TJCA student stirs up a cookbook during COVID-19 shutdown

Maylan Maxwell is a student at Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy. She and her family live in Cleveland County.

A 16-year-old student at Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy, Maylan Maxwell, has written a cookbook with all proceeds going to purchase supplies for the Cleveland County Boys and Girls club.

Maylan wrote the recipe book during the first shutdown due to the COVID--19 pandemic.

During the quarantine, Maylan began writing the cookbook by finding base recipes for desserts she wanted to make.

The recipes in her first book are her favorites.

"I tweaked and adjusted them to my preference. I made a little bit of everything, but my favorite things to make are pies, custards, and cookies" Maylan said recently.

She talked about the journey in writing the cookbook.

The daughter of Ray and Carol Maxwell, she is one of three children She has an older sister and a younger brother.

Maylan said, "When the COVID-19 pandemic first started, I decided to "bake my way through it" by making a new dessert every day. I innocently anticipated baking for a few weeks, maybe a month tops. This hypothesis was quickly proven terribly, laughably wrong, but I was determined to stick it through and keep baking. I baked for 100 days straight, then eased off to 4-5 bakes a week until I had reached 200 days of baking, and then ended my project as school started back in person. I then began compiling my favorite recipes for a cookbook."

Baking was how Maylan coped with the " craziness of the past two years."

She said when she was feeling stressed or anxious, "or like my life was beyond my control, I kew that I could head to the kitchen and mix, measure, and bake my worries away."

Maylan was baking was something she "could control."

She said it is difficult to feel stressed when surrounded by delicious desserts.

" I have loved to cook since before the pandemic, but this project helped me deepen my love for baking and hone my skills," she said.

The first recipe book only contains 30 of her favorites dishes and thinks she'll probably work on another volume.

"I love to write and writing is something I might pursue as a career, so this has been great practice and given me experience with the publishing process," she added.

Order cookbooks on Amazon.com. They are printed upon order.

Maylan shares recipes:

May May's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup malted milk powder

1 stick unsalted butter, softened

2 cups brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Chocolate chips (til your heart's content)

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or sil-pats.

Beat the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2ish minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and malted milk and set aside.

Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter/sugar mixture and mix until combined.

With the mixer off, add the flour mixture. Mix on medium speed just until combined, then turn the mixer to high speed for a few seconds. Add the chocolate chips and mix at high speed for a few seconds.

Drop clementine-sized spoonfuls of dough onto the baking sheet, 4 inches apart. Bake for 16-17 minutes, until golden brown on top but still slightly gooey. Cool on the pan for a few moments, then move the cookies to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

Galette

Ingredients:

3 to 4 cups fruit, sliced/cubed if needed

(really any fruit can be a galette, but

stone fruits, berries, and other summer fruits work best.)

1 pie crust

½ to ¾ cup sugar, depending on the fruit and your preference

¼ tsp salt

Zest of half a lemon

3 to 4 Tbsp cornstarch (the juicer the fruit, the more cornstarch you should add)

1 egg

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a sil pat.

Roll out your pie crust into a 12ish-inch circle on a generously floured surface. Don't worry if the edges are messy. Transfer to the baking sheet and pop it in the fridge.

Toss together the fruit, sugar (SAVE ONE TBSP), salt, lemon zest, salt, and cornstarch in a medium bowl.

Separate your egg. Brush your chilled crust with egg white.

Add the yolk back into the remaining whites, beat together, and set aside.

Add the fruit to the middle of the pastry. Tuck the edges up over the fruit, creasing if necessary. It is totally okay if it looks a lil messy! I like to think of it as rustic.

Brush the pastry crust with the egg and sprinkle the Tbsp of sugar you saved earlier on the crust.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.

Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.