Gourmet Makes

Bon Appetit's Senior Food Editor and pastry chef Claire Saffitz attempts to make a gourmet Twinkie without the hard-to-pronounce chemical ingredients. The first test is Genoise cake, an Italian sponge cake. For the creamy filling, Claire uses 7 minute frosting. The second test is yellow cake and buttercream filling. Next comes chiffon cake, a light cake that uses vegetable oil. Finally, with some help from Test Kitchen Manager Brad Leone, Claire decides to "Frankenstein" the recipe.

Do you gush with curiosity over little, chewable sugar blobs filled with goo? Claire Saffitz deconstructs and improves one of our favorite childhood candies - Gourmet Gushers!

You love Cheetos. But do you know how to make them? Pastry chef Claire Saffitz goes on a 3-day experiment to make and improve on Gourmet Cheetos!

Some nibble away at the chocolate shell first; others may split the wafers apart before eating. They may have their preferences, but what what they may not know is their routines help to reverse engineer what it takes to make one in the first place. Claire Saffitz is up to the challenge to make Gourmet Kit Kats!

Claire Saffitz takes on another challenge, this time to recreate the tastes of the rainbow... Skittles, Gourmet-style.

Everyone loves Lucky Charms! Watch Claire's attempt to recreate your favorite childhood cereal.

What makes the oreo the king of the cookie? Claire attempts to find out as she makes a gourmet version of the greatest sandwich cookie of all time.

Twizzlers come in just about every flavor under the sun, but Claire only has one goal in mind: make a gourmet version of everyone's favorite. That's right -- the original, cherry-ish flavored Twizzler.

Sno Balls. Baby boomers will remember this post-World War II junk food favorite. Claire Saffitz returns to the Test Kitchen to try her hand at making gourmet Sno Balls.

Claire. Is. Back. AGAIN. And this time she is attempting to make gourmet instant ramen. Everybody loves instant ramen, with its ludicrously salty, umami-rich spice packets and its impossibly wavy fried noodle bricks. Can Claire make a fancy version of this 70%-of-your-daily-sodium snack?

Nougat. Caramel. Peanuts. Chocolate. The building blocks of a Snickers bar. Each taken alone is simple enough (well maybe not the nougat), but together they become a different monster. Join Claire Saffitz as she attempts to make a gourmet version of a Snickers bar!

Pringles. They're the miraculously not greasy potato chips that come in a tube. They're also the original duck face. Join Claire Saffitz as she attempts to make a gourmet version of Pringles! And lest we forget: once you pop the fun don't stop.

Ok, so Ferrero Rocher chocolates are pretty gourmet already. We get it. But couldn't they be even more gourmet? Join Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she attempts to make a gourmet-ier version of Ferrero Rocher, everybody's favorite Italian, hazelnut-filled chocolates.

Reese's Pieces, Reese's Miniature Cups, Reese's Sticks, Reese's Big Cups, Reese's Big Cups Stuffed with Crunchy Cookie, Reese's Big Cups Stuffed with Reese's Pieces(!), Reese's Pumpkins and a million other Reese's variants. But there shall only be one Reese's product that Claire gourmet-izes: the classic Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. Join Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she attempts to make a gourmet version of Reese's.

Cheez-Its are that snack that your parents let you eat as a kid because they're not chips and therefore must be healthy, right? Join Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she attempts to make a gourmet version of everybody's favorite quadrilateral, cheesy crackers: Cheez-Its.

It's that time of year again when peeps are on the menu. Peeps, those little birds full of cushiony marshmallow and coasted with the sugariest of colored sugar, come in all shapes and colors. Join Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she attempts to make a gourmet version of peeps!!!

Grated coconut may not be everybody's cup of tea, but there is no denying that this candy is an absolute classic. In this episode, Claire Saffitz attempts to make a gourmet version of Almond Joys, that almond, coconut and chocolate Halloween staple.

Nacho cheese exists in two states: the melted cheese state and the powdered cheese state*. When it comes to the powdered cheese state, all pale in comparison to Nacho Cheese Doritos, continually perfected by science and consistently beloved by the masses since 1972. Join pastry chef Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she attempts to take Nacho Cheese Doritos to the next level and make them gourmet!

Twix. They've at the heart of a debate that goes back more than five decades. Lines have been drawn so intractable that friendships, relationships, even nations have been ruined. No, we're not speaking of the Left vs. Right debate. We're talking about the Conflict of Classification that rages to this day. Yes, is Twix candy or cookie?We don't know, but join Claire Saffitz as she attempts to make a gourmet version of Twix.

Join pastry chef Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she attempts to make gourmet Starbursts.

Witness the crackling confection taking the world by storm! They're carbonation made solid. That's right folks, they're a modern marvel made to modify your mouth, a sensational symphony of splendid snaps and sparkles soothing your senses and sent straight to your stomach. And now for the first time ever, we present gourmet Pop Rocks, the product of a perfect marriage of scientific ingenuity and culinary craft, made by the clever and creative Claire Saffitz!

Is there any way to make Pop-Tarts better? We think so. Join pastry chef Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she attempts to make gourmet strawberry Pop-Tarts.

Claire Saffitz had never had Pocky before. And then one day in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen her life changed forever. Her eyes are open and now she has ascended to Pocky level: Tsubu Tsubu (Strawberry Flakes), a level that it usually takes decades to reach. With her work in making a gourmet version of four flavors of Pocky - Chocolate, Matcha, Cookies & Cream and Strawberry Flakes - she is quickly climbing ever upwards in the Pocky Movement. Join Claire as she seeks Pocky Perfection.

Join Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she attempts to make a gourmet version of everybody's favorite chocolate candy that melts in your mouth, not your hand: M&M's!

Join Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she attempts to make a gourmet version of Hot Pockets!

Join Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she attempts to make a gourmet version of Sour Patch Kids!

How do they make those perfect rrridges in Ruffles? Well, that's the question Claire has to answer, isn't it? Join Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she attempts to make gourmet Ruffles.

Takis are rolled up tortilla chips of surprising intensity. After making gourmet Doritos, Claire was pretty confident she could make gourmet Takis in just one day, but the length of this video might say otherwise. Anyway, join Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she attempts to make a gourmet version of Takis.

Making Mentos should be just like making Skittles, right? So this shouldn't take too long... hmm. Join Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she makes gourmet Mentos.

Join Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she attempts to make a gourmet version of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.