What if this podcast turned into a baking show?

For Christina Tosi’s third visit to A Bit of Optimism, we decided to find out. So we headed to Milk Bar to make compost cookies from things in my own pantry and my favorite beer bread from scratch!

Christina’s not just my best friend—she’s the founder of Milk Bar, host of Bake Squad on Netflix, a cookbook author, and a fan favorite on this podcast. She lives by one simple question: what if?

In this experimental episode, we dug into some big ideas about creativity, uncertainty, and the magic of trying something new. Recipes below!

This...is A Bit of Optimism.

You can watch the video version of this episode on YouTube here.

For more on Christina and her work, check out:

christinatosi.com

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Simon's Compost Cookie Recipe (makes 15-20 cookies):

• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons glucose syrup
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Maltesers
• 85% dark chocolate
• Optimism Coffee grounds
• Granola
• Space/Astronaut Ice Cream
• Kettle Corn Pop Chips

For the full step-by-step recipe, visit Milk Bar's website!

Beer Bread Recipe:

• 3 cups self-rising flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons honey (or to taste)
• 12 oz beer (Samual Smith's Organic Chocolate Stout is Simon's preference!)
• 2 tablespoons butter (and save a little for the top)

Mix ingredients slowly together
Bake at 350 for 45-60 mins until baked through

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This episode is brought to you by True Classic!

I really love True Classic T-shirts, so we called them up and asked if they wanted to work together. And they said yes!

Check out their clothes at: trueclassictees.com

We're taking some time off to bring you even more episodes of A Bit of Optimism that you're going to love! In the meantime, we're revisiting some of our favorite episodes, like this one with couples counselor Shawn McBride.

Relationships are hard. No matter how much we like, respect, or love someone, conflict seems inevitable.

But even as we fight and disagree, we can also learn the skills we need to resolve our problems. For over two decades, Shawn McBride has helped thousands of couples do the work to strengthen their relationships. And he has tons of practical advice.

Shawn sat down with me to discuss the three biggest problems couples face, why I'm a huge fan of his Instagram, and how love can keep relationships afloat, but it's often not enough.

This...is A Bit of Optimism.

For more on Shawn and his work, check out:

@couples_counseling_center
@shawnmcbridespeaks
and couplescounselingcenter.org