Why Does Baking Make You Feel Good?

Baking is something we all know about, even if we don’t all do it on a regular basis. The fact is that baking is something very special when you really think about it; it’s almost a magic trick in the way it uses heat and mixing to bring all kinds of different ingredients together to create one unique and very tasty treat. 

There’s just something so good about baking and, linked to that, it actually tends to make us (the majority of people, at least) feel good when we’re doing it and even after it’s done. Despite the mess and the rules that need to be followed, it’s still a great thing to do if you want a mood-boosting activity. With that in mind, here are some of the reasons why baking makes you feel good. 

Photo by Antonio Quagliata

Nostalgia And Comfort 

One of the main reasons that baking makes you feel good and boosts your mood, giving you all kinds of positive emotions, is that it can link you back to the past and make you feel comfortable, comforted, and nostalgic in the most pleasant and warm way. Baking can bring back cherished memories of when you were a child or when your kids were little, and it’ll often make people think of happy family moments and traditions. 

Even just the smell of freshly baked pies and cakes can be enough to make you feel great because of this (the sense of smell is the one that’s linked directly to your memories, after all), but actually doing the baking is something that brings those memories really flooding back, so, of course, you’ll feel good when you’re baking. 

Creativity 

Baking does have rules you need to follow, and those rules are fairly strict, especially when compared to other types of cooking - you need to have just the right measurements to make those chemical reactions work in the right way. 

However, baking is also a massively creative thing to do when you think of the plethora of different things you can make and the various flavors and options you have. Although the measurements might have to be exact, you can make everything else up as you go along, creating new taste combinations as you go. Plus, there’s the decorating. If you’re making a cake or some kind of sweet treat, you can decorate it in any way you want to, and have a lot of fun letting your creative juices flow. That’s going to release endorphins in your body, and since they’re a natural mood enhancer, you’re bound to feel great. 

You’ll Be Doing Something Mindful

Mindfulness is an important part of life - it’s a great way to de-stress because you’re focusing on the present moment and not worrying about the past or the future, which can be upsetting or just make you feel overwhelmed. 

The issue is that it can be hard to add more mindfulness into your life, but baking could be the answer. The fact is that baking needs you to really concentrate on what you’re doing, from measuring ingredients correctly to reading the instructions for baking this classic French bread recipe or anything else you might be creating to getting your timings right, and all of that can be a way to clear your mind of everything except what you’re doing - which is a form of mindfulness.