I know I personally find myself perusing Tasty‘s food video goldmine more often than I’m willing to admit, so I figured I might as well put some of their creations to the test.

My mom, who has been a professional chef for 25 years (I know, I’m blessed), had no previous knowledge on what Buzzfeed was, let alone Tasty. So when I asked her to do some of these recipes with me, she was a little skeptical at first.

I mean, the woman has made incredible food for countless restaurants, CEO’s, and even owns her own catering business while I still struggle to turn on the stove sometimes.

This is a culmination of what we made together.

Cinnamon Roll French Toast Bake (Tasty vs Cohen Clan)

Initial thoughts:

Mama Coco thought the recipe looked super easy because the Cinnamon Rolls that the recipe called for were premade by Pillsbury (trust me, she could’ve made them from scratch). The only thing that really needed to be done was to pour the liquid-based ingredients over the small, sliced morsels in the pan.

The process:

Once all of the ingredients were pulled, the entire thing only took about 15 minutes to put together in the pan. Surprisingly, the hardest part of the recipe was deciding which pan to use. My mom was impressed with the simplicity of it, especially how little dishes we had to wash (I hear about that all of the time).

Mama Coco talked about how it reminded her of a bread pudding with a bourbon sauce a restaurant she used to work at would make. This, however, was significantly easier because even the final topping (cinnamon roll frosting) came with the tubes.

Consumption:

I could not string the correct words together to describe how delectably perfect this dish was. I’m still surprised with how well it turned out. Mama Coco wanted to argue that ours is better than Tasty’s (not sure how we could compare as we did not try their end product, but I’ll roll with it).

I actually went out the day after we made the recipe and came home to find that my family had eaten the rest of the dish, so that shows just how successful the recipe was. Thanks guys.

Final thoughts:

Frankly, the picture doesn’t do it justice. This was Mama Coco’s favorite recipe. 10/10 for both taste and level of simplicity. I’m going to have to make it again because I was only able to snag one piece before they “disappeared.”

Cream Cheese-Stuffed Bagel Bites (Tasty vs Cohen Clan)

Initial thoughts:

We, an average Jewish-american family, consume more bagels in a year than a person breathes, so this recipe was a MUST for Mama Coco and me. She said it looked simple, but in the eyes of someone who goes out on a limb by boiling water (I didn’t say me, but it can be assumed), poaching a syrup-based liquid seemed a bit daunting.

The only ingredient that we weren’t able to use was “malt syrup”. I had never heard of it, and the store didn’t have it, so we just swapped it with maple syrup. Mama Coco deduced it to be a browning agent, so the substitute was fine.

The process:

I have never felt more texture sensitive than when I rolled bits of whipped cream cheese into tiny balls. I can only compare it to when you chew gum for too long and it’s on the verge of becoming a liquid –yeah, you know what I’m talking about. If you make this recipe, please use regular cream cheese instead of whipped. You can thank me later. Here’s a picture of me temporarily hating everything.

In addition to the grotesque feeling of whipped cream cheese, I will say that the recipe was the most tedious to make, taking up over three hours of my precious Earth time. The bagel bites recipe calls for several waiting periods between rising, freezing, baking, and boiling, which felt like it took forever.

Mama Coco’s big comment on the process was that it was an easy recipe to make, but super time consuming. She recommends making the dough in the morning before whatever you’re doing that day so when you come home it’ll be ready to go.

Consumption:

SO. GOOD. Most of them looked pretty ugly, but that was balanced out by the taste. Mama Coco agreed that although the recipe took a very long time to make, the bites were well worth the wait.

That being said, we both came to the conclusion that if you’re in a rush, it’s really not worth going through the huge effort to make them. Papa Coco also added his thoughts, saying that although anyone can make a bagel and cream cheese, this was a special treat. So make these bites depending on the time you’re willing to put into them.

Final Thoughts:

Mama Coco was confused whether we were supposed to let the syrup come to a boil and simmer or just keep at a boil. The recipe didn’t specify, but Mama Coco would like to let everyone interested in making these know that you should keep it at a boil until the bagel bites float to the top (Mama Coco – 1, Tasty – 0).

She thinks we should do a rewrite, but I don’t think I can handle going to court for fraud at 16.

No-Bake White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecakes (Tasty vs Cohen Clan)

Initial thoughts:

This was another incredibly easy recipe. Since we didn’t even have to bake it, the most challenging part of this dessert was finding seedless raspberry jam at the store (don’t worry, it can be done).

Process:

It only took about twenty minutes to get together and throw into the freezer. Mama Coco would like to add that with Valentine’s Day coming up, the red in the jam could make this a wonderful treat to make for that special someone. Or for me, I don’t know.

Consumption:

Tasty, you know your stuff. This is absolutely delicious, the entire Cohen Clan agreed. Papa Coco declared that it tasted awesome, but Mama Coco quickly shot him down as he hadn’t actually tried it yet. His opinion remained the same after he truly had one, but I figured I might as well add that as it was pretty funny.

He went on to say that the graham cracker bottom combined with the cheesecake was really good. It was a little sticky to get out of the cupcake liners, but that was probably because we were a little too excited to try them. If you’ve got a bit of a sweet tooth, you’ve got to try these tiny, rich cheesecakes.

Final, FINAL Thoughts:

Mama Coco has had a lot of experience in the culinary world, and would like to commend Tasty. Journalist authors do a really nice job putting together incredibly simple, yet delicious recipes for an amatuer chef. With that in mind, they can improve on a couple of things to take the next step forward in their creations. There is a lack of substitution options, storing directions, and resultant quantity.

But, with all of that aside, I loved making these recipes. They were all so simple that I was able to laugh and talk with my mom more than actually focusing on the food itself. If you have a spare hour or two, make something with your mom, dad, sibling, friend, anyone!

Sometimes, amidst the constant stress filling our lives, we forget to spend some time with those we love.  So thanks, Tasty. Keep doing what you’re doing.