on lockdown? Did you do any quarantine baking or cooking? Let me know what some of your favorite recipes are in the comments!