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One of the hardest parts of baking is finding the right recipe. I know that I am very lucky for the fact that I can call my mother at any moment and ask “What’s the best recipe for (insert desired delicious item here)?” and she would answer without missing a beat. She always has the best recipe for everything but that is because she has tried them all. However not everyone has a mother who cooks as much as mine, and not everyone has the time to experiment with recipes the way she does. I know that as a college student, with a limited budget as well as limited tools I cannot simply try out 50 different chocolate chip cookie recipes at the drop of a hat.

This is why it is important to know where to find good, reliable recipes. The internet can be a magical place – if you know how to use it. Simply googling “Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe” will make you want to pull your own hair out. You’ll end up with millions of pages and no way of knowing which are reliable. This is why I have decided to share with you a few of my favorite ways to find new, and reliably delicious recipes to try.

My favorite website is foodgawker. It has hundreds of pages filled with pictures of beautiful food. Underneath is a brief description of what exactly you are looking at and if you are intrigued enough you can click the picture and it will take you directly to the page with the recipe. I find that this method is usually pretty dependable since I believe in the saying that you eat with your eyes first. Foodgawker also allows you to look at what recipes have been “popular” lately, which is usually a pretty trustworthy way to see if a recipe will be good. It also allows you to favorite any recipe you want so you can save them for later, or if you want to make them again. It is also just a great way to procrastinate in class.

Pintrest is a site that is similar to foodgawker in that you can scroll through pages and pages of pictures, but they are not only limited to food. Pintrest, like foodgawker, lets you keep track of your favorite items by “pinning” them onto a virtual inspiration board of sorts. You can also browse other people’s boards, many of which fall under the category of food. I personally have an entire board devoted to recipes I want to try under the name “Deliciousness”.

Some other great sites for finding recipes would be under some of the more well known names in the food world. Epicurious is one of my mothers favorites, most of the recipes on here have turned out really well. They have their own rating system and all the recipes are all user reviewed so you have more of a feel for how the recipes will turn out in your own kitchen.

And as always, the pros know best. Try looking on food network for some inspiration, sticking to the chefs whose style you know and like. Martha Stewart has also never led me wrong when it comes to tasty treats.

Wherever it is that you look for recipes though there are a few things you should always look out for. Never use a recipe that starts out with a store bought mix, or asks for egg-substitute, or anything artificial really. Always use a high percentage of milk, and generally if a cookie or cake calls for water, or even orange juice, it will never be as good as milk would be. No matter what the recipe says, if you are using chocolate spring for the good stuff, it will make all the difference.

Hopefully this will help, and even inspire you to try out a new recipe or two. Happy hunting!

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