Maybel's Table: Snacking Bakes by Yossy Arefi
Maybel - chef, home cook, and friend of The Juncture - talks cookbooks
I’m an impatient baker. I like uncomplicated recipes that are easy to do, take very little time, and use pantry staples that I already have on hand so that when I have a craving for something sweet, I’m ready.
Snacking Bakes: Simple Recipes for Cookies, Bars, Brownies, Cakes, and More, the follow-up to Yossy Arefi’s first cookbook, Snacking Cakes, checks all the boxes. Almost every recipe can be made in less than an hour, in one bowl, using nothing fancy as far as equipment or ingredients.
I started baking with my girls when they were little. It’s a fun way for us to spend time together and gives them the skills and confidence to make food on their own. As I flipped through Snacking Bakes, I asked them to join me and pick out a recipe they wanted to try. I actually let them do most of the measuring, mixing, and assembly of these recipes because the recipes are really that simple. I supervised and handled oven duty when needed.
We chose recipes from the three main sections: cookies; bars, brownies, and bark; and cakes. There’s a fourth section called “make it a sundae!”, with recipes for caramel sauce, hot fudge, and saucy strawberries, to make your treats into more of a dessert vibe, but we mostly focused on the baked goods. Maybe we’ll try the sauces in future.
First up were Monster Cookies, peanut butter cookies with oats and chocolate covered candies. We used Smarties because we love them. My oldest, Lily, chose this one and she found the recipe easy to follow and had the cookie dough ready to bake in about twenty minutes! The cookies had a nice chew from the oats and were a little crispy on the edges with some chocolatey crunch from the Smarties. After they cooled, Lily wanted to try chilling some in the fridge because sometimes she likes eating baked treats cold. She actually liked them better that way! Maybe she’s on to something? I’m curious do other people do the same? Let me know!
We bought a big container of regular peanut butter to make those cookies, which we don’t buy usually, we’re more of an almond butter family. I didn’t want it to go to waste so I picked Peanut Butter Blondies to do next. It was on a much needed Sunday off that we baked these, and it was just me and my youngest, Audrey. My husband was in Italy for work, and Lily was at a dance conference in Buffalo, NY.
The blondie recipe is similar in ingredients and method to the Monster Cookies (not exactly, but very close). Audrey has been helping me bake for a long time so she felt comfortable doing this recipe on her own. She liked the smooth texture of the batter before the peanut butter chips and the peanuts were added. She said it was satisfying to mix.
These blondies were definitely peanut butter overload and I liked it! They have a soft, not quite crumbly texture and the chopped peanuts add an extra nutty punch. If you like peanut butter cookies, these are for you.
The next recipe we tried was the Brown Butter Marble Cake. Now, I have a bit of history with marble cake. When I was a kid, my parents used to buy boxed cake mixes and coincidentally they were called Snacking Cakes! The flavours we usually got were banana and orange. My Dad liked those two the best. But every now and then we would get marble cake, and that was the one I liked to make. The best part was swirling the vanilla and chocolate batters together, and I would love the surprise of slicing into it to see how the cake ended up looking.
Audrey shared these same feelings as we mixed and swirled, and when we bit into our first slice, she immediately exclaimed that this needs to be her birthday cake. Now THAT is all that needs to be said. We all loved this cake and it was the winner out of all the treats that we tested.
Lastly, we made the Cheesy Jalapeño Corn Bread, one of the two savoury recipes. When I worked brunch service years ago, I used to make a special with corn bread topped with peameal bacon, poached eggs, and spicy chipotle hollandaise. I wish I had this recipe back then because it would’ve been perfect. Cheesy, with a touch of heat and vinegary tang from the pickled jalapeños. It would go well with breakfast, lunch, or dinner! I need to make a batch of chili soon to have an excuse to make this cornbread again. I think it would freeze beautifully, too.
Snacking Bakes may call itself simple, but it’s so much more than that. Within its simplicity it gives you recipes that can take you to a quiet place to relax or maybe share a moment with someone you care about. There’s something in it for everyone, and I think I will be coming back again and again when I need to satisfy my sweet needs.
— Maybel