Rev. Drew Weseman

I have never really been a recipe developer. Most of the recipes in this project have been largely taken from other sources often with a few minor adaptations on my part (Hello cacao nibs!). I think part of this is my own lack of confidence in the science behind baking. Technique is one thing, but theory is something else entirely, and I have always felt weaker on the latter. Recently, though I have begun to really enjoy being more experimental in my baking and taking more risks and trying new recipes and ingredients. It has been a lot of fun!

One of the leadership lessons that I have really tried to implement in my ministry has been learning that it is ok to fail. As a recovering perfectionist, this is a struggle for me. However, as I have been baking and cooking more often, I have found myself living into this mindset more. Part of the reason, I think is that the kitchen is a VERY low stakes environment. Over the past week, I have tried a few new recipes and some of them turned out well while others were pretty bad. I made some pesto potatoes that were dry and crusty rather than moist and crunchy. My first batch of sour cream cookies were underbaked and tangy (and not in a good way). While these experiments did not turn out the way I wanted them to, the results were still edible, and I learned something from the process. My sour cream cookies, for example, needed some time to chill in the fridge, extra time in the oven, and I added some cacao nibs because..why not! As I fail in the kitchen and survive and learn, I gain more confidence to try and potentially fail outside of the kitchen as well. In life there are more variables than sugar to butter ratios or gluten formation, however, from each failure there are lessons to be learned and the results are often still salvageable.

In so many ways, this Sabbath Baking project is a large experiment, and I am grateful for those of you on the journey with me. One of the new ways I have been using baking is as an aide to discernment. Several months ago, the District Superintendent here in Michigan called and asked if I would consider serving a local church that is 10 minutes from our house. I had not intended to go back into local church ministry quite so soon, but I told him I would think about it. In my prayers, I decided to try a new type of cookie recipe as a way to pray through the decision. The recipe I tried was a copycat of Gideon’s Bakehouse Chocolate Chip Cookie by Justine Doiron. The cookie is one of those large ones packed with chocolate which are a favorite of mine especially since I have never been able to recreate them at home. The recipe used several new techniques I had never tried before so it seemed like a fun project. 

As I baked through the recipe and tried new techniques (forming the dough into 1/3lb balls! 24 hour pre-bake freeze), I got out of my comfort zone and found myself opening up more to a new thing that God was doing. The familiar ingredients and smells, gave me comfort as I processed my nerves and excitement. The whole process was so helpful in creating a space for me to listen to God’s voice and understand my own voice in response.

I wish I could say that the cookies were as huge of a success as the process. They turned out ok. The size of the dough ball did not allow them to bake through enough, so I think the next time I will try and shape them a bit more. I also don’t think the lengthy freeze was really necessary. I also don’t think I was able to fit enough chocolate chips on top, which is definitely a skill worth perfecting! Overall though, the cookies were pretty tasty, and the new church I am about to serve is one that I am very excited about.

As I have been praying and preparing to enter back into local church ministry, I have been trying to create my own whole wheat chocolate chip cookie. This is a recipe that I first discovered in the novel, Search (10/10 highly reccomend!), however, the texture was never my favorite and as I have been milling my own whole wheat flour, the texture has been worse. So I am trying some major changes which have had some promising initial success (preview of coming attractions!). As I enter into recipe development territory it requires me to be creative and observant. Allowing people to try cookies that I am not 100% confident in is a practice in vulnerability. All of these things are practices that are also making me a better Christiana and a better pastor.

And so, if you are sitting there thinking, I am not a baker, or I just don’t know if I want to try that recipe that I have been looking at on and off for weeks. Take this as your encouragement to step out and try! You may not get it on the first or second try, but, as always, God is in the process as much as the destination and I promise you will have some tasty results along the way (even if not immediately!).

If you were worried, the Sabbath Baking project is not going away. I am not sure what iteration it will take going forward, but I am still going to be posting and experimenting and inviting you to join in the journey as well! Stay tuned!

Will you pray with me:

God of new beginnings and old habits, thank you for your faithfulness to me in the past. Thank you for the ways you have brought me through challenges, the way you have sustained me through hardship. Allow me to remember these experiences as I consider trying something new. Be in my hesitant deliberations at the edges of my comfort. Be in my halting first steps along an unpaved new path. Be my comfort when my attempts fail and be the grace I need to learn for the next attempt. Keep me moving at the pace of your presence, drawing me ever forward, closer to you. Amen.

Recipes in this post:
Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies by Justine Doiron
Gideon’s Bakehouse Chocolate Chip Cookie by Justine Doiron
Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies by Me! (Coming Soon!)

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cookies