Baking in Ecuador

So I arrived in Ecuador Saturday night, and by Sunday afternoon my family had gone to the store and bought everything for me to bake them muffins...apparently I baked a lot when I lived here, big surprise. Since being back I have also introduced them to oatmeal cookies as well, which they were a little hesitant about at first. My little sister told me I shouldn´t tell anyone they contain oatmeal until after they try them. When I lived here 5 years ago I had to improvise a lot because I couldn't find brown sugar, and butter was hard to come by. Cookies never really came out right because they were made with margarine and panella which was the closest thing to brown sugar, but it had a pretty strong molasses-like flavor. Things seem to have changed though which means cookies in Ecuador taste like real cookies now! My family wants me to stay here and help them open a buisness that sells baked goods to all the Gringo cafes.

I am also adding a picture of bizcochitos (recipe my sister posted below) that I made a few weeks ago for a women's studies class. We had to make an aphrodisiac dish, and since anise, wine and chocolate are all aphrodisiacs it seemed perfect. It's also a traditional christmas cookie in New Mexico, and oh so delicious. (so delicious that I spent $15 on a bottle of anise in Korea last Christmas so I could make them)