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Ask Yourself "What If?" with Milk Bar Founder Christina Tosi | A Bit of Optimism Podcast

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! For more on Christina and her work, check out: http://christinatosi.com/ --------------------------- 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: https://milkbarstore.com/blogs/recipes/compost-cookie-new?srsltid=AfmBOoq3Xn896zypVDfdBRaoxfyMcdfdyA... 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 --------------------------- This episode is brought to you by True Classic! I really love their T-shirts, so we called them up and asked if they wanted to work together. And they said yes! Check out their clothes at: http://trueclassictees.com/ + + + Simon is an unshakable optimist. He believes in a bright future and our ability to build it together. Described as “a visionary thinker with a rare intellect,” Simon has devoted his professional life to help advance a vision of the world that does not yet exist; a world in which the vast majority of people wake up every single morning inspired, feel safe wherever they are and end the day fulfilled by the work that they do. Simon is the author of multiple best-selling books including Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, Together is Better, and The Infinite Game. + + + Website: http://simonsinek.com/ Live Online Classes: https://simonsinek.com/classes/ Podcast: http://apple.co/simonsinek Instagram: https://instagram.com/simonsinek/ Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/simonsinek/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/simonsinek Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/simonsinek Simon’s books: The Infinite Game: https://simonsinek.com/books/the-infinite-game/ Start With Why: https://simonsinek.com/books/start-with-why/ Find Your Why: https://simonsinek.com/books/find-your-why/ Leaders Eat Last: https://simonsinek.com/books/leaders-eat-last/ Together is Better: https://simonsinek.com/books/together-is-better/ + + + #SimonSinek

Simon SinekhostChristina Tosiguest
Jun 3, 202551mWatch on YouTube ↗

EVERY SPOKEN WORD

  1. SS

    This will tell you the most-

  2. CT

    My rent, rent box

  3. SS

    ... this will tell you the biggest thing about me, and this is, what's funny about this is I always have this in my pantry, always. Space ice cream, always. There's always a space ice cream in my freezer.

  4. CT

    I love you so much for that.

  5. SS

    Yeah.

  6. CT

    This is-

  7. SS

    That's-

  8. CT

    ... 100% going, like-

  9. SS

    Yeah

  10. CT

    ... over my dead body is this not going into your compost cookie.

  11. SS

    I don't know how that will bake.

  12. CT

    Me neither, but we're gonna find out.

  13. SS

    But I guess-

  14. CT

    Well, hey, what if?

  15. SS

    What if? [upbeat music] So a bazillion years ago I went for dinner in New York City at a place called Sambar, which was a David Chang restaurant, and in the back they had a little thing called Milk Bar, which was their, basically the dessert place for the restaurant. Well, I fell in love with one of the desserts called Cereal Milk Ice Cream, and yes, it is the most nostalgic ice cream you could ever eat. It tastes exactly like the milk from the cereal bowl from when we were kids, that sweet milk that we would drink. Little did I know that the founder and owner of Milk Bar would later become one of my closest, closest friends, Christina Tosi. Christina Tosi has gone on to have wild success. We can all buy Milk Bar products in our local supermarkets. You can see her on Netflix in her TV show. She's got multiple cookbooks out, including this one. But best of all, Christina is the most wonderful baker because she bakes with love. It is her love language. Because Christina was in my hometown this week, we thought we would do something different. We would do an experiment, and if there's one thing Christina and I both love, it's the unknown. So that's exactly what we did. We did something we've never done. It could succeed, it could fail, you'll let us [laughs] know. But no matter what, I know one thing will happen: You will learn how to make a compost cookie, and you will learn how to make the tastiest beer bread of your life. This is A Bit of Optimism. This episode is brought to you by True Classic. The way they became our sponsor is because I loved their T-shirts, and so we just called them up and asked them if they wanted to work together, and they said yes. So check out their clothes at trueclassic.com. [upbeat music] So this is, this is a thrill for me personally because you were my first guest on A Bit of Optimism-

  16. CT

    Oh

  17. SS

    ... during lockdown. You and I have done this a, I think two or three more times. Uh, we-

  18. CT

    Bake? 'Cause we've baked-

  19. SS

    But we-

  20. CT

    ... a zillion times

  21. SS

    ... but, but, but I thought you were in LA. How much fun would it be that we actually bake together? You, you and I have never... That's not true, we have baked together.

  22. CT

    [laughs] I was like-

  23. SS

    No, that's true

  24. CT

    ... every time I come over, well, it's less about baking-

  25. SS

    No, it's more about baking

  26. CT

    ... and more Simon has an idea-

  27. SS

    No, no, no

  28. CT

    ... that involves food.

  29. SS

    It's about introversion. It's about introversion.

  30. CT

    That's right.

Episode duration: 51:11

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