Baking is one of our favorite ways to make the most of a morning rife with stir-crazies, or an afternoon lull. It feels good to see a project through from start to finish. The baked-goods smell makes the house feel cozy, and — most importantly — it results in something sweet and comforting to snack on! Baking is also a great way to enlist the help of your kids: Older kids might be able to steer the entire process, and younger kids can work on their measuring skills, egg-cracking prowess or their whisking muscles.
And, as Soom Foods‘ co-founder, Amy Zitelman, shows us in her Pennsylvania Kitchen at Home video, with toddlers, you just make do with whatever keeps them occupied. For her son Henry, her “assistant” while showing us how to make Chocolate Soom Tahini Banana Bread, this means a bowl of chocolate chunks to snack on, helping to whisk the batter, and a little color quiz using some plastic prep bowls. Keeping a 2-year-old sitting still and engaged for even a 6-minute video is a true feat. So, we say, “Well done, Amy!” We also love how pantry-friendly this recipe is, with the options to add yogurt, applesauce or both, and it’s a way to use up the hard, crunchy bits of chocolate tahini that stick to the bottom of the jar.
Soom’s tahini is the best we’ve ever had — don’t take our word for it! Philly Chef Michael Solomonov gives a special shoutout to it in his first cookbook, Zahav! Amy started Soom with her sisters Shelby and Jackie in 2013, when they were inspired by the silky, creamy tahini they tried in Israel. Based in Philadelphia, Soom Foods has grown in the time since, and its line of products now includes organic tahini, premium tahini, chocolate tahini and a date syrup sweetener called silan. It is a wonderful ingredient for cooking and baking. If you’ve never considered using tahini outside of your favorite hummus recipe, check out the incredible recipe database on Soom’s website!
- Video: Amy Zitelman
