Today’s is an update post on my family’s Recipe Journal. I started collecting recipes back in 2017 and have almost got all of those scrap pieces of paper converted into recipe pages in this book. I took my time with these cookie recipes because I wanted to make sure they were each just right. Over the holidays I baked all five of the recipes in the photos. I obviously had way too many cookies but it gave everybody a chance to test them each. And in case you’re wondering, I gave away several plates to nearby friends as gifts.
Supplies I Used
Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
I used a traditional layout for this one because the actual recipe always throws me off. There are certain recipes I always need to read aloud and this is one of them. I’m not sure why but I kept that in mind while transferring it into the recipe journal.
This kept the page super clean so that it was as easy as possible to read.
At one point I think I wrote oast when I meant to write oats. I do this almost every time I take a pen to paper. I think my brain writes faster than my hands do. I started to try and squeeze the t back into the correct place but that just made a little jumble on the page. I left this in the video so that you can see how I fixed it.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
I like to use side by side styling in my recipes the absolute most. My brain can't help but start at the top of a page so I end up scanning the ingredients list if it’s up top. When I have the ingredients off to one side I find it’s easier on my eye to go back and forth from page to mixing bowl.
This layout is the best for when you have a long list of ingredients, or two different sets of ingredients. For us, that’s usually either a salad and the from-scratch salad dressing, or a cake and the separate ingredients for the frosting.
In this case, though, I just really wanted to stack my title with that chunky new set of alpha stamps.
It's also a great style for when your ingredients and directions lists are about the same size on the page. If they are about evenly matched on the page, the spacing looks really nice when they are shown side by side instead of the traditional top and bottom above.
Soft & Chewy Sugar Cookies
Don’t you just love a big graphic title? Ugh, I sure do!
This is my favorite format for when I want to add a little something extra to the page, besides just the recipe. It’s very similar to the traditional layout but because your title isn’t taking up space towards the top, it feels like it allows for more fun elements. Try adding extra notes in a corner, plugging in a photo, or a memory with your recipe.
This style still has the meat and potatoes presented in a clear way, but allows for a personal touch, too.
Brown Sugar Cookies
Sorry there’s no link for this one, I got the recipe at a cookie swap a few years ago.
This one’s another take on the side by side layout. I added a box around the ingredients to delineate the separation. Boxes are super useful for a project like this to breakup all the space on the page. I wrap images in a box or draw one around any little notes or memories I add in.
Coconut Cookies
After I made the Groovy Alpha Sticker Sheet I really wanted to test it with the word coconut so that I could use that loopy n someplace. I also had been hoarding a black and white sticker with an image of an open coconut on it, and decided it was high time I used it.
I added photo corners to the sticker mostly to make sure it was held down to the page (since I had moved it) but it also helped to ground it in the space better.
This was my first time placing the title smack in the center of the page but I love what it did to the layout! It was a welcome challenge to work around and gave me many ideas for next time.
Other Tips
- Use lines to ground your titles or text. Keep them straight with a ruler, squiggle, zig-zag, or just freehand.
- Drawing in boxes will also help you ground the space. Sometimes you can even just put a box around the whole page before you start. If the recipe is a shorter one, it makes it feel a little more substantial, and feels more polished.
- Switch up the fonts on a page but keep it to two or three different ones at a maximum.
