While winter break may not look the same this year, there's something cozy about preparing – and then eating – a great dish. So we asked UMKC faculty and staff if they could share recipes for some of their favorite winter treats.
Baking is a well-known hobby for civil and mechanical engineering professor Megan Hart, who has a scientific take on treats. Here's insight into why she bakes and the latest recipe she's developed.
Do you enjoy cooking or baking? Why?
I love to bake! Baking for me is cathartic, because in the end I usually have something I can share with people I care about and it provides nourishment for their body and soul. In my extended family we tend to stress bake. For me, it is also procrastibaking – putting off what needs to be done with the excuse of needing to bake something. Most of my department knows when I have a big project due or proposal going in because they are treated with something sweet in the faculty kitchen. Since COVID hit, I have had to change from random stress baking products delivered to the faculty lounge, to a baked good that goes over well with my COVID “bubble.”
What recipe do you enjoy making this time of year?
With the change in seasons, I tend to change to baking more traditional holiday spiced goods. I think cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and nutmeg along with fruits and nuts. My colleagues enjoy my rum cake the best and I love to play with flavors in my rum cake such as a pumpkin spice variation, pina colada, and chocolate or Mexican hot chocolate variations.
Do you have any stories attached to the snickerdoodle recipe you're sharing?
I love to bake for my graduate students, but my current graduate student is allergic to gluten. Most of my recipes are developed using whatever I have in the house but I did not always have gluten-free flour, so I made my own from basic components. These snickerdoodles taste just like my original snickerdoodles with minimal variations in texture or taste.
Want to share a recipe with your fellow Roos? Submit yours to the UMKC Taste of Home cookbook project.
Hart's Gluten-free Snickerdoodles
20 min prep, 1 hour baking time, yields 48 cookies
Cookies:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Gluten-Free Flour Blend
1 large egg
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
Cinnamon sugar mix:
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1. Heat oven to 400°F.
2. Combine 3/4 cup sugar and butter in bowl; beat at medium speed until creamy. Add all remaining cookie ingredients; beat at low speed until well mixed.
3. Combine all cinnamon sugar ingredients in bowl; mix well.
4. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in cinnamon sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Bake 8-10 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.