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The New York Times’ Jennifer Steinhauer treats snack addicts to recipes for homemade Twinkies, Ho Hos, Mint Milanos, and much more

Treat Yourself: 70 Classic Snacks You Loved as a Kid (and Still Love Today)

Jennifer Steinhauer

Imprint: Clarkson Potter
On sale: June 3, 2014
Price: $19.99
Pages: 176
ISBN: 9780385345200

Contact: Anna Mintz
212-572-6186
amintz@randomhouse.com

When her New York Times article on making homemade Twinkies went viral, Jennifer Steinhauer had no idea just how big the nostalgia for classic snack foods was. But as she found out, “For Americans of a certain age, memory lane is paved in Ho Hos.” In Treat Yourself: 70 Classic Snacks You Loved as a Kid (and Still Love Today) (Clarkson Potter/Publishers; June 3, 2014; $19.99; trade paperback), Jennifer captures that nostalgia with recipes to honor and replicate these iconic snack foods.

Treat Yourself is equal parts food trivia, personal anecdotes, and DIY Devil Dogs, and Jennifer frames each recipe by elaborating on the distinct pleasures associated with each treat. Some of Jennifer’s choice takes on familiar favorites in the book include:

On Thin Mints: “Be careful not to make your blobs of dough too big, or you will have something more like an undersized brownie than a Thin Mint—the equivalent of a twenty-four-year-old Girl Scout knocking at the door looking for a beer.”

On Samoas: “The Samoa is the art-student boyfriend of confections, a layered, multifarious affair, while the Thin Mint is the sexy accountant—reliable, easy, a natural pleasure.”

On Mint Milanos: “Pepperidge Farm marketed its bagged cookies to adults, positioning them as the sort of thing one nibbled with after-dinner coffee served in a delicate cup rather than a ‘Welcome to Vegas’ mug.”

On Honey Buns: “The top of these buns was so wide, it could also serve as a canvas: I once carved an obscenity in the cream, dropped it on my philandering soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend’s doorstop, rang the bell, and ran.”

Better yet, Treat Yourself makes it easy for snack addicts to reunite with almost any old-school treat imaginable, with recipes including:

Classic Cookies: Thin Mints; Gingersnaps; Chips Ahoy!; Nilla Wafers; Iced Molasses Cookies
Sandwich Cookies: Vienna Cookies; Nutter Butters; Mint Milanos; Oreos; Mallomars
Snack Cakes: Twinkies; Drake’s Coffee Cakes; MoonPies; Sno Balls; Hostess Cup Cakes
Fruity Treats and Filled Things: Fig Newtons; Strawberry Pop-Tarts; Sour Grape Fruit Roll-Ups; Apple-Cinnamon Fry Pies
Savory Snacks: Soft Pretzels; Pizza Pockets; Cheez-Its; Fritos; Funyuns; Chicken in a Biskit
Candy: Cracker Jacks; Twix Bars; Candy Dots; Raisinets; Mounds Joys
Frozen Treats: Ice Cream Sandwiches; Pudding Pops; Orange Creamsicles; Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Pops; Nutty Buddies

Whether you peel the top off your Hostess Cup Cake or pull apart your Oreos, you will relish Jennifer’s smart, hilarious take on making your favorite treats from scratch and you will want to join in the fun.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

JENNIFER STEINHAUER, a self-described “Martha-Plimpton-meets-Martha-Stewart,” has been a reporter for the New York Times for twenty years. Her weekly column at Food52.com, “Weeknights with Jenny,” shares her adventures in weeknight cooking. She lives with her husband and their two daughters in Washington, D.C.