I loooooovve baking. I don’t do it often enough to call myself an “expert” or anything too crazy like that. But it is something really I enjoy, especially at nighttime and especially in winter. Winter is my favorite season. I take full advantage of everything that comes with the season. And baking is a favorite winter activity of mine for sure!! And this year, I’m starting a little early.
The other day I baked these super delicious cookies. Chai-iced pumpkin cookies.
(the photo I took of my finished product)
Not gonna lie, they turned out pretty dang good. And they were so fun to make that I just kept going and made a couple of batches. Baking is a relaxing, fun, ideal way for me to spend time. I love playing music, dancing around the kitchen, and creating something for other people.
And after seeing (and tasting) the finished product of the first batch of cookies, I paid way more attention to the process of making them during the second batch. I took my time.
The thing about creating something wonderful is that it takes time and has several steps involved in the process. The end product is usually spectacular and worth the wait.
That’s what I’m learning about my walk with God. I want to skip steps and rush ahead of where I’m at, but He has really specific, important steps that I have to take first. He keeps reminding me- “One step at a time.” Those words keep coming up. And obviously I keep needing to be reminded of them.
I too often ask Him questions like “when am I going to be married” or “when will I understand more about this specific topic” or “when will I not feel these feelings anymore” or “when will I be better at this thing” or “when is that relationship going to be healed” or “when will I know what you want me to do long-term” etc. I ask God SO many when questions.
(side praise— thanks God for being so patient and loving and not getting mad at me when I ask questions that you’ve already answered)
God has answered nearly all of those questions for me. Most of His answers are “soon” or “wait.” And in that waiting time, I realize that is the place where growth happened. That’s when I become more or the person God desired me to be. He adds little and little of different beautiful ingredients to me. He perfects me little by little to someday be in heaven with Him. He tosses various trials and learning opportunities for me to grow and learn.
And something that I am realizing is that skipping steps would be a bad idea. Even if I don’t understand the steps at the time, they always make sense (because God always knows what’s best).
My time in Casper after the race has included some pretty big steps that I needed to take before I could go to Guatemala. And at first, I was almost resistant to taking them. I didn’t want to. I just wanted to hit fast-forward and do what God’s called me to do. But He said “wait.” And as time passed, I wasn’t always happy with that command, but now, I see that it was all necessary. He has been making me ready for the next step.
So I was really happy to carefully measure the amounts of ingredients and intentionally complete each step well, to help the finished product be amazing. That’s the baking process, but I want it to be so true of my life.
I want to love the process, be in each step, and lean on God as I walk toward what He has for me.
And now– what I’ve been asked so many times since making the cookies– the RECIPE!!! from: here. The only thing I did extra was add some pumpkin pie spice on top of them 🙂 and I doubled the icing recipe and made my icing extra thick (because who doesn’t love extra chai-icing, right?)
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2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
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1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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| 1. | Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside. |
| 2. | In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly. |
| 3. | Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork. |
| 4. | To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners’ sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency. |
Also—– the bakers gonna bake, bake, bake, bake, bake. #sorrynotsorry #shakeitoff 😉
