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Let’s just take a minute to talk about food photography…aka the bane of my existence. Seriously guys, taking pictures of food gives me more anxiety than running out of peanut butter (that’s A LOT of anxiety). Unlike cooking and baking, food photography is not a passion of mine. It’s something I do to make my recipes look as good as they taste since most of us eat with our eyes before our mouths. I really do try my best, and recognize I am absolutely a perfectionist, but every time I make something I literally dread reaching the point where I have to photograph it. I’d rather just eat it…

maple-oatmeal-cookies
I’ve read an obscene number of books and blog posts on the topic, put in a moderate effort to read my DSLR’s manual and have become obsessive about only photographing in “natural light”. So far my strategy has been this: take as many pictures was you possibly can and at least 1 or 2 pictures will turn out. It’s been an okay plan and I’m definitely not totally thrilled how a lot of my pictures turn out but considering I’m no professional and have absolutely no desire to be taking pictures in the first place I really can’t complain. I’m hoping one day I develop an interest in photography, but in the meantime you’ll have to deal with my sub-par pictures!
So why are we talking about food photography? I swear it relates to today’s recipe. I made these Maple Oatmeal Cookies in a last minute procrastibaking session late one night. They are actually incredible and I ate half a dozen immediately. What I didn’t do immediately was have a hot photography session with them. Why? Well the lighting wasn’t PERFECT of course! This whole perfectionism thing is gonna drive me crazy one day. So I had to wait until the next morning to capture these beauties.
Fast forward to the next morning. Sleepy Davs rolls out of bed and realizes that her procratibaking led to annoyingly early photo-shoot. Not pleased. With crust in my eyes and my hair at afro-status I pulled out whatever “food props” I could find, grabbed my camera and began to shoot. I was not happy about  how they turned out but I was impatient and hungry so I ate 3 cookies for breakfast (they’re oatmeal right?) and wrapped the shoot. Moral of the story? Food photography drives me crazy. Thankfully cookies don’t so I guess I’ll keep on baking and dreading the inevitable photo-shoot that will follow!

Maple Oatmeal Cookies

by Davida Kugelmass

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 22 mins

Keywords: bake dessert gluten-free oats cookie

Ingredients (Yields: 2 dozen cookies)

  • 1.5 cups rolled oats (GF if necessary)
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose GF flour (or regular AP flour)
  • 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar (or brown sugar)
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil (or butter), melted
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Using an electric mixer combine coconut oil (or butter) and coconut palm sugar (or brown sugar).

3. After well combined add in egg whites, applesauce maple syrup and vanilla.

4. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients.

5. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet while mixer is running.

6. Once fully combined roll dough into tablespoon-sized balls and flatten lightly onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone-mat.

7. Bake for 11 minutes.

8. Let cool for 2 minutes on sheet before transferring to a wire rack.

9. Try not to eat all of them at once 🙂

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Do you have any food photography tips for me? How about any hobbies you dislike but do anyway?

Meet the Maven

Hi! I'm Davida and welcome to my corner of the internet. I'm a wellness blogger, yoga teacher, certified herbalist, and green beauty lover.

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46 Comments

  1. Oh god I’m really not a fan of food photography! I just don’t have the patience or skill! Haha but I think your photos look pretty great 🙂

    Reply

    1. My patience hovers around a 2 on a good day but usually a 0-1. Not my strong-suit…hence my frustration with my camera! Thanks Danielle 🙂

      Reply

  2. I don’t mind food photography (I’m still new at it), but I actually don’t like creating recipes. I know it sounds silly, but I like to throw random things in a pot and hope for the best. Recipes tend to slow me up, although I want to share what I cook with others, so it’s definitely worth doing! Have a great Tuesday!

    Reply

    1. I’m thinking we would make a great team! The Healthy Cookie Dough Maven? Sounds good to me 😉 Hope you have a great Tuesday!!!

      Reply

  3. I over think food photography for sure. I always need to capture my photos (in whatever lighting!!) right after I’m finished cooking/baking because I never know who is going to find them in the meantime and eat them all up. To be honest I’ve kind of given up. I blog for fun and if it ever became a professional gig, I might try to improve my photos, but I figure everyone knows I am an amateur and the recipe is what is more important. I’ve been craving Maple lately, maybe because Lays introduced a Maple chip flavour and it seems to be on the trend for frozen yogurt, so I’m definitely going to try these. And yes.. oatmeal in the form of cookies for breakfast is totally acceptable!

    Reply

    1. Breakfast cookie right? I’ve heard about all the crazy new Lays flavours!! Have you tried any? Also I heard TCBY teamed up with silk for some dairy-free froyo…I definitely need to try this out!

      And you’re right, I blog for fun and no one expects me to be a professional! Why in the world do I put so much pressure on myself???

      Reply

  4. Cookies look delicious!!! I use my iPhone to take pictures so I’m not pro haha! I think your pictures are great 🙂

    Reply

  5. Hahaha this is hilarious!! Don’t even get me started on the pictures that I take of my food WITH MY POINT AND SHOOT. Ugh. It always looks like baby food or something that someone upchucked. And the thing is, it’s usually REALLY delicious and looks really good in person. sigh. I think your pictures always look great though. You had me fooled!

    Reply

    1. I really don’t think the camera makes a whole lot of difference. All the other factors, lighting, tripod, location, design play a bigger role…all of which I don’t care about gah! For the record I don’t think your recipes look like baby food! In fact I’d love more of them!!!

      Reply

  6. Food photography drives me crazy too! I actually am interested in it, but I find it so hard to get a great picture! Check out Pinch of Yum’s food photography e-book… It’s really great. By the way the cookies look delicious!

    Reply

    1. I actually just bought it last week and have maybe read 2 pages lol. For some reason the topic bores me even though I want to get better at it! I think you’re a great photographer btw 🙂

      Reply

  7. Big ditto to this whole post – I dread taking pictures of my food! Especially since I just can’t seem to find the perfect photography spot in my house, so I feel like my lighting is never that good. Also I’m still using a point-and-shoot. My dad gave me his DSLR but I’ve been way too intimidated to use it! I keep telling myself that one of these days I’ll just devote a whole weekend to working on my photography skills… but it hasn’t happened yet in the past 4 years haha.

    I think your pictures look great though! They definitely are enticing me to make those cookies. 😉

    Reply

    1. So happy someone else is in the same boat! My SLR is a blessing and a curse. I got it because I thought my pictures would be better–turns out it’s the photographer not the camera that makes the pictures–but I’m realizing this may not be the case gah! I love your pics too. You always manage to get awesome pictures in restaurants. How do you do it? Mine always turn out too dark (no flash) or too bright (flash). Teach me your ways!

      Reply

  8. And you’ve done it again! Another recipe of yours that I’ll be saving. I swear, I’m going to need a whole notebook for just yours 🙂 haha

    Reply

    1. Awww thanks Jessie! This one is definitely one of my favourites! And my family’s too since they “didn’t taste the healthy” lol

      Reply

  9. Ooh my husband loves oatmeal cookies so I may have to make him these. I think your photos are great! I’m not a photographer- at all! I use my trusty iPhone because I’m too cheap too buy a real camera, haha.

    Reply

    1. Sometimes I use my iPhone too…sometimes it actually works out better! I hate lugging my SLR around.

      Reply

  10. I am definitely making these one day!! I *love* oatmeal cookies!
    I think your photographs are wonderful! I feel like I’ve walked in/out of a bakery/restaurant each time you post. Keep it up, you’re doing a great job and everything does look as delicious as it sounds! : )
    Karen @karenlovestorun

    Reply