More Snackable No-Bakes FTW
Hello peeps. I’m pretty sure we can all agree that, for many, it’s been a toasty summer thus far. And that toastiness might explain the overwhelming response to my last newsletter featuring no-bake treats. No one wants to turn on the oven when the temp is in the 90s - even if it’s for a sweet reward - and I feel that 100%. And so, this letter, too, is extremely no-bake forward (you’re welcome).
But if you’re craving something baked right about now, please consider subscribing to my paid newsletter - it drops in your inbox the first Tuesday of every month and costs $50/year or $5/month. Each letter is a deep dive into the cookbook writing process, as I am working on my 4th now, and includes an EXCLUSIVE recipe from the book.
But anyway . . . at the top of any list of no-bake sweets is ice cream and though I do love making it from scratch, what I really dig is using store-bought ice cream to make homemade ice cream cakes, bars, etc. Moreover, I’m a Dairy Queen fan from way back (a medium (okay, large) chocolate-dipped twist in a wafer cone is my order of choice, in case you were wondering). The ice cream bar I’m sharing here is based on a combo of DQ’s Dilly and Buster Bars. The Dilly is vanilla ice cream on a stick dipped in chocolate; and the Buster is a Dilly plus peanuts and swirls of fudge. My version adds a pretzel crust for all the best salty/sweet, creamy/crunchy vibes and needs to be made by you - now.
Despite the already toasty temps where I live on the East Coast, I was not deterred from heading to steamy Birmingham, Alabama last month, where I co-hosted Bake From Scratch’s Summer Baking Retreat. It was a super fun weekend event that brought together home bakers from around the country in BFS’ beautiful new test kitchen. I write an easy-peasy baking column for the magazine (here’s a link if you’d like to subscribe) and it was such a treat to be with the BFS family IRL and to - duh -drink mimosas (see below) . . .
Although in Birmingham, I made a baked blueberry pie with the retreat participants, I am a big fan of no-bake pies, too. Smooth and creamy and (most importantly) cold, no-bake pies can really hit the spot on a hot summer day. So when I got back from Birmingham, I made a banana pudding pie to welcome myself home, and you can too…
The pie could not be easier to make - easy Nilla’ Wafer crust, easy stove-top vanilla pudding, studded with finely chopped bananas (yes, “easy” is the operative word here) and copious amounts of whipped cream to top if all off. Extremely tasty on many fronts.
Even though the temps were still on the extremely hot side when I returned to Brooklyn post -Birmingham, they didn’t keep me from hitting the streets for another important assignment: to find the best bagel in New York City with my pal Danielle Sepsy. Danielle invited me on a bagel crawl, to do the impossible – find the #1 bagel in NYC. Our first stop was at the infamous Ess-a-Bagel. They make a ginormous bagel (which I love, since jumbo is my middle name) and it’s slathered with so much cream cheese, which I also adore (being very cream cheese forward, and all that). Follow along on Instagram to see where we head next . . .
As much fun as it is going on a “crawl” to discover the “best in show” when it comes to bagels, no crawl is necessary when trying to pinpoint my absolute fave no-bake treat of all times: Rice Krispies Treats. Being a lover of RKTs since way back, it has taken me a lifetime to perfect the recipe, but lucky you: I have. The secret to the chewiest, milkiest RKTs in the land is sweetened condensed milk. It sends them over the top texturally, without making them extra sweet. My “best ever” recipe also includes more mini-marshies, flaky sea salt and a generous amount of vanilla.
Oh, and if you’re worried about how to measure such a sticky ingredient as sweetened condensed milk without making a huge mess, check out this tip here: essentially whenever you need to measure a sticky ingredient by volume (as opposed to weight) you should grease your measuring cup with cooking spray or softened butter before you fill it with said stickiness. It’ll flow out and into your mixing bowl like a dream.
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Finally, my guest this week on my “red hot” baking podcast, She’s My Cherry Pie is Yossy Arefi - the fruit galette queen. In this episode we go deep into galettes, those rustic free-form tarts, that so beautifully showcase summer’s bounty. Yossy was kind enough to bring us a freshly baked galette when she came to the studio to record with me and this is it! It was plouts and blueberries and it was to die - her crust seriously knocked my sox off, it was so flaky. Yum.
Alrighty, that’s it for this week - see you in two!
I can’t wait to make those Chocolate Pretzel Peanut Ice Cream bars, they look amazing! And I’m a DQ girl, too, is there anything better???