5 Easy bake recipes for lazy bums

Baking is always a fun idea. The sense of achievement that you get after seeing the first batch of your straight out of oven goodness is just incomparable. But if you are a lazy bum like me and want to bake delicious recipes without having to commit to an entire afternoon of laboring in the kitchen then consider the following curation your holy grail. With minimal ingredients and easy prep, here are 5 easy to bake recipes you’ll want to come back to again and again.

1. Fudgy Chocolate Brownie

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder or 1 cup melted dark chocolate bar
• 1 cup sugar 
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence - optional
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 tsp salt (leave out if using salted butter)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 176°C. Grease a microwave/oven proof square pan or line with foil and set aside.
• In a medium bowl combine melted butter and cocoa (or melted chocolate) and sugar stir until fully dissolved.
• Add eggs one at a time then vanilla (if using) and stir until well combined.
• Stir in flour and salt until the flour is fully combined. Be careful not to overmix mix.
• (optional) fold in 1 cup of nuts if you want.
• Spread in pan and bake for approximately 20-22 minutes or until the center is slightly set. Be careful not to over-bake!
• Cool completely then cut into squares and enjoy.

2. Soft Homemade Pretzels 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup whole fat milk 
• a pinch of salt
• coarse salt or salt flakes for finishing- optional
• 1 egg – beaten

Instructions:

• Put the flour into a bowl, then add the butter(cut the butter into tiny pieces for your convenience). Add sugar, baking powder, and salt and mix together. 
• Gradually add the milk slowly till all the ingredients are wet. Make sure that the dough is not too sticky, but also not too dry. Add more milk using a teaspoon if you feel the dough is a bit too dry. Once the desired consistency of the dough is achieved, start shaping it.
• Divide it into smaller balls. Roll out each ball into a long snake and make a bow like shape out of it (or whatever shape you’d like). Grease a baking tray with butter or oil and put the pretzels on it. Brush them with the egg (egg wash) and sprinkle with coarse salt or salt flakes.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 176 degrees C for 10-12 minutes (depending on the size of your pretzels) – they should be nice and golden on the top. Serve warm with any dip or sauce of your choice.

3. Classic Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar plus 1 tablespoon for muffin tops
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 – 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla essence- optional
• 1 cup frozen blueberries 

Instructions :

• Preheat oven to 204º C.
• In a large bowl whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt,.
• In a full-sized cup,  add vegetable oil, egg, and then fill the cup with milk. Add vanilla and whisk until combined. 
• Add milk mixture to the bowl with flour and sugar then use a fork to combine. Do not over mix. (The muffin batter will be pretty thick).
• Add blueberries and use a spatula or spoon to gently fold the blueberries into the muffin batter.
• Divide the batter between the muffin cups filling about ½ full.
• Sprinkle a little sugar on top of each muffin. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

4. Easy Cheesy Scones

Ingredients:

• 225 grams all-purpose flour
• 50 grams unsalted butter- cold
• 150 ml milk
• 100 grams mature cheddar or any solid cheese of choice- grated
• 2 grams salt
• 2 tsp baking powder.

Instructions :

• Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C.
• Put the flour, baking powder, and salt into a large mixing bowl or food processor.
• Mix the butter into the flour with your fingertips or blend with the flour in the food processor for 20 seconds or so until you are looking at fine breadcrumbs like consistency in your bowl. Tip the cheese in and then pour in the milk. 
• Using a wide-bladed blunt knife or similar stir the milk into the mixture until you get a shaggy dough.
• Using your hands, squish the dough until its smooth. Transfer to a very lightly floured surface.
• Using your hands and a rolling pin very gently roll out the dough to 2.5 cm thick. Using a 6 cm cutter or flour rimmed steel glass cut out the scones. Brush with milk and bake for about 15 minutes. 
• Carefully take out once done. Slice open warm, slather with a generous smear of butter and enjoy. 

5. Chocolate Banana Muffins

Ingredients:

• 3 very ripe or overripe bananas
• 125 milliliters vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs
• 100-gram brown sugar
• 225 grams all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder (sifted) or 6 teaspoons melted chocolate
• 1 teaspoon baking soda or ENO

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a muffin tin with paper or grease them with oil/butter. 
• Peel and mash the bananas in a bowl, add the oil followed by the eggs and sugar.
• Mix the flour, cocoa powder (or melted chocolate, and ENO together and add to the banana mixture and mix gently until combined. Spoon it into the prepared muffin tray.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 15–20 minutes, by which time the muffins should be dark, rounded, and peeking out of their cases. Allow cooling slightly in their tin before removing.

FAQs

Q1: How to pre-heat my Microwave?

A: You need to place a slatted rack that comes with a microwave to pre-heat it. Now, choose the convection option. Once you set it on the convection mode, your microwave’s digital display will reflect the minimum temperature setting available, you can just increase or decrease it according to your requirement and press start.

Q2: What is the easiest way to melt chocolate?

A: Chop chocolate bar into small pieces and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at 70% power for 1 minute. Remove from microwave and give it a stir. Continue to microwave in 30-second increments, stirring frequently, until the chocolate has fully melted.

Q3: What can I use instead of baking powder?

A:  Each teaspoon (5 grams) of baking powder can be replaced with a 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) baking soda or ENO and a 1/2 teaspoon vinegar