As a self-proclaimed banana bread aficionado, I know making homemade banana bread may seem daunting at first–especially for busy, dedicated students who have a plethora of AICE/AP exams to study for and worry about: the adjustment of added sweetener amounts based on the ripeness of the bananas, the cooking times that (often) exceed an hour, and the complications of making food from scratch that make up the banana bread-making process can understandably add to the stress.

   But for those studious people who also need to satisfy their sweet tooth, banana bread is the prime candidate. One of the best parts of making and eating banana bread is that you can’t buy it pre-made; the star of the recipe (bananas) can not be found in powder form in a cardboard box on a supermarket shelf. Sure, the trusty Betty Crocker and Ghirardelli boxes of brownie mix might be quick, easy, dependable, and hard to mess up. But where’s the fun in that?   

   Amidst the tedious hours of memorizing formulas, running through practice questions, and reviewing old material, adding another orderly, boring process to the mix won’t help. To truly ease your mind of some exam-induced stress, you need to distract yourself by fully immersing yourself in an external activity. So while at first glance that from-scratch banana bread recipe might elicit a groan, just think about your mind. No matter how delicious the brownies are, the baking process won’t help you alleviate stress as much as the banana bread-baking process will: as junior Emma Schenker puts it, “I’d rather bake banana bread because it’s more interesting, but I’d rather eat brownies.”

   Baking can be a fun, relaxing, and–most importantly– rewarding way to destress during this testing season. Banana bread may take a little more time and effort than brownies, but the end result makes it all worth it, I promise. A loaf of banana bread is just more interesting and slightly more sophisticated than a brownie–and it makes the perfect study snack. Junior Matthew Castillo adds, “If I’m studying, I would want banana bread, because it’s light… It’s also just nicer on the palate: if you’re eating a brownie you want to enjoy it with ice cream or something and relish it, but if you’re studying, you’re splitting your focus, so banana bread is a better study snack. It’s also less messy.” 

   Regardless of your preference, though, a sweet treat here and there may be necessary in order to help you keep your engine running during testing season, which is stressful as is: there’s no time to be stressing about eating a little sugar or feeling like you’re ‘wasting time’ by taking breaks to do what you enjoy, whether that be baking, reading, or exercising. Without a balance, your productivity and the effectiveness of your studying will be for naught, so the bottom line is: don’t forget to treat yourself!