Boo-tiful Bake Sale Idea for a Boo-tiful Cause
Jolene Kesler of Simple Baking with Pep is a Mom to four with both a background as a food scientist and in pastry arts. She's on a mission to show that baking doesn’t have to be intimidating. We think she proves that time and again in her engaging baking videos on social media and through her easy and fun recipes. Jolene is also on a mission to change the landscape for kids facing a cancer diagnosis and shows up time and again as an advocate very much aligned with our mission here at Cookies to raise funds for research to develop new, improved, and less toxic treatments for pediatric cancer.
Below, Jolene shares a bit about herself and also the MOST ADORABLE Shortbread Ghost Cookie recipe - festive and EASY for any Halloween bake sale!
C4KC: Tell us how you got into baking and cooking?
JK: Growing up, my mom always had us helping in the kitchen in some way – whether that meant peeling potatoes, husking corn, or taste testing the veggies that she chopped. Although my mom’s cooking mostly consisted of preparing “boxed meals” as my dad referred to them as (think hamburger helper), these memories of helping my mom in the kitchen stuck with me. In high school, I always made sure to sign up for foods class, but my cooking skills were certainly not spectacular. I distinctly remember making a homemade Chex Mix. My task was to measure the salt. I misread the amount of salt and the Chex Mix tasted like straight salt! We all start somewhere, right!? A pastry arts instructor came to our high school my junior year and showed us how to make roses out of marzipan and how to write things with chocolate. It intrigued me and I decided I wanted to sign up for the pastry arts class. I spent a year learning everything from how to make chocolate chip cookies, to making croissants and became certified to work as a pastry chef upon graduation. I decided to go to college and was able to land a job as a food scientist for The Hershey Company after graduating. Kind of a Willy Wonka inspired position! I helped to create and develop the recipes that you see on store shelves. While I really loved my job as a food scientist, I felt a pull to work in healthcare. I wanted to help people, and while I really loved baking, I decided this could become my side passion for the time being. I graduated as a physician assistant and began working with adults with cancer. After having my second son, I decided to become a stay at home mom, and began my Instagram account @simplebakingwithpep. I enjoy sharing easy, cozy meals that I make for my family, as well as sweet treats and breads that I try to make as easy as possible for the home cook and baker.
C4KC: Do you have a Chef / Pastry Chef that inspires you?
JK: Bobby Flay, because he likes cats! :) (Jolene's cat Pep often makes appearances in her Instagram posts, hence her brand name!)
[Chef Flay inspires us too Jolene! Here he is with our Co-Founder, Gretchen Holt Witt, at one of our annual Chefs for Kids' Cancer NYC events]
C4KC: As you know, when you send our cookies - 100% of the proceeds go towards funding critical childhood cancer research at the nation's top pediatric cancer centers. Which of our flavors is your top pick?
JK: All of the cookies look so good, and personally having tried a few of them I know they are GOOD! Right now, I would probably pick the Ginger Spice, although I would say that is partly because it is the cozy season, and I’m craving all things spice!
C4KC: How have you personally been affected by pediatric cancer?
JK: My husband’s coworker’s son had a very rare brain cancer. He survived the treatment, but there is a high chance of recurrence.
C4KC: In your opinion why is it important to raise awareness and funds for research to develop new, improved, and less toxic treatments for pediatric cancer (our mission)?
JK: It’s hard to lose a loved one, and even harder to lose a young child. Having recently lost my dad to cancer, I know how difficult it is to see a loved one go through cancer. It’s very important to me to raise awareness and funds to hopefully one day have a treatment that eradicates cancer. Kids deserve to have a future.
Want to get involved and #BakeADifference in the lives of children facing a cancer diagnosis? Our friends at OXO will match any funds raised through the end of the year. Double your impact with a Halloween / Fall Bake Sale! Check out Jolene's Boo-tiful Bake Sale Idea below!
2 sticks unsalted butter
½ cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
12-16 pecan halves (depending on the size of your ghost cookie cutter)
1. In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer, or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add in vanilla extract, flour and salt. Mix just until combined.
2. Scrape dough out of bowl onto a piece of plastic wrap. Cover the dough and shape into a rectangular prism. Chill in refrigerator at least one hour.
3. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
4. Place chilled dough on a piece of parchment paper. Place another parchment paper on top of dough. Roll dough until it is ½ inch thick. Using a floured ghost cookie cutter, cut out the cookie dough into ghost shapes.
5. Place ghost cookies onto prepared baking sheet. Place a pecan half in the center of the ghost. If the cookie cutter had arms in the shape, bend the arms in, over the pecan to sort of “hug” the pecan. If your cookie cutter did not have arms, you can make your own and place the arms over the pecan to “hug” the pecan.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Allow to cool 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring to a wire cooling rack.