Easy as Pie: Why I Love Baking From Scratch

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I believe that baking is an important form of self-expression and encourages creative thinking. Earlier in the year during quarantine, my family and I spent quite a bit of time baking a variety of goods from scratch. Baking from scratch means starting from the very beginning and relying on yourself to complete tasks such as kneading dough and creating a mixture of ingredients. Instead of buying a starter kit or pre-mixed dough, you start with fresh products and create your own food. As a family, we made desserts as simple as chocolate chip cookies and more complicated ones such as apple pies. It was the perfect activity to pull us away from our screens and pushed us to spend more time together.

My sisters and I love sugar; however, our mother is very strongly opposed to it. Every time we ask for sugary treats, she points to her lips and says “One sweet moment on your lips, forever on your hips”. As a result, when my siblings and I were younger, we would continuously badger our father into taking us out to Dairy Queen or Baskin Robbins for a sugary treat. Eventually, my mom became fed up with the amount of fast food and store-bought desserts we consumed and started teaching us how to bake from scratch. She prefers to bake from scratch to control the amount of sugar and artificial ingredients added to the desserts we make.

Over the weekend, I made an apple pie from scratch with my mother and asked her a few questions about baking less sugary desserts from scratch.

Why do you choose to bake with less sugar?

Growing up, I saw how some of my family members struggled with diabetes and how it affected their health. As I got older I came to understand that one of the things they could have tweaked to control their diabetic condition was to lower or cut down their intake of sugar. I challenged myself to try to do just that.

What is special about baking from scratch?

I am able to control the portions. I can use less sugar, salt, and substitute them with healthy fat options. I know the quality of what I am eating. I suppose the downside is the cleaning up and dishes to be done when I bake from scratch, but I have my daughters to help with that.

What is your favorite dessert to bake from scratch?

Oat cookies with dried fruits and nuts.

Why you should bake from scratch too

In terms of health, baking from scratch allows you to know what ingredients you are putting into your body and easily prevents allergic reactions. You can choose to make healthier options by adding less sugar and artificial ingredients. Also, commonly store-bought desserts contain overly junky ingredients that are unnecessary and include chemicals that you should probably not ingest.

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Moreover, you will not find a prepackaged dessert that tastes better than your own freshly baked goods. Grocery stores often use lower quality ingredients to reduce costs, resulting in low-quality foods. Baking from scratch encourages you to use the best ingredients to make the best possible dessert.

It is also better for the environment. The manufacturing and packaging involved in industrial foods have negative environmental impacts. In addition, consider the transportation costs and negative implications of moving industrial products from a manufacturer to various stores than to your kitchen.

Finally, baking in your kitchen influences your family members and allows them to join you while spending quality time together. As a family, you can split up specific tasks, teach your children a few basics, and have fun!

This week, I baked classic American Apple Pie with my mom. Here is the recipe so you can make it yourself at home.

Dorothy's American Apple Pie

Dorothy’s American Apple Pie

Ingredients

Pie crust

• 2 ½  cups of all-purpose flour

• 1 cup of chilled unsalted butter, cut into little bits

• ½  teaspoon of salt

• 5-7 tablespoons ice water

Pie filling: 

• 6 medium-sized apples cored and sliced

• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar

• 1 ½ tablespoons of white sugar

• 1 ½ tablespoons of butter (melted at room temperature)

• ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon

• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

• 2 tablespoons of milk for brushing of pie top later on

Method

1. To make the pie crust, combine flour, salt, and butter in the food processor. Pulse until mixture is coarse crumbs. About 9 (1 second) pulses should do it.

2. Pour half of the iced water into the flour-butter mixture. Pulse again, about 3 (1 second) pulses.

3. Put dough on wooden board, pat and round into 2 discs.

4. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour or two.

5. To make the pie filling, combine all ingredients of apple pie filling(excluding milk) and set aside.

6. Take out pie crust discs, let them sit at room temperature for a few minutes.

7. Roll the crusts out on the wooden surface you’re dusted with 2 tablespoons of all-purpose.

8. Line a pie dish with one half of rolled out pie crust.

9. Arrange the filling in layers in the pie dish.

10. Roll out the other pie disc. Cut it into 1 inch- wide strips.

11. Arrange 5-6 strips across pie. Form a lattice pattern by arranging another 5-6 strips diagonally across the previously placed strips.

12. Brush the lattice with 2 tablespoons of milk.

13. Bake pie at 400°C for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375°C and bake for about 1 hour until the juices bubble thickly. Cool on a rack for 40 minutes.

14. Serve, and enjoy!

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Photos: Dorothy Asiedu, Unsplash 

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