How to Develop Recipes

People often ask how I come up with recipes. How I think to combine things the way I do; or how ideas like duck-fat chocolate chip cookies or unusual flavour pairings come about.

In my kitchen, recipes function as formulas rather than instructions.
Once you understand the role each ingredient plays, you are no longer bound to a fixed list. You can move within the structure, using what you already have rather than sourcing something specific to make a recipe work.

This applies just as much to baking as it does to savoury food.

It also changes the way cooking feels. There is less hesitation, less second-guessing, and far less waste.

Formula to Understanding Structure

Take banana muffins.

Most recipes present them as something fixed; a specific flour, a specific fat, a specific sweetener. If one element is missing, the entire recipe can feel unusable.

In practice, baking is far more adaptable.

Ripe bananas already bring sweetness, moisture, and a degree of binding. From there, the muffin simply needs structure and balance.

The formula looks like this:

• A flour or ground grain for structure

• Protein (eggs, yoghurt, sometimes milk)

• Sweetener (honey, maple syrup, or an unrefined sugar)

• Fat (butter, olive oil, tallow, or cream)

• A leavening agent

• Salt

Each of these components has a role. Once you understand that role, you can begin to substitute with confidence.

Flour provides the framework; it holds everything in place.
Protein supports structure and stability, while also contributing to texture.
Fat carries flavour and creates softness.
Sweetener influences not only taste, but browning and moisture retention.
Leavening introduces lightness.
Salt brings definition and balance.

When these elements are present in the right proportions, the outcome holds, even if the ingredients shift.

Creativity Becomes Limitless

Once you begin thinking this way, creativity stops feeling like a risk.

Spelt flour, fresh-milled wheat, or a blend of what remains in the pantry all work. Butter can become yoghurt or cream. If the bananas are deeply ripe, added sweetness can be reduced without consequence.

The muffins will not be identical each time, but they will be balanced. And that is what matters.

This is the thinking that led to my duck-fat chocolate chip cookies.

I didn’t have enough butter. I understood what fat contributes to a cookie; tenderness, flavour, spread. I had duck fat on hand. The structure remained intact, so the substitution worked.

The result was not a compromise. It was simply a variation within a stable framework, with an incredibly delicious outcome.

How This Changes the Way You Shop

When you cook this way, ingredients stop being single-purpose.

A jar of yoghurt is no longer just for serving; it becomes a component in baking, a marinade, a way to bring acidity into a dish. A rendered fat is not reserved for one recipe; it becomes part of your everyday cooking.

You work with what is already there, instead of abandoning an idea because something is missing, or rushing to the store for a single ingredient.

How Principles Apply to Savoury Cooking

This structure carries across to savoury meals.

A well-balanced dish almost always includes:

• Protein as the anchor

• Fat for richness and satiety

• Acid or bitterness to bring lift and contrast

• Salt

• Texture

A squeeze of lemon, a spoon of yoghurt, a pinch more salt, or a change in texture can bring a dish into balance.

This way of thinking allows your cooking to respond; to the season, to your pantry, and to the realities of daily life. Meals come together more fluidly. Decisions feel lighter. There is less reliance on external direction.

And over time, confidence builds naturally, because you begin to trust your understanding rather than a set of instructions.

A well-stocked pantry makes this approach seamless.

Ingredients that are versatile, nutrient-dense, and thoughtfully sourced give you far more flexibility than highly specific items tied to single recipes.

I source most of my staples of brands I know and trust from Part&Parcel. 

Their entire range is organic, ethical and sustainable, taking the mental load out of online grocery shopping.

You can use code ALICIA20 for $20 off your parcel.

With Gratitude,
Alicia (BHSc Clinical Nutrition)