How to Stock Your Kitchen

I had someone message me last week on Instagram asking for a quick list of pantry baking essentials they could pick up to easily bake a majority of my recipes. I haven’t felt the need to post a list like that on the blog, for it felt a little redundant for what you could find on Google (fun fact: I Google everything). However, after opening up the idea to y’all for writing this style of post, I got an overwhelming, YES, do it, please!! (thank you). So, here we are.

I expanded from just the pantry to my top kitchen essentials. I broke it up into three categories, listing out 10 staples when it comes to baking, cooking, and kitchen gadgets. Writing this post was actually really fun, so I hope you enjoy!

photo by KGC photography

Baking:

1. All-Purpose Flour. However, if you are Gluten-Free, this is my favorite brand!

2. Granulated Sugar

3. Brown Sugar. Please do not buy at Trader Joe’s. While I love TJ’s, their organic brown sugar isn’t great for my recipes. I prefer C&H. This goes for granulated sugar as well.

4. Vanilla Extract

5. Baking Powder

6. Baking Soda

7. Cinnamon

8. Chocolate Chips

9. Morton Salt

10. Maldon Salt. A must for Perfect CCC’s and how I finish almost every dish I bake. You can buy on Amazon, but I’ve also found it at Whole Foods, Sprouts and Central Market.

Cooking:

1. Olive Oil. I don’t worry about anything too fancy, I love Trader Joe’s selection of well-priced oils.

2. Coconut Oil

3. Liquid or Coconut Aminos

4. Peppercorns with a grinder. Please grind your own pepper, it makes all the difference.

5. Red Pepper Flakes

6. Ground Turmeric

7. Quinoa or Brown Rice

8. Dried Pasta. I like red lentil or chickpea pasta.

9. Chickpeas

10. Marinara Sauce

BONUS!! Gadgets and appliances:
(shop the items below)

1. Kitchen-Aid Stand Mixer. The holy grail. And NO, you don’t have to wait to get engaged and put this on your register to buy one :) I bought mine in honor of my grandmother after she passed back in 2013. And no, you don’t have to get a gender-neutral color. Think pink folks!

2. Cookie Scoop. I like 1.5-2 tablespoon size, and prefer one with a rubber grip.

3. 10-Set Glass Mixing Bowls. If someone has this on their wedding registry, it is my go-to gift to buy. I use these bowls on the daily and they are so well priced.

4. Wooden Spoon. Mine are so old, but I’m thinking I need to get this one while it’s on sale for $2!

5. Spoonula. Scrape and spoon! This set allows you to buy a whole spatula set or the spoonula on its own.

6. Mini Spatula. These are used on a daily basis in my kitchen. Perfect for scraping smoothies out of the blender, making eggs or stirring around fried rice!

7. Saute pans. I use this 8” and 10” non-toxic set. A 12” size is good to have if serving more than 1-2 people.

8. Nonstick Cookie Sheet. What I bake all cookies on. This 3-piece set that includes a cooling rack is on sale right now!

9. Nonstick Sheet Pan. Also known as a rating pan or jelly roll pan. This style is used for my Banana Sheet Cake and all roasted veggies. quick tip: never use this style of pan for cookies, the raised sides will alter the baking.

10. Parchment Paper. Love this for lining baking sheets compared to using cooking spray.

I could go on and on with this list of pantry staples and favorite gadgets! We didn’t even get to the fridge or freezer. Although, these were the first 10 that came to mind in each section, which means they must be my go-tos. Of course, if you have any questions or want to know my extended list feel free to DM me on Instagram or email me at annie@takeabiteblog.com!

Annie

Bites of My Life

Week 7. How are we doing? Enjoying small things like gorgeous weather over the weekend and the sense that things are their way to getting better.

-I kind of love barbecue sauce. This makeshift BBQ chicken salad made a lunch appearance a few times last week. Shredded chicken, bbq sauce, a little dijon mustard, chopped celery, carrots, relish, salt and pepper!
-Got to help deliver meals to healthcare workers with work last week. Our cases are down in Oklahoma but our nurses and doctors are still overwhelmed and they mentioned the food helped lift their spirits!
-Mojito o’clock!
-This last week should have been the Oklahoma City Art’s Festival. Due to Covid-19 it was canceled, but an Indian Taco at home made it feel like I was there.
-Sweet and salty toast is the easiest go-to breakfast or lunch.
-Coffee walks have been a new part of my morning routine a few days a week. Coffee mug yeti, favorite leggings and sneaks are also included.
-This easy cocktail that is on repeat: grapefruit juice, tequila, a splash of lemon juice, rosemary and filled to the top with sparkling water.
-Did you catch my Flow + Glow with my friend and yoga instructor Addie yesterday? We did a 30 minute guided flow followed by a demo of My Perfect Green Smoothie!
-Sunday bike ride with mom!

Annie

Bites of My Life

Week 6, we have arrived. Pretty much just going through the motions at this point? Anyone else feel like they are in a quarantine daze?

-Been starting my day with a “Vitamin C Elixer” so I call it. Just a mix of citrus you have on hand, for me that’s a splash of grapefruit juice, orange juice and lemon, with a pinch of cayenne and hot water. I don’t know if it does much, but it makes me feel like I’m starting each day on the right foot.
-Take A Bite celebrated 7 years last week!
-A few of my quarantine staples.
-While in Oklahoma City, one must drink a Club Special (and a brandy ice, which I have not crossed off my list yet). This regional cocktail is an Okie fave and mine. 1/3 part vodka, 1/3 part limeade, splash of sprite, splash of club soda and a lime!
-Used this recipe as a guide for our “use what you have carbonara.” Swapped Italian sausage for guanciale and added peas, because pro peas in carbonara.
-Turned Perfect CCC’s into pizookies, and no one was mad about it.
-Went Live on Instagram with my friend Elyse yesterday making our Coffee Cake Cookies. These cookies are truly so good!

Annie

Coffee Cake Cookies with The Healthy Little Foodie

When we look back at this time 10 years from now, I’m hoping that amongst the virus and the illness and the loved ones we may have seen suffered, I hope we also remember all the games we played, walks we went on, loaves of bread we baked and cookies we ate. I love how more and more people are getting in their kitchen more, baking and cooking up a storm.

While I’m pretty used to working from home already, this new stay at home order isn’t too far from my normal. I’ve been busier which I’m so thankful for, but still working in the time to be in the kitchen. Quarantine brought a baking bug, and I’ve caught it. The baking bug has also come with a new push of creativity and confidence honestly. I started doing regular Sunday afternoon Instagram Live baking videos the first Sunday of self-quarantine and it was well, really fun.

My friend Elyse has also been bit by the baking bug and coming up with all kinds of treats in her kitchen. Elyse bakes completely gluten-free and her recipes are typically made with no refined sugars and dairy-free. You can always count on Elyse for a healthier treat recipe. With all these Live videos and people “going live”" together on Instagram, I pinged Elyse if we should bake together and we jumped on the idea.

So we would LOVE if you joined us this Sunday, April 19th at 1pm CST on Instagram! We came up with this recipe for Coffee Cake Cookies which is just really hitting all the trigger points for me right now. Crumb topping, fluffy cinnamon cookie. They taste like a buttery snickerdoodle with a crumb topping. Hi, hello, yum! The recipe can easily be made gluten-free and we give options if you want to use the OG flour and sugar or cleaner ingredients - ha!

The Healthy Little Foodie + Take A Bite Coffee Cake Cookies 
Yields 20-22 (or 10-12) cookies
disclaimer: we developed this recipe during self-quarantine and assumed people didn’t need 20 cookies lying around, so we included the measurements to easily half this recipe.

Ingredients:

Crumb topping:
6 tbsp. (3) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
1/4 cup (2 tbsp.) packed brown sugar (sub for coconut sugar)
1/4 cup (2 tbsp.) granulated sugar (sub for monk fruit sugar or coconut sugar)*
1 (1/2) cup all-purpose or gluten-free flour
1 1/2 (¾) tsp. cinnamon
1/4 (a pinch) tsp. Salt

Cookies:
1 (½ cup or 1 stick) cup of unsalted butter, softened (we prefer Kerrygold or Vital Farms)
1 (½) cup packed brown sugar (sub for coconut sugar)
1/2 (¼) cup granulated sugar (sub for monk fruit sugar or coconut sugar)*
2 (1) eggs
2 (1) tsp. vanilla extract
3 (1½) cups all-purpose or gluten-free flour
2 (1) tsp. baking powder
1 (½) tsp. salt
1 (½) tsp. cinnamon
Powdered sugar or monk fruit powder for dusting 

*if you are using coconut sugar for both the brown and granulated sugar, use ½ (¼)  cup for the crumb topping and 1½ (¾) cup for the cookies. 

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a small bowl, using your hands, a fork or a pastry cutter, combine all of the crumb topping ingredients. Work the butter into the dry ingredients until coarse crumbs are formed. Set aside.  

With an electric mixer, cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until well combined. On low, add in the vanilla extract.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In batches, gradually add the dry ingredients into the mixer with the wet ingredients, until the dough comes together. 

Using a cookie scoop or spoon, form golf ball size balls of dough and place on prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart. Make an indention in the center of each cookie with the back of a teaspoon or your finger and fill with 2 teaspoons of crumb topping (be generous with your topping). Bake for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pan. Then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Once completely cooled, dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!

We hope you have most of these ingredients already in your kitchen, if not, see if you can get all of the groceries delivered by Sunday so you can bake with us!

Don’t forget! Come watch us on Instagram Live Sunday, April 19th, 2020 at 1PM CST! And if you are reading this post after our Live baking date I’ll be sure to link to the video we record.

Annie + Elyse

Lucky Number Seven

Celebrating seven years of Take A Bite today! From writing my first post in my sorority house dining room, to seven years later quarantined in my parent’s dining room. I’m not where I thought I’d be celebrating my 7th year blogging, but thankful to be healthy, with loved ones, and still getting to share what I love at takeabiteblog.com! A blog birthday isn’t complete without a serving of birthday toast. Thank you for reading, sharing and baking with me these past seven years!

one/two/three/four/five/six

Annie