Sara Ann O'Sullivan

As the semester is in full swing, I’m finding it hard to feel a sense of calm. Ever since it started, it’s been nonstop—go, go, go. I won’t lie; it’s a little tiring. At the start of 2025, I had big plans to write every day. While I’m still writing, it’s less frequent than I had hoped. But this isn’t me complaining—I’m so close to finishing my first two years of medical school, and I just have to keep pushing until the end.

That being said, I wanted to share a new hobby with y’all: baking. I come from a family of bakers. Every year, my mom’s side of the family gets together to bake cookie boxes for Christmas. And my dad? He has the magical ability to walk into a kitchen and whip up something delicious without ever looking at a recipe. I, on the other hand, have never been the main baker in the family.

But I do love cooking. I think it’s fun, creative, and a great way to bring people together. So, this semester, I set a goal: bake something once a week. Since I’ve been trying to eat healthier and lose some weight, I figured that instead of buying desserts, I’d make them myself.

And what an adventure this has been. My first attempt? A total failure. I won’t go into detail, but just imagine expired oat milk mixed with a bread dough that had way too many gooey frozen strawberries.

Week two was better—I made a dairy-free apple crisp (I’ll drop the link below because this one was a real hit).

Then I made lemon sugar cookies, which I thought were a little too crumbly, but everyone loved the flavor.

This week, I’m planning to bake something for a Super Bowl party, but I haven’t decided what yet. I have everything I need for two options: homemade cinnamon rolls or a copycat recipe of Hide and Seek Cookies.

The cinnamon rolls involve working with yeast, which should be interesting because I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve probably helped my mom or an aunt with it before, but this will be my first time doing it solo. But just in case things go sideways, I have a backup brownie mix—because let’s be real, sometimes baking experiments turn into baking mishaps.

If anyone has a favorite recipe, let me know! I’d love to try it out. As always, thanks for being on this adventure with me

I look forward to sharing more updates on my degree, writing, and baking!

Apple Crisp: https://godairyfree.org/recipes/dairy-free-apple-crisp