With Thanksgiving fast approaching, you are likely already well into planning your holiday meal: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pies—the works. As an Essential Oil aficionado, you’re probably wondering how to incorporate your favorite oils into your cooking and baking, and rightly so. Not only will these Essential Oils provide amazing health benefits, they also add a variety of flavors ranging from sweet to savory.
Cooking with Essential Oils
Essential Oils have a significantly longer shelf life than dried herbs. Over time, your herbs will lose their potency. Where you once only needed ¼ of a teaspoon, you may find yourself increasing to ½ or an entire teaspoon to achieve the same taste. This leads to rapid depletion of your spices or potential waste if you have to toss the remainder of the bottle due to lack of piquancy. Essential oils mitigate this problem.
Plus, because Essential Oils are concentrated they go a lot farther. A single drop of Essential Oils is roughly the equivalent of a teaspoon of dried herbs. For the bolder tasting herb oils such as oregano, thyme, and rosemary, you can even dip the tip of a toothpick into the oils and stir it in your recipe to achieve a flavorful taste. Just be sure to use a new toothpick for each oil.
Oregano
Oregano Oil, while savory, has additional benefits beyond seasoning your dishes. It is a powerful antioxidant with antibacterial properties, meaning it provides a hearty boost to your immune system. Its amazing taste in addition to its health boosting properties make this Essential Oil a must in your collection.
Need ideas on how to incorporate Oregano Oil into your holiday cooking? You can add it to sautéed veggies such as broccoli, cauliflower, and onion. You can also season your turkey, baked potatoes, and more with this flavorful oil.
Baking with Essential Oils
You can also use Essential Oils in baking. You can use them in place of extracts, certain spices, zests, or as a flavoring agent. But why would you want to use Essential Oils instead of zest or extract? Unless you have a lot of time on your hands, getting enough zest for a recipe is a tedious, lengthy process.
Additionally, unless you intend to eat the fruit after you get its zest, you are wasting a good bit of food. Not to mention, stocking fruit for the sole purpose of zest takes up a lot of counter space.
Lastly, extracts are made by steeping the ingredient in alcohol or some other liquid, so it is not a pure substance. Essential Oils are squeezed from the ingredient, resulting in a purer, more concentrated product.
Orange
You can use Orange Oil in a variety of ways. One of the most popular uses is to flavor chocolates; you can also use it in place of zest or orange extract. In addition to baking, you can use Orange Oil for aromatic purposes as well. Add Orange Oil along with another spicy oil such as clove or cinnamon to give your home a festive holiday fragrance.
Clove
In addition to making your home smell amazing, Clove Oil can add a touch of spice to your baked goods. You can use Clove Oil to flavor frosting, cookies, muffins, and more. Perhaps the best use for this oil in your holiday baking, however, is in pumpkin pie. Clove oil gives this holiday staple a spicy punch that is sure to please. Experiment with other herb and spice oils to see which work best in your holiday cooking and baking!
About the author
