16 Homemade Recipes for Store-bought Favorites

And just like that, my calendar tells me that the one year anniversary of the start of the pandemic and subsequent lockdown here in Italy is nearly upon us (remember this post here?) Between quarantine, restrictions, and teleworking, it’s been a bit of a long haul, and truthfully speaking, the whole year has felt sort of like one blurry, fuzzy, shapeless stretch of time. Just me?

We’ve all had more time on our hands in this (blob) of a year, which has subsequently made us not only better Netflix watchers, around-the-neighborhood walkers, and Zoom experts, but also better cooks and bakers. Most everyone I know has stretched (or found) their culinary wings in some way since the start of the pandemic, whether it be with beginner banana bread, trendy sourdough starter, or fresh pasta (assuming you could get your hands on flour, that is).

So! I'll cut to the chase here: we’re still all spending more time at home than we’d probably would like to (here in Italy bars and restaurants close by 6pm, and there is a 10pm curfew, for starters) which means that your cooking and baking skills are still getting plenty of use. By now, you’ve probably entered the phase where your sourdough discard has gone in to everything from pancakes to English muffins, right?! You’ve moved far past simple banana bread and on to babka? Croissants?!

In the spirit of this plentiful time and newly honed skills then, here’s a post full of recipes for things that you may have never considered making from scratch before — relying on its store-bought counterpart ! — but that you should make, asap. Making your own bagels may take longer than picking some up at the store, but the process isn’t at all difficult, the results are stellar, and it’s pretty cool to trot out your own freshly baked bagels at brunch. Homemade vanilla ice cream does not compare to that found in a carton in the freezer aisle; a freshly fried and glazed doughnut is miles away from the offering at your local Dunkin’ Donuts (New England reference here!); homemade hot chocolate mix takes minutes to make and has so much more flavor than those little packets of Swiss Miss.

And also, let’s be honest: what else do you have going on lately? Besides watching Bridgerton, that is. Or so I hear.

Note: I realize that most of these recipes are more for the American (and also possibly Brit) reader, rather than the Italian one, i.e these are items that I grew up buying and eating and eventually learned could also be made at home with better results. If you’re one of my Italian readers then, most of these recipes will be a way to try a new food or dish that you may not find here in Italy — therefore, think of this post as a way to explore some new recipes for foods you’re not so familiar with (with the exception of pesto, gnocchi, mascarpone, and Nutella, of course).

Want to see other recipe compilations like this one? Click here.