Baking is one of my favorite things to do. There's just one small problem: there's always too much leftover. Yeah, you could just leave it on the counter and wait for them to go bad, but you could also use them to show someone that you care.

That's exactly what Nestle Toll House is looking to do. For 100 days, the six Nestle Toll House bakers will be baking in order to give back, celebrate, and thank the under-appreciated through the Bake Some Good campaign. 

chocolate, cookie, cake, sweet
Victoria Guo

Recently, I was lucky enough to be able to join them on one of their baking and delivery days. At the time, I only knew a little about the campaign and the bakers involved, so I was really excited to learn that I would be baking side-by-side with two of their bakers Cherise Nicole and Soyoung Shin making the Original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Plus, I couldn't wait to learn some baking tips from these pros.

chocolate, cookie, sweet, pastry, dough, dairy product, cake
Victoria Guo

I was greeted by the bakers and smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies when I arrived that morning, but there wasn't much time to enjoy the sights and smells. They put me to work right away, baking and decorating a batch of cookies with Cherise and Soyoung, then decorating boxes, and finally packing the boxes in the back of the Toll House van for delivery. 

As fun as the morning was, what I was really looking forward to was the delivery. The bakers are the ones who get to pick the non-profits, charities, or organizations that they go to, and the place that the bakers picked for that day was the Ronald McDonald House

There weren't a lot of families there when we arrived around noon, but that didn't matter. We were just happy that we could brighten up the days of the few families that we met.
chocolate, sweet, cookie, milk
Victoria Guo

While I did learn a few baking tips, they taught me something more valuable. They showed me that making people happy doesn't take that much hard work. All it takes is some cookie dough and an oven. 

So next time you're in the kitchen, why not bake an extra dozen to show your appreciation. Don't forget to use the hashtag #bakesomegood and to check out some of the other bakers that are getting involved.

You can follow their journey on Instagram and on their blog.