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Maya Guzman

Banana Bread:

With a little over a year of quarantine, many have endured social isolation by picking up new hobbies such as painting, reading, and exercising, but the most popular has been baking/cooking. In the first two weeks of “temporary quarantine” people turned to the social media app known as TikTok to post ways to defeat boredom. Recipes and how-to videos on how to make banana bread quickly went viral and the banana bread frenzy ensued. 

Not long after, other how-to videos on Dalgona coffee, more popularly known as “whipped” coffee, went viral and had people racing to buy instant-coffee at their local grocery store. Below are these two recipes from early March 2020 to rid you of boredom or to aid in reflecting on how far we have come after a year.

Banana Bread

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45-55 minutes

Total Time: Approx. 65 minutes

Servings: One loaf

Ingredients

• 3 ripe mashed bananas
• ½ brown sugar 
• ½ white sugar
• 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons milk of your choice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup roughly chopped walnuts + more for on top

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large mixing bowl, add in ripe bananas and mash. Then add in the sugar, butter, milk, vanilla extract, and egg then mix until combined. In the same bowl, proceed by adding in flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, mixing until just combined. Mix in walnuts then pour into a prepared loaf pan. Bake at 350°F for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Dalgona Coffee aka “Whipped” Coffee

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: none

Total Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 1-2

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons of instant coffee
• 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons of boiling water
• 1 cup of milk of your choice

Add the coffee, sugar, and boiling water into a bowl. With a mixer, whip the ingredients on high speed for approximately 2 minutes or until the mixture is fully whipped. In a tall glass, add a cup of milk (and ice if desired) then pour the whipped mixture on top. Finally, with a straw or spoon, stir to combine the whipped mixture into your milk and enjoy!

While there have been numerous quarantine food trends throughout this past year, some of the most recent have been baked feta pasta and baked oats. Again, their popularity has stemmed from becoming TikTok trends. Below you will find @grilledcheesesocial whose viral TikTok video and recipe started the baked feta pasta trend, although she says that her recipe was inspired by Finnish Blogger Liemessa. Also included is @tracesoats viral Chocolate Chip Baked Oats recipe which has caused some to realize that oatmeal is not as disgusting as they once thought.

Baked feta pasta

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb pasta of your choice
• ½ cup olive oil + more for finishing
• 2 boxes of cherry tomatoes
• 1 block of feta cheese
• 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
• Red pepper flakes
• A handful of fresh basil leaves
• Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Pour olive oil into a baking dish, add in cherry tomatoes, salt, and pepper then toss. Once everything is coated, add feta in the middle of the dish and drizzle with a splash of olive oil and red pepper flakes then bake for 30 minutes. While the dish is baking, prepare bowtie pasta then strain. After the dish has been baking for 30 minutes, increase the heat to 350°F for 5-10 minutes or until browned. After removing the baking dish, add garlic, chopped basil, and more red pepper flakes, then stir so the heat cooks the garlic. Add sauce to pasta and mix, then add salt and pepper to taste. Serve and enjoy!

Baked oats

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: Approx. 20 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Servings: 1

Ingredients

• ¾ cup oats
• ½ tbsp chia seeds
• ½ scoop protein powder (optional, but makes oats more filling)
• ¾ cup milk
• ½ tsp baking powder
• Dash of salt
• 1 tbsp pure maple syrup or honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Handful of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 °F. Add all ingredients except chocolate chips into a blender and blend. In a small prepared baking dish, pour in batter, add chocolate chips and mix. If desired, add more chocolate chips on top and bake for about 20 minutes. Enjoy for breakfast, a snack, or dessert!

While these have been some of the more popular food trends, there are still new ones arising almost every month to satisfy nearly every plate. With recipes like the above teaching many of the life skills of cooking/baking and helping many to explore new foods, TikTok food trends will likely continue to serve this agenda months into the future. So for now, have these recipes be a fun activity to pass time and enjoy with family or friends.