From Flat Cookies to Loaf Queen | Baking For Beginners

Hey friend! Welcome to Yeah Keeks Cooks, a blog I started to chronicle my journey in the kitchen—from barely able to make proper cookies to self-proclaimed “Loaf Queen.” (Although my cookies still tend to come out kind of flat, I’m a work in progress, okay?) I started exploring more in the kitchen about two years ago when I shared a desire to be someone who bakes bread for fun and shares it with her friends as gifts and tokens of affection. When expressing this goal to bake “at some point in the future,” my best friend simply replied, “Why not now?” And at that moment, Yeah Keeks Cooks was born!

Well, not really. From there, I dove into ambitious sourdough bread recipes and went down many rabbit holes: growing starter, recipes for starter discard (spoiler: you throw away a lot of flour mixture when growing starter), and basically any and all bread baking content. My first crack at sourdough ended up a brick at the bottom of my trash can. After that, I decided to scale things back and look for less intimidating bread recipes like ones that used dry active yeast instead. This approach helped me build up my confidence and keep things fun.

Speaking of fun, around this time I bought my first cookbook: The Unofficial Hocus Pocus Cookbook, full of themed recipes from one of my favorite Halloween movies. I was obsessed—it was so festive and really excited me to try the whimsical foods. The star of the entire book for me? Cinnamon bread loaf. It was a warm, semi-sweet, autumnal dessert loaf that tasted truly life-changing. I’m pretty sure I made it half a dozen times over the course of a couple of months. Each time, I experimented with going slightly off-script from the recipe by adding my own spin: mixing up my own glaze with milk and powdered sugar, adding walnuts, or sprinkling white chocolate chips on top.

It was then that I truly fell in love with baking, and even more so with sharing my creations with loved ones. Seeing the surprise and excitement on their faces, followed by the pleasure of a successful bake, was priceless. As the recipes I enjoyed started to accumulate, I wanted a place to share my experiences and favorite meals. And at THAT moment, Yeah Keeks Cooks was really born.

What to Expect from Yeah Keeks Cooks

I started this blog for the girlies on their beginner baking journey who want to have more fun in the kitchen, create delicious food, and share them with the people they love. I’m a busy working mom of an amazing four-year-old and while free time is limited, I want to take opportunities whenever I can to cook great meals that don’t involve too many gadgets and complexities. So when I share simple baking recipes and tips, believe me when I say if I can do it, so can you! Think of me as your baking bestie, cheering you on to try new recipes and cook up some great-tasting creations in the kitchen. Don’t know where to start? Click HERE to check out my Recipe Dump and HERE to connect with me on Instagram. Happy baking!