Baking Tips with Clare Meighan
“I love baking cookies because they're the easiest to give to people,” says Clare Meighan ‘22, who has established a reputation as one of ND’s most prolific bakers. On campus, she can often be found holding a large tupperware container and sharing a wide variety of homemade cookies—in recent weeks, her recipes have included Nutella, Oreo, M&M, red velvet, and classic chocolate chip cookies. Meighan has enjoyed baking since middle school, but her hobby particularly took off during the pandemic, when it served as a social outlet amidst shelter-in-place orders. “If I bake food for my friends, then I can go give it to them and see them,” she says.
Over the years, Meighan has perfected her cookie-making technique through trial and error. “I’ve learned the science behind baking,” she says. “Now I know if I add too much egg in, it'll make them more cakey, whereas if I add more sugar in, it'll make them flat and crispy.” Meighan recommends leaving cookies on their pan for five minutes after they leave the oven—most recipes call for this step—since the extra contact with the baking sheet ensures that they become thoroughly crispy. She also advises chilling the dough in the fridge for around twenty minutes, which makes the cookies easier to mold. For cakes, “fondant is horrible,” she says. “Use molding chocolate instead.”
While Meighan’s favorite website for recipes is Sally’s Baking Recipes, she often prefers to improvise while baking. “People get so stressed out whenever they bake with me,” she jokes. Recently, when a friend texted to ask for the recipe for her delicious Nutella cookies, Meighan struggled to respond: “Okay, here's the sitch,” she wrote in response, “I just kinda did it in my head.” While Meighan’s tendency to eyeball ingredients may occasionally confuse others, her intuitive approach to baking has also allowed her to experiment with delicious new topping and flavor combinations. Ultimately, her baking is more about enjoyment than perfection. “Don't take it too seriously, because it's something fun to do,” she says.
Even though she sees baking as a casual pastime, Meighan also appreciates how cathartic it can be. “What inspires me the most to bake is when I have high intensity feelings, whether they’re feelings of joy or of sadness,” she says. Sometimes, there is nothing more relaxing than “just listening to music and putting some stuff in a bowl.”
