The Top 5 Reasons Why Baking Is Good for You
Jun 20, 2024
Written by Linda Harvey
The next time you take out your mixing bowl and search for ingredients to make brownies, pat yourself on the back. You are doing something that is good for you!
The benefits of baking are countless, which is why Together We Bake’s (TWB’s) program was built around both the hard and soft skills gained from baking. We’ve selected five reasons why baking can create a positive impact — from gaining confidence in your skills to finding joy when sharing treats.
Let’s take a look at how we can all benefit from time in the kitchen along with Colida, TWB’s Program/Production Manager:
1. Baking is therapeutic and creates opportunities for mindfulness.
Many baking tasks, such as kneading bread, can help reduce anxiety and stress. The repetition and rhythm of such movements can be relaxing. Mixing batter, measuring flour, decorating a cake, folding butter, or rolling out cookie dough can calm your mind and become almost meditative.
TWB’s Colida couldn’t agree more. She’s in the kitchen every day overseeing kitchen operations and helping bake the granola and cookies at headquarters: “For me, it’s very therapeutic and relaxing, even on the busy and hectic days. I enjoy the escape from life and [from] all the stress and chaos in it.”
Being busy in the kitchen is her getaway, she explains. “I turn my music on, sing my heart out, and work. I don’t have time to think about anything outside of my kitchen,” she shares.
Baking also requires close attention and concentration, helping you (and your mind) be present in the moment. Colida finds that her mind and body are at ease when her hands are working with the hot oil and honey while making granola. “I get to have that feeling over and over again, which is why I enjoy it so much.”
Colida making Cinnamon-Pecan Granola in the TWB kitchen.
2. Baking is a sensory experience using all five senses — touch, smell, taste, sight, and sound.
Who doesn’t relish the smell of baking cookies? TWB staff and visitors always enjoy the aroma of the Cinnamon-Pecan Granola when they step into the building!
Yet, baking is more than smell; it can truly heighten all of your senses and send positive signals to your brain and body. Think about tasting banana bread still warm from the oven, or hearing the satisfying crack of an egg on the side of a bowl, or watching your blueberry muffins start to rise in the oven.
Even though Colida’s favorite smell is coffee brewing, she finds TWB’s granola a close second. However, the whole process of making granola is what satisfies her the most because of the array of senses she experiences, including touch and sound.
“My favorite product to make is the granola because it takes you on a ride,” Colida explains. “The smell is like no other, pounding it out on the trays allows you to let out any built-up frustration, and just mixing everything by hand is very comforting to me.”
3. Baking is a skill that boosts your confidence, your creativity, and your sense of accomplishment.
When you take up baking, you’ll develop new culinary skills. Learning to whisk milk and eggs properly, understanding how to use a mixer and other appliances, or carefully following a recipe are “hard” skills that bakers can acquire. Yet baking is also a blend of “soft” skills, such as problem solving, creativity, patience, and diligence.
The TWB baking classes provide Team Members with various skills that can translate to both a workplace and everyday life. “That’s the magic about working in the kitchen because at some point you utilize almost every soft skill, and the hard skills are what come easy with training,” explains Colida, who was a Spring 2014 graduate and has been with TWB for 10 years.
She points to the ServSafe curriculum included in TWB’s program as a hard skill since it teaches safety guidelines and policies in the food industry. However, Colida — called “Coach” by the women she mentors — encourages the development of soft skills in her busy kitchen. Learning to work with others, communicating clearly, and developing healthy coping strategies are key components to TWB’s program. Colida also stresses that caring about your work and taking responsibility for the final product (i.e., cookies, granola) creates a positive work ethic and sense of pride.
TWB Team Members baking. Program staff lead instruction and supervision on basic baking skills and the food production processes throughout TWB's program.
4. Baking stirs up feelings of nostalgia and generosity, creating a connection with family, friends, and colleagues.
Baking for others can be an expression of love, thanks, or appreciation. It can be a simple and sweet way to show you care. Bringing cookies to your neighbors, surprising a friend with birthday cupcakes, or sharing a family recipe for apple pie can bring joy to others and even to yourself.
Many of us can look back at a beloved family member baking treasured treats. Colida remembers her great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother baking all the time. “I can still taste the goodness even after all these years,” she shares.
She fondly recalls her grandmother, who worked as a bakery manager at the Giant grocery store, making her birthday cakes each year. Other childhood memories include helping to cut carrots for her mother’s carrot cake and refusing to eat her “beautiful pineapple upside down cakes” – “I hated pineapples when I was a kid,” she says. Now, it’s her youngest daughter who bakes brownies and dump cakes, continuing the family tradition of spreading love through baking.
5. Baking from scratch (or savoring TWB goods) can be a healthy way to enjoy treats.
Baking can be healthy for you, even if nutritionists recommend limiting sweets and carbohydrates. Unfortunately, many processed foods with unwanted preservatives and other unhealthy options are found at grocery stores. However, homemade baked goods — cookies, cakes, pies, breads — are a more nutritious way to satisfy your sweet or savory tooth. You are now in control!
You can select healthy versions of recipes (eggs whites instead of yolks), use organic ingredients, try gluten-free or vegan options, choose substitutes (Greek yogurt instead of sour cream or butter), switch to whole wheat flour, limit sugar, sneak zucchini into your chocolate cake, and so much more.
When you can’t bake from scratch, TWB’s cookies and granola are the perfect substitute since they are handmade in small batches with no mixers. Even though Colida admits she doesn’t bake much at home, she does enjoy the TWB granola. “I love eating it as a cereal and adding some fresh blueberries to finish it off,” she says. “During the holidays, I add our granola as a crumble topping on my candied yams — they’re very delicious.”
Happy Baking!
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the TWB kitchen: