Using essential oils for cooking and baking? Cook with essential oils? Really? Yes, with a little professional guidance, you can! Start with some of the more gentle spice essential oils like Ginger and Cardamom then try adding some zesty and refreshing citrus oils like Mandarin and Orange. Use gorgeous herb oils like Peppermint, Spearmint, Thyme, and Oregano when you don’t have fresh herbs in the kitchen. Finally, master floral essential oils like Rose and Lavender. Enjoy seasonal recipes using essential oils for cooking and baking. Satisfy your sweet tooth with Ginger and Cardamom Sugar Cookies, Cherry and Rose Fondant Creams, and Samoa Truffles. Turn leftovers into tasty magic with our Turkey and Thyme Cream Soup and Leftovers Pizza. Finally toast 2024 with our Mandarin, Sweet Orange, and Grapefruit Liqueur.
Join us as we find the answers to commonly asked questions like:
- How to use essential oils for cooking?
- The best essential oils for cooking recipes?
- Which are the best essential oils for cooking?
- Where to find our cooking with essential oils chart
- Where to find an edible essential oils list
- Where to buy edible essential oils - HERE! At Vinevida of course!
Introduction to Using Essential Oils For Cooking and Baking
Before you start here, I strongly recommend that you read my first article on using essential oils for cooking called Unlock Flavorful Wonders: A Beginner's Guide To Cooking With Essential Oils.
It covers all the ins and outs of using essential oils in cooking and baking in detail and covers important topics like:
- Why Don’t I See More Articles About Cooking With Essential Oils?
- The Safety Considerations Of Cooking With Essential Oils
- Food Grade Essential Oils Vs Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils
- Dilution Is Still Needed When Cooking With Essential Oils
- Volatile Oils Are Delicate
- The Onus Of Cooking With Essential Oils Safely Lies With You
- Smell Vs Taste When Cooking With Essential Oils
- Cooking With Essential Oils - Where To Start If You Are Nervous
- The Best Ways to Use Essential Oils For Cooking (Table)
You can also find:
- Cooking with essential oils chart
- An edible essential oils list
- Where to buy your edible essential oils from. (Spoiler alert - it’s right here at Vinevida).
Please read them in conjunction with one another, as this is more of a whistle stop tour with the focus being on the recipes themselves.
Using essential oils safely requires you to take responsibility. Do that, by reading the other article first, and gaining that new knowledge which will set you in good stead for this article.
Can I Ingest Essential Oils?
I came across a Social Media post last week where a lady asked, “Can I ingest essential oils”? She was met by a barrage of well-meaning folk saying “Absolutely not”!
Well, that isn’t quite right.
Most professional aromatherapists will tell you never to ingest essential oils, but it is a blanket statement. We say this simply because not all essential oils are equal, some are stronger than others and they all have their safety considerations.
You have to know and understand the differing safety considerations of each essential oil you plan to ingest, just like you have to understand them to use them on your skin.
Stupidity
Let's just be honest here, the main reason we tell you never to ingest essential oils is that people can be stupid, and because people do stupid things. These stupid people then try to sue essential oils companies for what has been their own stupidity, when something goes wrong.
The long and short of it is that we live in a litigious landscape and cannot trust the general public not to be stupid. Hence the blanket statement.
However, the French are far braver than we are, and under professional care, they have been recommending their clients embrace the ingestion of essential oils for decades.
You Ingest Essential Oils In Many Commercial Food and Drinks
The truth is you ingest essential oils in many commercial food and drink products.
The food and drinks industry here in the US purchases, imports, and consumes the most essential oils in the world. We even pip China to the post and that takes some doing!
Across the globe and particularly here in the US, the demand for more natural flavors and additives in food is pushing up the demand.
It should be noted that some essential oils go through a process to remove certain chemical constituents before they make it into our food and drink. However, there are a good many essential oils that are used in their pure and natural state.
Safely Ingesting and Using Essential Oils In Cooking and Baking
Essential oils are concentrated, powerful, and potent, never lose sight of this.
Even when you cook with them, they maintain active constituents, (although heat will reduce them) so they still have physiological effects too. A bit like Cannabis does when you turn it into a hash cake.
Given that we will be using them in such minute amounts, we might think the safety rules don’t apply. WRONG!
THEY DO!
ALL the normal safety rules and health guidelines still apply. Please keep this in the forefront of your mind.
If you want to be a beautifully responsible consumer, there are guidelines around the oral dilutions of each Essential Oil Safety for Health Professionals - Tisserand and Young 2013.
Dilution
You still need to dilute, if you are cooking with essential oils, as odd as it may at first seem.
Ideally, you need to dilute them in something with a reasonably high lipid content. Foodstuffs with high lipid content include oils, butter, and fats.
This higher lipid content ensures that your essential oils will get evenly distributed throughout your recipe. Without them, you could just find your essential oils floating on the top of your soup, no one wants that.
I also use honey and sugar-based syrups to help disperse them too, when I am cooking with essential oils. They work just as well and are more suited to some recipes.
Choose the best food ingredients to suit your recipe. I will highlight the best choice in the recipes that follow. This way you will know the best dilution choice when you are using essential oils for cooking and baking too.
Using Essential Oils For Cooking and Baking Safely Is Up To YOU!
One last thing. You MUST take responsibility for yourself when using essential oils for cooking and baking.
At every single stage of the process, the responsibility lies with you to do your due diligence.
It is up to you to source your recipe from professionals, not some hobby mom on YouTube. It is up to you to check the provenance and the quality of the essential oils that you intend to use in your recipes. It is up to you to use common sense, safety recommendations, and guidelines to deduce the proportion of oils you plan to use. Most importantly of all, it is up to you to follow the professionally designed recipes EXACTLY.
I utterly beseech you, please do not relegate yourself to ‘the annals of the stupid’. I trust you to be one of those beautifully conscientious and responsible customers that we dearly love here at VINEVIDA.
If you haven’t read the other article yet, please do so now - Unlock Flavorful Wonders: A Beginner's Guide To Cooking With Essential Oils.
Using Essential Oils For Cooking and Baking - Our Favorites
One of the easiest places to start using essential oils for cooking and baking is with spice and citrus oils. They are the easiest to introduce and a place I suggest that you start if you are nervous.
Our Favorite Spice Essential Oils For Cooking and Baking
Spice essential oils are a great way of using essential oils for cooking and baking. Spice essential oils like Cinnamon, Clove, and Nutmeg are super potent and have very low safety dilutions for use on the skin. You have to use them very carefully.
Essential oils like Ginger and Cardamom are more gentle, but still pack that flavor punch we are looking for here. So let’s have a closer look at these.
Ginger Root Essential Oil (Zingiber officinale)
When you buy commercially prepared food containing Ginger, it could be fresh, dried, or even Ginger essential oil giving it its flavor. When using essential oils for cooking and baking it helps to know a good place to start and this exciting and versatile essential oil would be my recommendation.
Try adding it to cookie mixes, and curries, even mix it with a dash of cream and drop in your hot chocolate, (like I did yesterday).
Warming and with an edge of heat, it’s an interesting essential oil to cook with and can give a new element to a dish. For the more experienced cooks and adventurous among us, try a dish using fresh, dried, and essential oils of ginger for a dish with great range and depth of flavor.
Cardamom Essential Oil (Elettaria cardamomum)
This is a good place to start using essential oils for cooking and baking. With its fresh, green spice aroma with notes of Lemon, Cardamom can be an exciting ingredient to experiment with. Like Ginger, it pairs beautifully with Orange and can be used for all the same applications as stated above.
Don’t be too heavy-handed with Cardamom too, it can become overpowering quite quickly. For me that’s fine, but if your family isn't used to the flavor, ease them in gently.
It’s a perfect choice as it spans both sweet and savory dishes. Try pairing with Sweet Orange for Butter Cookies and with Ginger for deepening off a spicy fragrant rice.
Our Favorite Citrus Essential Oils For Cooking and Baking
Again, when you first begin using essential oils for cooking and baking, Citrus oils are a great starting point because they are quite forgiving and unless you go nuts, it’s hard to overdo it in some recipes.
Lemon Essential Oil (Citrus limon L (Burm.) F. )
Lemon essential oil is one of my favorite oils for using essential oils for cooking and baking. Sharp, tart, and super fragrant it lends itself to both sweet and savory dishes.
Try it in a split oil with a cream sauce over white fish like Cod or Sole. Lace shortbread with it for a summery treat. Give your Lemonade a super shot by mixing a couple of drops with a dash of honey and adding it in.
I last used it in a Persian chicken dish with preserved Lemons to just give it that extra bit of oomph and freshen the whole profile. It’s equally luscious with Chicken and Thyme.
Sweet Orange Essential Oil (Citrus sinensis L)
Perfect and super easy for using essential oils for cooking and baking. A gentle one to start with but it still has that fragrant, zingy, and uplifting punch to it. Use it to add brightness and elevate your mood through food.
Great in creamy-based desserts like panna cotta, custard, and ice creams.
A few drops (diluted in butter or oil) over pan-roasted duck is simply divine and worth a go.
Grapefruit Essential Oil (Citrus paradisi)
This is not everyone's favorite food because usually you try it first as a child and find it can be too bitter for your gentle taste buds. Always try it again as an adult, try it every few years as your taste buds change over time.
Beautifully fresh and refreshing on the taste buds this is a great choice for cocktails, fruit salads, and adding some of that distinctive sharpness to sweet fruits.
Try a few drops in a honey drizzle over BBQ’d Pineapple…. It’s ok, thank me later.
Our Favorite Floral Essential Oils For Cooking and Baking
As you become more experienced using essential oils for cooking and baking, start and experiment with the floral essential oils.
They need careful and judicious handling because they can go from perfection to ruination in a drop. It is certainly a lesson in balance and a good experiment to get the hang of.
Lavender Essential Oil (Lavandula angustifolia)
Using essential oils for cooking and baking, needs care. None more so than with Lavender. Despite its gentle nature in Aromatherapy where we often just ladle it on, if you do that here, you will regret it. Think FLAVOR!
While a gentle oil, it has a STRONG flavor and it is easy to go overboard. It is always a case of less is more with Lavender and you want subtlety, hints, and gentleness rather than strong, in-your-face flavors.
Try it in Hot Chocolate or Earl Grey Tea. Pair it with Elderflower Cordial for a long drink or a fresh light sponge cake.
It works beautifully with White Chocolate, Pistachio, and Rose essential oil, but balance is key.
Rose Essential Oil (Rosa damascena)
I love using essential oils for cooking and baking and none more so than Rose essential oil. I just love ALL things Roses and simply can’t get enough.
I don’t really ‘do’ cream, so when it comes to fresh strawberries or raspberries, in my house they get the barest sprinkling of sugar and a good splosh of Rosewater. On decadent days they get a drop of Rose essential oil, swirled into dreamy local honey mixed into the Rosewater, and marinated for a couple of hours at room temperature. Delicious!
Try it in fondant creams, with pistachio cake, and in a raspberry liquor.
Our Favorite Herb Essential Oils For Cooking and Baking
Herbs are an ideal way of using essential oils for cooking and baking. When you realize you have no fresh Mint or Thyme for your recipe, reach for the essential oil bottle instead.
Spearmint Essential Oil (Mentha spicata)
This is probably one of the first times I remember using essential oils for cooking and baking. Making Peppermint and Spearmint Creams for my family at Christmas, as a child. I also remember us painting some old tins bright red and both of our Grandads used them as sweet tins for us kids to have a special treat until they sadly passed. Start your Holiday traditions.
Peppermint creams are so simple to make and a great place to experiment as the essential oils themselves are quite cheap to buy. As are the ingredients. You need very little of the essential oils to make Holiday gifts with impact, and ones that are always well received.
Add a couple of drops in your Mojito for a slightly different flavor profile and try it in other cocktails for a refreshing, icy, and minty hit.
Used alongside other herbs, it can brighten, lift, and lighten the whole scent and flavor profile.
That icy cool profile works beautifully in ice cream and sorbets, alongside, Lemon, Lime, and Grapefruit.
Thyme Essential Oil (Thymus vulgaris)
If you want to be a bit more adventurous when using essential oils for cooking and baking, grab a bottle of Thyme. While people use it for mostly savory applications, I have seen a few baking recipes lately with Thyme used in sweet breads, cakes, and cookies. They are rather delicious too. Check out these Lemon Thyme Cookies from the Kickass Baker, simply use a couple of drops of Thyme essential oils instead of fresh Thyme.
Thyme works beautifully with Chicken, but I also love it in vegetarian Onion-based dishes. I once made a very light Potato, Onion, and Thyme soup. It was an interesting find and certainly one to repeat.
Try it with tomato-based sauces, especially with Beef, and pair it with Bay leaves for a super flavor hit.
Oregano Essential Oil (Origanum compactum Benth)
Perfect for using essential oils for cooking and baking… and PIZZA! Oregano essential oil can be used to add that extra flavor layer to Pizza Sauce. Adding extra depth and intensity.
Try it drizzled into Olive Oil over fresh Mozzarella, or bake it into pasta with a pungent Tallegio. You can take a Mac and Cheese to a whole new level. Elevate it to something else!
It pairs perfectly with tomatoes in many applications and recipes. I urge you to give it a go in a plain tomato sauce over pasta, so you understand how it can completely change the whole profile. Then the next time you do it, add fresh or dried Oregano and explore and notice the differences. Learn to play with depth, intensity, and layering of flavors with the herb in its various states.
Something For Everyone
It doesn’t matter if you are a complete beginner or an experienced chef, there is something for everyone when using essential oils for cooking and baking.
If you are a beginner, start with Sweet Orange and Cardamom Sugar Cookies and then try a few other flavor combinations. You can always give a few away as Holiday gifts.
If you have tried it before, maybe you did the recipes from the last article, trying to make both sweet and savory soups. Make light flavorful broths and deeper, luxurious cream soups, and use essential oils to pack a punch of flavor.
Try those floral essential oils and learn how to balance them perfectly.
For the more adventurous and even professional among you, play with the whole flavor profile.
Use both fresh and dried herbs or spices, then explore adding in both the hydrosol and the essential oil. Discover the different flavors they all present and learn to blend them masterfully to perfection.
Our Favorite Seasonal Recipes Using Essential Oils For Cooking and Baking
We have some wonderful seasonal recipes for you, savory and sweet sensations to ignite your taste buds. Some are easier than others, but the Holidays may give us a little time to kick back in the kitchen and create something wonderful for ourselves.
Try our Ginger and Cardamom Sugar Cookies, Cherry and Rose Fondant Creams, Samoa Truffles, Turkey and Thyme Cream Soup, Leftovers Pizza, Mandarin, Sweet Orange, and Grapefruit Liqueur.
Ginger and Cardamom Sugar Cookies Using Essential Oils For Cooking and Baking
These are quick and simple to make and you can whip up a batch in a heartbeat for unexpected guests. Serve them fragrant and warm in the oven for the best effect.
You can try a variety of variations, just by changing up the essential oils. Why not have a go at making an Orange and Grapefruit version and see what you and your family prefer?
It’s a quick and super easy way to use essential oils for cooking and baking.
You Will Need:
- Stand Mixer or strong arms
- Mixing Bowl
- Measuring Cups
- Spoon
- Rolling Pin (and guides are optional)
- Cookie Cutters
- Baking Sheet
- Parchment Paper
- Plastic Wrap
Ingredients:
- 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 cup Sugar
- 1 cup Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
- 1 large Egg, at room temperature
- 2 tbsp of Orange Zest
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine ground Sea Salt
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (in an Alcohol or Glycerin base)
- 3-5 drops of Cardamom Essential Oil (Elettaria cardamomum)
- 3-5 drops of Ginger Essential Oil (Zingiber officinale)
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
Mixing The Cookies
- Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.
- Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer or a good wooden spoon in a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. It takes around 2-3 minutes.
- When light and fluffy, add in the egg and beat another minute or so.
- Mix your chosen essential oils into your alcohol-based Vanilla extract and add that to the mix now.
- Add the Orange Zest.
- Slowly start to add the flour mixture, add small amounts at a time to help it thoroughly mix in.
Finishing, Kneading, and Rolling The Dough
- The dough mixture may appear crumbly at first, just keep mixing the dough. Eventually, it will start to pull away from the side of the bowl.
- Take the dough and knead it by hand. Form it into a smooth ball wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest the dough.
- After 30 minutes and a lovely cup of tea - lightly flour a suitable work surface and roll out your dough. Use guides to get an even roll all over.
- Once the dough is rolled evenly, use the cookie cutters of your choice to cut out the cookies.
- Once you have filled your baking sheet with cookies, place the sheet of unbaked cookies into the freezer for 5 minutes. This helps your cookies to cook better, they will brown more evenly and effectively, spread less, and develop a richer chewy texture, as it helps the butter to firm up before baking.
Baking Your Cookies
- Bake your chilled cookies in a preheated oven for 9-11 minutes. This depends entirely on the size and thickness of your final cookies. So keep your eagle eye on them for those last minutes of cooking, because they will not change a great deal in color.
- You can tell when the cookies are fully baked, they will no longer be shiny on top, but they will not show much color change, so don’t get caught out by this and think they are not cooked.
- However, if you prefer a crisper finish and a delightful and satisfying snap to your cookie, simply bake for an extra couple of minutes.
Cooling and Finishing Your Cookies
- Once baked, remove them from the oven and set them aside for a minute. Let them cool on the baking sheet for just a minute.
- Gently and carefully move the baked cookies to a wire cooling rack.
- Allow the cookies to cool fully before you do any decorating.
- Remember you can add fragrant essential oils to your glacé or royal icing for those special finishing touches. For these Ginger and Cardamom Cookies, I would use Sweet Orange essential oil in the icing to compliment it perfectly.
How To Use and Store:
- Both the cookie dough and the baked cookies can be successfully frozen for a month or more. Simply layer the cookies between parchment paper in a freezer-proof container. Be sure to fully thaw cookies before decorating.
- It is not recommended that you freeze the cookies once they've been decorated.
- Your finished and baked cookies will last for about a week but they must be stored in air-tight containers or individually wrapped.
- Eat and enjoy!
Cherry and Rose Fondant Creams Using Essential Oils For Cooking and Baking
This is quite a grown-up way of using essential oils for cooking and baking and an utterly delicious one. I can’t take credit for this, I found it on Pinterest, which led me to Love and Olive Oil’s Tart Cherry Fondant Creams.
We add in Rose essential oil for that extra decadence, luxuriousness, and beautifully grown-up finish. Hide these from the kids, they are just too good.
Tinker with the recipe to suit and make Spearmint or Peppermint versions using essential oils as after-dinner mints.
You Will Need:
- Stand Mixer or a big bowl and strong arms.
- Measuring Cups and Spoons
- Mixing Bowl
- Plastic Wrap
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheets
- Fork or Chocolate Dipping Fork
- Cookie Cutters or Silicone Molds
Ingredients:
- 3 to 4 cups Powdered Sugar, plus more if needed
- 1/4 cup softened Unsalted Butter
- 3 tbsp Corn Syrup
- 2 tbsp of Cherry Puree
- 1/2 tsp of Vanilla Extract
- Generous pinch of Sea Salt
- 1lb of semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 3-5 drops of Rose Essential Oil (Rosa damascena)
Optional:
- 2 drops of Red Food Coloring
Method:
Mixing The Fondant Filling
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl, beat the softened unsalted butter, the corn syrup, and the generous pinch of salt until smooth and creamy looking.
- Then slowly add in your 2 cups of powdered sugar in 1/2 cup increments at a time. Each time mix well, until it is all thoroughly incorporated before adding the next.
- Once the 2 cups of powdered sugar have been added, pop in your 2 tbsp of cherry puree and mix well.
- Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl and check that there are no bits of white filling resisting the pink color!
- Add your essential oil to your Vanilla extract and mix thoroughly until combined. The alcohol in the extract should help dissolve the essential oils into it.
- This is the time to combine the Vanilla extract and any extra food coloring. If you choose not to use it your filling will be more of a lilac or mauve color rather than a cherry pink.
- It is time to add the remaining powdered sugar. Again, add it slowly and gently 1/2 cup at a time. You want the filling to be thick and paste-like. I’m going to directly quote the author here, as it made me laugh,
“ Depending on the temperature/weather/alignment of the planets, you may only need 3 cups of powdered sugar, or up to 4”.
- Having less sugar, results in a softer and squidge filling. When you add more sugar, it will be firmer and much easier to dip in the molten chocolate. However, it will be quite a bit sweeter, so choose your preferred balance here to suit yourselves.
Shaping and Rolling The Fondant Filling
- Empty the paste-like filling onto a piece of plastic wrap.
- Do your best to shape it into an even layer about 1 inch thick. Wrap this flattened paste tightly in two layers of plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours, laid perfectly flat on a baking sheet or plate.
- When you are ready to roll the paste, carefully unwrap the filling. Leave the plastic wrap underneath the bottom of the paste and liberally dust the top with powdered sugar.
- Now, you want to sandwich this paste between two layers of plastic wrap, so flip it, sugared side down, onto another piece of plastic wrap and remove the bottom layer.
- Dust this liberally with powdered sugar and replace the layer of plastic wrap, making it sandwiched between the two pieces and powdered top and bottom.
- Roll the filling into a 1/2-inch thick sheet, it pays to flip the sheet over and roll both sides a few times.
- Add more powdered sugar, as needed, to prevent the filling from sticking.
Cutting The Fondant Filling
- Using a small cookie cutter, the shape is up to you, but I’m going for 1.5” rounds. Cut out your filling and carefully arrange over two parchment-lined baking sheets.
- If you don’t have cookie cutters you can simply roll into 1-inch balls. If you fancy being fancy-schmancy, press the filling into well-powdered silicone candy molds for more interesting shapes, though, you may lose finer details as you cover them in your chocolate.
- You must chill your cut pieces of filling for 4 hours or more, overnight is ideal and preferred.
- Note, that if it is really warm and humid in your kitchen, you would also benefit from popping them in your freezer for 15 minutes just before dipping them. It will help them be firmer and more easily handled.
Melting Your Chocolate
- Now it is worth noting that if you can melt the chocolate without allowing the temperature to exceed 88 degrees F, it should, hopefully, hold its temper. This means that you will have a nice and shiny chocolate shell that has that delightful snap when you bite into it. Electric Chocolate melting pots are ideal for this, however, we are not all chocolate connoisseurs and have kits like this!
- Melt your chocolate or chocolate candy coating in the best way you can. Either in a double boiler, a bowl set over boiling water (make sure the bowl does not touch the water below), or in a microwave. Use very short bursts of power though.
Dipping your Fondant Fillings
- Take out a few of the fondant fillings at a time, leaving the rest remaining in the fridge, to keep as chilled as possible.
- Grab a fork or a specialist chocolate dipping fork.
- Quickly and carefully dip the fondant filling into the chocolate and remove immediately before the filling starts to soften in the molten chocolate.
- Immediately, tap off any excess chocolate.
- Carefully transfer it to a new baking sheet, lined with parchment paper. A toothpick is great to help remove the candy from the fork.
- Remember, to keep the fondant centers chilled until you are ready to work with them. Keep going until you have dipped every and it sits on a new baking sheet.
Finishing Your Fondant Fillings
- You can use up any leftover chocolate by popping it into a small piping bag. You can then pipe decorative lines, squiggles, or patterns on top of your candies. I think I might initial the ones for me…all of them!!!
- Here in the UK, Rose and Violet Fondants are topped with crystallized petals to match. Why not crystallize some cherries for an extra dash of luxury?
- Right, let us get them fully set, pop them in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes or until hardened and fully set.
How To Use and Store:
- Your finished Fondant Candies should be kept in an airtight container and they will keep for up to 1 week in a cold, ambient place.
- You must make sure that they are refrigerated if it’s too warm in your home.
- Also refrigerate if your chocolate isn't tempered properly.
- Pop into gift boxes for Holiday gift giving, with storage instructions.
Samoa Truffles Using Essential Oils For Cooking and Baking
I cannot take credit for these. I found them last year while watching Lori at Whippoorwill Holler on YouTube and they were just delicious. They were soon gobbled up by the hungry kids of the family.
Of course, I tinkered with the recipe as I wanted a little extra spice in them. I didn’t want to add ground spices in case it ruined the balance of the recipe, this is where using essential oils for cooking and baking allows them to come into their own. I added in some Ginger and Cardamom essential oils and they blew my mind. A drop does go a long way.
In the spirit of using essential oils for cooking and baking, we are going to add a hint of spice with Cardamom, Nutmeg, and Ginger essential oils.
Makes about 50 truffles.
You Will Need:
- Mixing Bowl
- Spoon
- Baking Sheets
- Parchment Paper
- Ice Cream Scoop or two tablespoons
- Fork or Dipping Fork.
Ingredients:
- 7 ounces sweetened and flaked Coconut
- 1 x 14 oz can Dulce de Leche in a tin (It’s thicker in the tin and you need that extra density)
- 1 x 14 oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 x 11 oz box Nilla Wafers - crushed
- 16 oz. of melted Chocolate of your choice.
- 2 drops of Cardamom Essential Oil (Elettaria cardamomum)
- 2 drops of Nutmeg Essential Oil (Myristica fragrans)
- 2 drops of Ginger Essential Oil (Zingiber officinale)
Method:
Watch Lori and follow along at Samoa Truffles // Christmas Candy Time!
- Preheat your oven to 350°F
- Line your baking tray with parchment paper and spread over your flaked coconut in a thin and even layer.
- Pop it in the oven until lightly toasted and fragrant - watch this like a hawk though, please. It can burn very quickly! Can take 5-10 minutes. Move it around if necessary for evening coloring and toasting.
- Pop the toasted coconut into a large mixing bowl.
- Add the whole tin of Dulce De Leche
- Take a tbsp of Sweetened Condensed milk and pop it into a small bowl, add your essential oils to it, and combine until thoroughly mixed.
- Then add that, and the rest of the Sweetened Condensed Milk, to the main mixing bowl, and stir well to combine.
- Add in the crushed Nilla Wafers and mix well until thoroughly combined. It should be thick and dense.
- Either use an ice cream scoop or a couple of spoons to shape balls of the mix. About a tablespoonful each is sufficient.
- Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Place into the freezer to firm them up for about 30 minutes
- Melt your chocolate either in a melter, double boiler, or the microwave.
- Dip just the bottom of the truffle into the molten chocolate and place it back on the baking sheet.
- Use the leftover chocolate in a piping bag and pipe lines or squiggles over your finished truffles.
- Pop into the freezer again to harden and firm up for another 30 minutes.
How To Use and Store:
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 7-10 days
- Store in the freezer for up to 3 months
- Pop into gift boxes for Holiday gift-giving with instructions.
Turkey and Thyme Cream Soup Using Essential Oils For Cooking and Baking
For some reason, we feel the need to buy a Turkey the size of a small ostrich and cram it into the oven as best we can. Why do we feel the need to do this? Naturally, we always end up with leftovers.
I love a good, tasty cream soup when the weather is cold. There is something so comforting about a hot, steaming bowl of thick, creamy, luscious soup.
Pair Turkey with Thyme and make something incredible from your Holiday leftovers. Again, don’t be afraid to tinker with the recipe. Change the Turkey for Chicken, and swap the Thyme for Oregano. This is the beauty of using essential oils for cooking and baking.
You Will Need
- A Large Heavy Pan
- Spoon
- Chopping Board Knife
- Straining Spoon
- Blender, Food Processor, or Hand Blender
Ingredients:
- 1kg (2.2lb) of leftover Turkey or Chicken
- 300ml (10 fl oz) Dry White Wine (Or Chicken/Turkey Stock)
- 2 large Onions - diced
- 4 Celery sticks - diced
- 3 Leeks - sliced
- 2 sprigs Thyme, plus extra leaves for sprinkling
- 2 Bay Leaves
- ½ tsp ground White or Black Pepper
- Salt to taste
- 40g (1.4 oz) All Purpose Flour
- 300ml (10 fl oz) Heavy Cream
- 3-5 drops of Thyme Essential Oil (Thymus vulgaris)
Method:
Starting the Soup Base
- If you are using raw chicken or turkey instead of leftovers, put the meat in a large, heavy-based pan. If you keep the heat low, you don’t need to add any extra oil.
- Fry for 5-7 minutes, turning the pieces frequently, to color them lightly.
- Deglaze the pan by pouring in some of the wine (or stock) rotating it around the pan and scraping any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. All the flavor is here so it is worth doing.
- Pour in the remainder of the wine/stock and turn up the heat
- You want to boil this rapidly to ensure that you evaporate all of the alcohol from the wine.
Adding the Vegetables
- Pop in all the veg and the fragrant herbs, add 1 tsp salt and the white or black pepper.
- Sweat down for a few minutes with the lid off. While you wait, boil the kettle.
- Pour in 2 liters of boiling water and then cover the pan.
Simmer Very Gently
- Simmer gently for 40-45 mins until the chicken and veg are tender.
- If you are using leftover Turkey or Chicken, pop all but 140g of the meat into the pan. Set the 140g aside for now.
- Wait for it to come back to the boil and simmer for a further 5 minutes
- Take out the bay leaves and thyme sprigs and cool for about 30 minutes.
Blitz The Soup
- Blitz the soup in a blender, food processor, or with a hand blender. You may have to do this in batches.
- Blend the soup until it is very smooth and silky, then return to the original pan.
Thicken The Soup
- In a measuring jug, blend the all-purpose flour and Heavy Cream to a smooth paste, and then add in a couple of ladles of the warm soup and mix thoroughly.
- Add this creamy mixture to the rest of the soup.
- Set over low to medium heat, patiently stirring continuously until the soup is thickened and utterly glorious.
- If it looks a little lumpy, by all means, blitz it again or pass it through a sieve.
Add the Finishing Touches
- Chop the remaining 140g of Turkey or Chicken stir into the soup and simmer for a few minutes to heat it through.
- Scatter with the fresh thyme leaves, to serve.
If you fancy being brave and rather ‘chefy’ - consider serving it with a flavored split oil swirled through it. Of course, you can use both fresh herbs and essential oils to create your flavored oil.
How To Use and Store:
- It will store for up to 3-4 days in the fridge and can be frozen for up to one month.
- Heat through on low heat for at least ten minutes.
- Do not boil.
Leftovers Pizza Using Essential Oils For Cooking and Baking
No matter how hard we try, we always seem to end up with boxes of leftovers in the fridge. Use up some of them with our seasonal Leftover Pizza.
Use leftover Turkey, Chicken, Gammon, and Pigs in Blankets to top your delicious Pizza. Stir Oregano and Thyme essential oils through your tomato pizza sauce base for a taste experience like no other.
Make the most of using essential oils for cooking and baking with this quick and simple recipe that turns leftovers into something glorious.
Get in a couple of ready-made Pizza Bases and you can rustle up a hot and amazing meal for unexpected guests in a heartbeat. It’s the perfect solution for creating nutritious and nourishing food in a hurry.
You Will Need:
- A Pizza Stone or Baking Sheet
- Pizza Cutter
- Mixing Bowl
Ingredients:
- Ready Made Pizza Base.
- Pizza Sauce Base
- Olive Oil
- Tomato Paste or Tomato Puree
- Tomato Ketchup
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Sherry Vinegar
- 2 - 4 drops of Thyme Essential Oil (Thymus vulgaris)
- 2 - 4 drops of Oregano Essential Oils (Origanum compactum Benth)
Optional
- Chilli Sauce or Chilli flakes.
Pizza Toppings Of Your Choice
- Onion - Finely Diced
- Bell Peppers - Finely Diced
- Leftover Cheeses
- Leftover Meats
- Leftover roasted Vegetables
- Leftover vegetable-based sides like Sprouts and Bacon.
- Leftover vegan meat substitutes.
Garnishes
- Fresh Oregano
- Fresh Thyme
- Selection of Sauces of your choice
Method:
For ease, I am using a ready-made Pizza base to keep things quick, simple, and easy.
Because you can only heat this recipe once, due to the leftovers, only make and cook what you will eat in one sitting.
To Make Your Pizza Sauce
- Put a drizzle of Olive Oil in the bottom of your bowl and add your essential oils, combine thoroughly until fully incorporated.
- Add your Tomato Paste and Tomato Ketchup and mix well.
- Remembering, that you want this to be a thick, spreadable paste.
- Add in your Worcestershire Sauce and a tiny dash of Sherry vinegar for some piquancy.
- If you like a bit of heart add a dash of Chilli Sauce to suit your palate or a pinch of Chili flakes and mix in well.
- Leave to meld and infuse for a good 15-20 minutes
- Preheat your oven while you wait. The hotter you can get from the oven, the better the pizza will be. Try to pitch it between 450 and 500 degrees F (250 to 260 degrees C). Heat your pizza stone or baking sheet to temperature.
Prepping the Topping Ingredients
- The topping entirely depends on what is left in your fridge.
- Take a mix of things you know you love and combine them together for unusual flavor combinations. One of my favorites is leftover duck with Hoisin Sauce and Spring Onions.
- I won’t tell you what ratios of veg to meat you want - go with what you fancy. Personally, I do 70% veg and 30% meat.
- Chop everything finely for luscious bite-sized morsels and a bit of everything in every bite.
Constructing the Pizza
- On a piece of parchment paper or a cake lifter, place your pizza base.
- Spread the pizza sauce base over the pizza leaving a 1.5 cm gap for the crust (if you wish - sometimes I don't - it’s rebellious, I know)!
- Pop on your finely diced vegetables evenly and drizzle a very light layer of your favorite sauce over the pizza.
- Add on your meat or vegan leftovers evenly, think a bit in every bite, and then another very light drizzle of sauce (you could even use a different sauce here…I know, it’s wild)!
- Add on your cheese…. Or don’t! My hubby is allergic to cheese so we never add any to his, just as long as there is plenty of tasty sauce, he never misses it.
Cooking the Pizza
- Transfer the pizza from the parchment paper or cake lifter onto the warmed Pizza Stone or baking tray.
- Place immediately in the oven and bake for 7- 15 minutes depending on your ingredients.
- Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
Garnishing The Pizza
- Add on that fresh Thyme and Oregano to compliment the essential oil in the Pizza Sauce.
- Maybe add a few sliced Chillies, fresh Parsley, or even a few Olives.
- Season with Salt and Pepper.
- It’s for you, so make it yours and make it the best. The trouble is, you might want another tomorrow. They are so good!
How To Use and Store:
- It pays to make what you want to eat in one go.
- Eat immediately for the best results.
- Will store, once cooked in the fridge for 48 hours depending on your leftovers.
- Do not reheat from the fridge though as the leftovers have already been reheated once and you don’t want to risk making yourself icky. You’ll have to eat it cold.
Mandarin and Grapefruit Liqueur Using Essential Oils For Cooking and Baking
I love nothing more than a crisp, tart citrus-based drink and I could live on Lime Soda but the Holidays season invites more adventure, more luxury, and a cheeky treat.
In my head, I wanted to create a perfectly balanced Mandarin and Grapefruit Liqueur using essential oils. A quick internet search brought back this perfect Mandarin Orange Grapefruit Liqueur from Tammy Kimbler at onetomato-twotomato.com It is just like she took the whole thought out of my head and laid it in front of me, perfectly translated!
Of course, we are going to be using essential oils for cooking and baking to add that extra element of introducing these wonderfully fragrant essential oils to join the party.
You do need to be patient and allow it to steep but if you get started right now you might be able to use it before New Year.
You Will Need:
- A Zester or Vegetable Peeler
- Saucepan
- Quart Jar and Lid
- Spoon.
- Bottles and labels.
- Funnel
Ingredients:
- 2 Mandarins
- 2 Oranges
- 1 Grapefruit
- 2 cups Raw Sugar
- Spring Water
- 2 cups Vodka
- 5 drops of Mandarin Essential Oil (Citrus reticulata)
- 5 drops of Sweet Orange Essential Oil (Sitrus cinesis)
- 5 drops of Grapefruit Essential Oil (Citrus Paradise)
Method:
Prep the Ingredients
- Carefully remove the zest from one of the Mandarin and Orange and also from half of the Grapefruit. Use a vegetable peeler if you don’t have a zester. Be considered and try to leave the white pith on the fruit, as it can be very bitter. Which we don’t want here.
- Take the peel and add it into a clean quart jar.
- Juice all the citrus fruits thoroughly, getting as much of the juice as possible.
- Hopefully, you should have about 1 1/4 cups of juice. If you have less than that, just add enough water to make it up to 1 1/2 cups. If you have more, lucky you, reserve the extra for another drink or cocktail.
Let's Make A Syrup
- Over low heat, in a saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the citrus juice
- Once it is all dissolved, turn up the heat and bring it to a boil.
- Once boiling, lower the temperature and gently simmer for 5-10 minutes.
- You will need 2 cups of syrup for this recipe.
- Let the syrup cool down to room temperature.
To Steep The Liqueur
- Take the cooled syrup and stir in the essential oils. Combine well.
- Add the syrup mixture to the quart glass container, along with the peels.
- Fill the jar to the top with vodka, it will take about 2 cups.
- Pop a tight lid on it and leave it in a dark, cool, and ambient place for at least a month. Go as long as you can, as it only gets better with time.
- After you wait as long as you possibly can - Strain out the peels and bottle the remaining Liqueur into sterilized bottles.
- Label clearly with a waterproof label.
How To Use and Store:
- It should make about 1 Quart, store it somewhere, is dark, cool, and ambient in temperature.
- You can use this liqueur in any cocktail or food recipe that calls for Triple Sec.
Apparently, according to Tammy, “The addition of Mandarin and Grapefruit will turn your next Margarita to 11”.
The Final Word
When it comes to using essential oils for cooking and baking it does not have to be hard.
Begin, with the more forgiving and gentler spice essential oils, like Ginger and Cardamom, and citrus oils, like Mandarin and Orange.
Then progress to the wonderfully fragrant and tasty herb oils like Peppermint, Spearmint, Thyme, and Oregano. Finally, learn the careful balance needed with floral oils like Rose and Lavender and get it pitched perfectly for culinary masterpieces.
Try out your recipes if you feel brave enough or try out our sweet treats with the fragrant Ginger and Cardamom Sugar Cookies, decadent Cherry and Rose Fondant Creams, and those wonderfully soft and sticky Samoa Truffles.
Go all savory and make the most of your Christmas leftovers with Turkey and Thyme Cream Soup, and go all out with Leftovers Pizza. Create your amazing Pizzas from those leftover Pigs in Blankets and Cranberry Sauce. Even the Sprouts can be made glorious in a glaze of sticky sweet Hoisin.
Wrap it all up and say goodbye to 2023 with your own homemade Mandarin, Sweet Orange, and Grapefruit Liqueur. Toast in 2024 with this citrus sensation, what a bright, refreshing, and zingy start to the year.
Using essential oils for cooking and baking doesn’t have to be hard, it can be as simple as you like. Just follow the rules and recipes and if you are in doubt, leave it out!
