Snacking Bakes for the Holiday Season

A special recipe drop and tips on gifting baked goods from Yossy Arefi

Editorial note: Alisha is on maternity leave. In the meantime, Downtime is edited by Aliza Abarbanel.

Hi, hello! Have you gotten into the holiday baking spirit yet? If not, this week’s newsletter is here to deliver some cheer, a.k.a. sugar, with two special recipes excerpted from cookbook author Yossy Arefi’s delightful new book Snacking Bakes, which you may remember from our fall cookbook roundup earlier this year.

Read on for Yossy’s recipe for a striking swirled Browned Butter Marble Cake and surprisingly vegan Magical Peanut Butter Cookies, plus her thoughts on the best way to turn baked goods into presents. Got any favorite holiday baking recipes of your own? Drop them in the comments below! –Aliza

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The Best Gifts Are Desserts

I love giving homemade edible gifts. Sharing food and cooking for others is such a beautiful way to celebrate the season. Give me all of your cookies, caramels, snack mixes, marshmallows, and spicy cheesy crackers! One of my very favorite memories of working in a bakery was when my coworker would bring in homemade coquito and pasteles to share before we all took off for a holiday break. 

Loaf cakes, like this Browned Butter Marble Cake, are a perfect gift. The cake is sturdy, but also super moist and flavorful—in fact, it gets better after a day on the counter. Wrap it in parchment paper to keep it moist, then add a fun tea towel on top as a bonus gift for the recipient.

Cookies also make a great gift. I tend to have little bags of cookies and other treats in my purse around this time of year that I love to pass out when I run into friends while cruising around the neighborhood. I pack up the cookies in parchment bundles, glassine bags, or small craft paper boxes wrapped up with baker's twine. I bought a spool of it in the early 2000s and it's still going strong!

When you are choosing recipes for cookies to pack up, make sure to choose cookies that still taste great after a few days. Shortbread, gingerbread, and other crisp and crunchy cookies like my Magical Peanut Butter Cookies are all great choices. –Yossy

Browned Butter Marble Cake