If I had three wishes, I would use them to make myself 1) a tea-drinker 2) a really good crossword puzzler and 3) someone who is able to confidently walk into the kitchen and bake a signature snack from memory without it taking hours. But seeing that nobody has offered me even one wish yet, I took matters into my own hands (which always ends great) and two or three years ago, I tried to make the third wish come true.
For a few months, I made slews of cookies and brownies. Some turned out absolutely fabulous and some turned out so salty that they were not edible. For one batch, I assumed this container with a Chinese label had sugar, but it was actually salt. We tried putting them outside so squirrels or birds would help us eat them, but the next day, the cookies were perfectly intact.
Sadly, I didn’t end up memorizing the recipes or learning to execute them in a timely manner. If someone was to write up a scientific report on why this experiment failed, their conclusion would probably include that I should’ve found simpler recipes.
So this month, when I felt an urge to spend more time in the kitchen, my priority was to find recipes that were certified Excessively Possible Recipes. To be an EPR, a recipe has to pass two tests: the Ingredients Test and the Instructions Test.
The Ingredients Test stipulates that I have to have most if not all the ingredients at home already. Oh, and they have to be simple. I would prefer not to go buy some special cream that I won’t know what to do with afterwards.
Usually, the only things I would have to go buy for these two recipes would probably be vanilla extract and margarine, but my brother-in-law had bought both of them, so I was able to bake with zero(!) grocery shopping.
The Instructions Test requires for the intructions to be supremely easy to follow. The two recipes below pass this one with flying colors. For both of them, you just add the ingredients into one bowl and then bake it in the oven.
Okay, I think I’ve established enough credibility for these recipes already. Let’s go.
Peanut Butter Cookies

Original recipe from Ovenly
Ingredients:
– 1 3/4 cups brown sugar
– 2 large eggs
– 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
– 1 3/4 cups smooth peanut butter
Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2) Mix sugar and eggs
3) Add vanilla extract
4) Add peanut butter & mix
5) Bake for 16-20 minutes
Notes:
The only thing I would’ve done differently is not put the cookies in the fridge because I think that is possibly the reason they became too chewy. Also, I usually never trust recipes that tell me to preheat the oven as the first step (it always takes me way longer to prep than the estimated time), but it actually worked for me on this one.
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Banana Bread

Ingredients:
– 1 stick margarine
– 1 cup sugar
– 1 egg
– 1/8 tsp salt
– 1 tsp baking soda (dissolved in water)
– 3 mashed ripe bananas
– 1 1/2 cups flour
– 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
– 1/2 cup chopped nuts
– I also added chocoalte chips which was a great decision
Instructions:
1) Mix margarine, sugar, and egg
2) Add baking soda and salt
3) Add bananas & mix
4) Add flour, vanilla, and nuts
5) Put into greased and floured loaf pan
6) Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hr 15 minutes
Notes:
I think this recipe is pretty flexible with adjustments. I didn’t use a full stick of margarine, I’m pretty sure I forgot to dissolve the baking soda in water, I forgot to mash the bananas beforehand so I just mashed them in the bowl, I used 5 or 6 bananas instead of 3 because mine were small, and I forgot to grease and flour the pan, but it still turned out very well.
So if you need to use butter instead of margarine, or exclude nuts because you’re allergic, or use a glass container or a muffin tin instead of a loaf pan (surprisingly we actually had a loaf pan), my expert opinion is that it would still taste good.
When I make this recipe again, there are two things I will do differently. The first thing is that I’m going to find a way to mix it electronically instead of by-hand because whisking bananas and flours and stuff was the only tough part of this. The second is that I’m going to wait until the bread cools before taking it out of the pan because I was way too impatient and it just crumbled.
———————
Oh wait, I just realized that I haven’t said anything about how these recipes actually taste. Both of them tasted very good, especially the banana bread one. I will definitely be making it again. So yes, these ERPs pass the taste test as well.

Have you baked anything recently?
What would you use your three wishes on?
Do you know of any EPRs?
I’ve been doing quite a bit of baking recently–mostly muffins and biscuits. Ooh, that banana bread looks so good!
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Ohh, what type of muffins have you made?? I would love to make some more types. I would ask about biscuits, but I fear that might be a little too hard. And thank you!!
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I like making apple oat muffins, which is just like normal muffins except you substitute oats for part of the flour and then you add chopped apples and a bit of cinnamon. They’re quite tasty 🙂
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Ohh, that sounds so good. I think I have all of those things, so I’m going to see if I can find a recipe online to follow. I’ll tell you how it goes!!
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I had never heard of EPR but that’s really fascinating. Now I’ll know what to keep my eye out for when picking recipes.
Ahaha ME TOO. I never ever preheat the oven first. It’s insanely stressful because I never can manage to mix everything fast enough to be ready when the oven is ready. xD
Another fantastic post, Annie!
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Ahaha, I kind of love acronyms so I just decided to create one myself. Yes, after I articulated it to myself, it’s been helping me while choosing recipes!
I know right??? I hear the oven beep (I’m not sure if that’s generic oven behavior), and I’m like WHAT, I’m supposed to be done already?
Thank you so much :))
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I would like to start this comment by saying that you thoroughly convinced me ERP was an actual abbreviation- upon googling it, I came to the conclusion that it is not- but I have to say, you definitely gave it enough background and credibility that I thought it was real! I’ve yet to bake something, which I feel like might be some kind of quarantine record, but you’ve convinced me that I need banana bread in my life, because wow, that picture looks delicious. And knowing that I probably don’t have to go to the store and buy margarine but rather use butter I already have (I trust your expert opinion) is always a plus.
The peanut butter cookies look really good too! I love peanut butter cookies. I feel like being allergic to peanut butter would be horrible because it’s such an ingrained part of my daily diet, and also peanut butter cookies are amazing.
I never trust the whole preheating the oven thing first either! When I bake, which is usually just at Christmastime, the oven will always beep when I’m still like getting things out of the pantry and it feels almost stressful to have the oven telling me I should be ready when I haven’t even started. :))
“I would prefer not to go buy some special cream that I won’t know what to do with afterwards”- HAHA. This is very relatable and exactly why I never end up baking even though I always say I want to!!
This post was so enjoyable to read and informative- I loved this, Annie :))
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Hahaha, that made me smile. Wow, on behalf of EPR, I’m honored.
It was so good! I made another loaf last week and just finished it today, and I have some bananas browning right now soooo. (Also, I’m listening to Lauv right now after reading your May recap.) HAHA, oh no, I’m not sure about my expert opinion. Wait, but I’m pretty sure I used butter for my second loaf, so yes, I guess it is expert ;))
Ahh, I love peanut butter.
Ahaha, it takes so long to organize things and then measure! And that’s without even starting the actual mixing.
Thank you, thank you :))
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Rereading this comment is making me crave banana bread all over again. Ahh, what songs by Lauv do you listen to most?
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Okay, I haven’t been listening to Lauv too much recently, but I think these are my favorites: Invisible Things, Canada, and For Now? While choosing, I was about to list like seven, but then I realized I would just keep listing more. What about you?
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Haha, wait, I love Invisible Things! I think it’s the first song I heard by them. I’ll definitely listen to the others you said- I think my favorites are Mean It, Paris in the Rain, and ILYSB (with LANY).
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Ahhh YAY. I haven’t listened to ILYSB, but I just put in on my queue. Did you listen to Lauv’s new album yet?? I think I’ve only listened to each song once so far so I don’t really know them yet, but I was wondering if you had an opinion :))
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Yay!! Oh, wow, I didn’t realize they had a new album, I’m not a true fan, oops. I’ve yet to have an opinion since I haven’t listened, but I’m adding it to my queue now!! Thank you for enlightening me. :))
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Ahahah, I didn’t respond to this in time before we actually talked about it already.
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