I can't get enough of The Great British Baking Show. Have you watched it? 

I love how kind they are to one another--comforting when a bake turns bad, helping to ensure the item is plated before the bell, cheering for successes or crying as a competitor-turned-friend is sent home. 

I love it.

When I have a headache or feel overwhelmed, it's my go-to comfort show. (Like when we were both super sick last Thanksgiving.)

As it turns out, it's not just watching a handful of people baking delicious treats that brings comfort. Baking them in my own home is just as soothing. During the pandemic, I baked something new at least twice a week. 

I couldn't place my finger on why I was too overwhelmed or foggy-brained to completely focus on things like writing blog posts or completing a large work-related task, but I could tune-out my husband's 100-person Zoom meeting (in which no one had figured out how to mute themselves) and make a new-to-me semi-complex recipe... with excitement! 

All I knew is that it was helping. And, based on my Facebook feed, I wasn't the only one. 

After a while, I stumbled upon this article from Delish on some of the psychology behind baking. It's pretty fascinating.

And so I baked. 

I baked for us, I baked for friends, I baked for the staff at our church. When my dad came to visit, I sent him home with two bags of pastries.

This is no overstatement--our house smelled amazing. 

I thought I'd share some of the more successful recipes. These are a handful of the baked goods we had on-hand through our shelter-in-place. 

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First and foremost, these Brown Butter Bourbon Dark Chocolate Pretzel cookies (on repeat...) The dough freezes really well, so I will now make a full batch and bake two at a time for dessert.

I'm tempted to justify all of this sugar by telling you we had balanced meals in-between snacks... lots of fresh veggies and healthy fats. 

The truth is, sometimes we did... and sometimes we didn't. 

But we laughed a lot and snuggled a lot and played a lot of board games and watched a lot of movies. So I'm calling it a win.

How about you? Did you bake or cook anything out-of-the-norm during shelter-in-place? Any recipes you think we should try?