This is Amused Bouche, SAVEUR’s food questionnaire that explores the culinary curiosities of some of our favorite people. This interview series will dive deep into their food routines, including dinner party strategies, cherished cookbooks, and the memorable bites they’d hop on a flight for.

Tosi’s latest cookbook (her eighth!), Bake Club: 101 Must-Have Moves for Your Kitchen, is all about finding your own groove in the kitchen. Tosi started Bake Club at home during the pandemic, live-streaming at 2 p.m. daily to share recipes from her childhood and wacky creations she came up with on the fly. Thousands of bakers tuned in and joined the club, and she hopes to expand not only the number of people in the group, but also the level of creativity it inspires in home bakers of all skill levels. “The cookbook is a bunch of killer recipes, but it’s also an open invitation to crack open your pantry and your imagination!” says Tosi. “You can and should mess around, tinker, and play in the kitchen.”

Tosi answered our culinary questionnaire, enlightening us about the way she truly likes to eat at home, either alone with a teacup of “dirty dessert” or crowd-sourcing a breakfast of “Will it waffle?” when she entertains. She also shared two recipes from Bake Club: Chewy Oat Bars, which inspired the crust of the iconic Milk Bar Pie, and an endlessly customizable Easy Chocolate Fudge. And a fun fact before you embark on the Amused Bouche journey? Tosi started her career as an intern at SAVEUR, and we’ll welcome her back anytime.

1. If you could only eat one thing 24/7/365, what would it be?

Fresh chocolate chip cookie dough. I like to put it in a teacup and microwave it for about 5 to 7 seconds. It’s not a cookie yet, but it's warmer than a cold piece of dough, the chocolate chips are melted, and most importantly, the butter is a little gooey. I dream of it. I eat it on good days and bad days. If someone had it on a menu, I’d go to that restaurant every day, but for now, it’s my dirty dessert secret. My husband, Will, has only seen me eat it once or twice. It’s a singular, solitary moment for me—the rest of the world gets quiet, and it’s just me and my dirty dessert.

2. What’s the first thing you learned how to cook?

My grandma’s oatmeal cookies, which are super hearty, not crazy sweet, and have a good amount of salt. She would pull them out of the oven early so you get a fluffy texture with a fudgy little bullseye, then roll them in confectioners sugar so they’re like a crinkle cookie meets an oatmeal cookie. That recipe is how I first fell in love with dessert—and with eating cookie dough. My mom was a working mom when I was growing up, so I spent a lot of time in the kitchen with my grandma—we were always baking something! My coconut oatmeal cookies were inspired by her cookies, but I added a bit of shredded coconut because my cookies never taste exactly the same as hers. So instead of competing, I made something new, inspired by her.

3. How about your latest kitchen adventure?

My favorite thing to do at home is to pretend I’m a short order cook. I like to play this game with my family, and it’s probably terrible when raising children because they’ll ask, “Wait, I can just say anything and you’ll figure out how to make it?” And I’m like “...yes!” One night recently, Will suggested a lemony spaghetti with a chicken cutlet. So I made it, it was great, and those meals are the ones that become traditions. I’m not stressed out about getting dinner on the table; I’m just vibing and figuring it out. Like an impromptu craft session, but edible. 

4. What’s your treat-yourself splurge?

My most indulgent night is a night at home alone, not a multicourse Michelin-starred restaurant. If I’ve been around food all day but haven’t really stopped to eat a meal, I order a whole pizza for myself. I’m a big fan of Papa John’s thin crust with onions and mushrooms, which I dip in garlic butter and ranch dressing. It’s savory and satiating, but not super filling because it’s a thin, cracker-y crust. And I don’t stop there! Because I know it’s going to take some time to get the pizza, I hop on Instacart and order all the cool, new-to-market candies, cookies, and ice creams that I want to try from a shoppy-shop grocery store. I usually throw in some cookie dough for a dirty dessert, too. 

5. What’s your most cherished cookbook?

When I cook at home, I turn to recipe cards passed down through our families more than cookbooks. I love to make Will’s mom’s bolognese. She passed away when he was in college so I never met her, but her bolognese is legendary. She never wrote down the recipe, so after we got married, I did an interview tour of the matriarchs of his family to get all the details. It’s all about tinkering as you go, and I make giant batches of it to freeze like a real nonna. It’s perfect for a slow Sunday, especially when the smell of the sauce starts wafting through the house. 

As far as a real cookbook, The Joy of Cooking has always been it for me. It feels like a Rolodex of recipes all across America that are the history of why we eat and cook the way we do—and what’s been forgotten along the way. I have a really, really old one that I love to flip through and see what will spark my imagination. The inspiration for Milk Bar Pie came from chess pie, which was hyper-regional 20 years ago. I love recipes that catch in your memory and bring you joy. The roast chicken, the semi-homemade puffs with savory fillings and store-bought crescent dough, and the yeasty Parker House Rolls are some of my favorite forever recipes.

6. Is there a cooking disaster that made you swear off a dish forever?

I once made a wedding cake at home for friends. I thought I could do it, but it’s not about the skills—it’s about the space, the timing, and the pressure around it being someone’s super-sacred special day. I only had one day off, so I decided to fly to Virginia and bake the chocolate cakes immediately, then make the cream cheese frosting and sugar some marigolds for decoration. I left to go pick the flowers and came back to a giant hole in one of the cakes—my poor stepdad thought it was a recipe test and ate a big chunk! I made another batch, but unfortunately a tiered cake is not meant to be baked the same day it’s constructed, especially not a wedding cake! It was like a leaning tower of cake; I tried to use the sugared marigolds to fill it in, but it was a massacre. It didn’t end up being the centerpiece I imagined, so instead of everyone getting out of their seats to look at the cake up close, it was more of a “stay in your seat, and we’ll bring you a bite” situation. It felt like the most terrible public shaming, but everyone said it was so good, and I love to learn from mistakes and failure.

7. Which nostalgic foods from childhood bring you the most comfort? Share a memory, whether it’s a lunch box snack, a family dinner favorite, or a little treat.

My mom’s weeknight (or as she would joke, “weak night”) tomato soup. It’s just a quick roux, a can of tomatoes, and a little milk, with buttered toast squares on the side for dipping. On another toast note, I always loved eating cinnamon toast after school and still do. Using a lot of salted butter is key—it’s the glue that keeps the cinnamon sugar on the bread. I let it all sit for five Mississippis, until the sugar starts to melt and the cinnamon gets hydrated and really dark, almost like a cinnamon goo.

8. When you’re playing dinner party DJ, what’s spinning?

When it’s just me and the fam, we almost always play The Lone Bellow. It’s light, dreamy music that speaks to your soul and has a feel-good beat—a cozy, chill weekday meal soundtrack. I made a playlist for every chapter of the book to match the way I feel when I’m baking: I wanted upbeat sounds that build for Daily Bread and something more anthem-like to pump you up for Tabletop Treats. The one for the Drop-Off-Able Desserts chapter could work for any party—it’s music for all ages and personalities, so everyone knows the words to at least one of the songs. It’s a positive energy but not an “in the club” vibe.

9. What is your biggest entertaining flex to impress guests?

My preference is to have people come over and spend the night. Will and I like to craft a longer experience that gives people the opportunity to warm up and settle in. Dinner is always fun, but the really cool stuff happens at the breakfast table the next morning, when people are in their pajamas laughing about what happened last night and have their guards down. I love to pull out the waffle maker and play “Will it waffle?” with leftovers from the night before, turning pasta into a mac and cheese-like waffle, or just opening the fridge and letting everyone get creative. I also do a big batch of cinnamon buns while everyone else is having fun. I’m an introvert, and we have an open kitchen, so after dinner and cleanup, I’ll make and proof a batch of cinnamon rolls. There’s nothing more comforting and cozy than waking up to a warm cinnamon bun. It’s also an excellent party favor.

10. Tell me about a meal so good you would hop a flight to relive it.

This is actually a two-part answer. First, my family flew to Seattle recently, and one of our friends picked us up with a cooler full of juice boxes, water, apples, and peanut butter sandwiches. After a six-hour flight, we were all feeling worn out and peckish, so it was the best welcome. Second, we went to Canlis, which is run by one of Will’s best friends, Brian Canlis. I’ve been there so many times, and it always feels like Cheers. Everyone knows your name or makes you feel that way because it’s a third-generation restaurant. We sat in a little hut overlooking a beautiful body of water with boats and a lit-up hilltop community, and it was so enchanting. The one dish I always order is the Canlis salad. It’s herby, bright, lemony, and a little cheesy; sometimes there’s shrimp. If I lived anywhere near there, I’d go every single night and eat a big salad in my pajamas. Makes me want to go back right now.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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