Some Chocolate Snackable Bakes for Holiday Weekends . . .

Hello peeps. Warmer temps are here and with them fun holidays, long weekends, and loads o’ opportunities for snackable bakes. Snackable Bakes is your BFF in the kitchen when you need a fast, festive, delicious sweet. And yes, yes, yes: OF COURSE you should be baking fruit-based desserts right now, BUT today we are talking chocolate treats because, well . . . chocolate (scroll down for recipes and look here for loads o’ additional chocolate recipes of mine).

My first chocolate tidbit is this: Erika Kwee (the Pancake Princess, - aka the bake-off queen) and I did a little 6-layer devil’s food chocolate cake taste test together. She was trying to determine how a cake from Claud restaurant in NYC was assembled and we tasted it and compared it to a version she’d made. Check Erika out, as she pulls together recipes for popular bakes, bakes them side by side and rates them (and if you’re wondering who has the best pb cookie on the internet, okay it’s me; or a great scone, ok that’s me, too).

And although the fact Erika and I discussed the recipe development that must have gone into the Claude chocolate cake was enough excitement for one week, I also got to interview the queen of recipe development herself – The New York Times’ Melissa Clark on my baking podcast, She’s My Cherry Pie! 

We talked baking recipe development AND did a deep deep into her chocolate cake.

And if a chat like that gets you excited about the baking recipe development process - which - duh - it most definitely will - then you might need to sign up for my paid newsletter. I’m writing my fourth cookbook, coming out in October of ‘24, an easy peasy savory baking book, and my paid newsletter will include exclusive, behind the scenes content about the cookbook writing and recipe development process and new recipes. Right now I’m working on spinach and feta hand pies, cream cheese and hot pepper jelly stuffed muffins and MORE. Please consider subscribing below.

BAKING TIP!

A trick for insta-worthy baked goods with chocolate chips or chunks

This tip is one I learned from Katie Wayne, food stylist extraordinaire (and the reason why all my baked goods looks so gorge in Snackable Bakes and why they WILL look so gorge in Savory Snackable Bakes). It makes your chocolate chip cookies or blondies look extra fab, as it ensures the tops are chocolate-studded. Essentially, after you’ve spread your dough into the pan, you insert extra chips or chunks of chocolate into the top of the cookie/blondie. Then you spread a little bit of the dough over the chip - that little bit of dough helps nestle the chip into your treat, like they were meant to be there – making for a delicious and insta-ready snackable bake.

@jessiesheehanbakesTrick for insta-worthy baked goods with chocolate chunks. ❤️ #bakingtip #bakinghack #instaworthy

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One last thing, before we jump into recipes: any interest in going to summer camp with me in July? I’m hosting a baking retreat sponsored by Bake from Scratch Magazine in Birmingham, Alabama and I want to be your camp counselor! I mean I am joking (kind of): bottom line, I just want to hang out and bake with you.

Join me and my pal, the editor-in-chief of BFS, Brian Hart Hoffman for a summer baking weekend. And if an overnight camp just isn’t in the cards (I know: you’re worried you’ll get homesick), you can join me virtually for day camp! You’ll be able to watch our baking sessions from the comfort of your own home and bake along, if you’d like. Register here: Summer Baking Retreat 2023 - Bake from Scratch 

And finally: YES!! Chocolate recipes!!!

First up, is my Devil’s Food Snacking Cake with Marshmallow Frosting from Snackable Bakes.

The cake is easy to prepare, soft and moist and deeply chocolate-y - yes: there is mayo in the ingredient list, you’ll thank me for that. The marshmallow frosting is the perfect way to top this cutie and gives the cake all the nostalgic packaged snack cake vibes (can you say Hostess Suzy Q?).

Second is my Salty Snack Chocolate Fudge with Potato Chips and Pretzels from Snackable Bakes.

This fudge couldn’t be easier to make thanks to a can of sweetened condensed milk and is filled with crushed potato chips and pretzels and the combo of the salty snack food and the sweet, rich chocolate cannot be beat (in case you were thinking it could be). 

And that’s it folks, see you in two (weeks).