Recreating Christina Tosi's Milk Bar Compost Cookies From Taste | Reverse Engineering | Bon Appétit

We challenged resident Bon Appétit supertaster Chris Morocco to recreate Christina Tosi of Milk Bar's Compost Cookies in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen. The catch? He'll have to identify what he's making with a blindfold over his eyes, letting each of his other senses guide the way. Will Chris be able to reproduce these famous cookies without being able to see them?
Director: Cory Cavin
Director of Photography: Eric Brouse
Editor: Kris Knight
Host: Chris Morocco
Sr. Culinary Director: Kelly Janke
Producer: Halie Aaron
Culinary Producer: Kat Boytsova
Culinary Associate Producer: Leslie Raney
Line Producer: Jen McGinity
Associate Producer: Yoshivel Chirinos
Production Manager: Janine Dispensa
Production Coordinator: Elizabeth Hymes
Camera Operator: Kirsten Potts
Audio: Mike Guggino
Production Assistant: Jamal Abdinasir Mohamed
Production Assistant: Justine Ramirez
Post Production Supervisor: Andrea Farr
Supervising Editor: Eduardo Araújo
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
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ABOUT BON APPÉTIT
Bon Appétit is a highly opinionated food brand that wants everyone to love cooking and eating as much as we do. We believe in seasonal produce, properly salted pasta water, and developing recipes that anyone can make at home.

[@bonappetit]

Want even more Chris Morocco? Listen to the Dinner SOS podcast where Chris & the BA staff answer your kitchen conundrums listen.bonappetit.com/dinnersosyoutube

[@omaralikhan8258]

That face mask had me dying! It was like it was made for his entire personality!

[@IAMDOLWOTA]

Having to recreate a specific cookie recipe in this format is pretty mean of a task if we're being honest lol. Although I was a little annoyed that he chose not to chill the cookie on principle when he 100% knew it was always going to be one. Impressive result regardless, bravo Chris!

[@sovupo]

That drove me crazy, why didn't he chill it!!!

[@TheBeautifulDisaster]

@@sovupo Chris was only given one day, he had to make many versions of the cookie, varying and correcting ingredients and technique for each batch. Waiting an hour or two in between each attempt would have eaten up all his time.

[@blazelo1301]

Baked goods like this have to be the most challenging thing to recreate because of how much little changes can change the finished product.

[@joshpointoh]

This is the only episode of this I've ever seen that I would have a chance at. Had these cookies a hundred times

[@sarahfuller5482]

I bc loved that pretzel sticking straight up. I was personally offended when he snipped it

[@stephenh.3297]

Should get more fancy with grading and weight flavor heavier than the other elements. If taste is good even without the right ingredients that’s more important.

[@CloakedC]

Wait, can someone tell me why it's called Compost Cookie?

[@dfcsingh]

Cause you throw a bunch of garbage in it 😅 plus coffee grounds!

[@TabyPilgrim]

the mask is staring into my soul and i don't like it

[@jokermebad31]

That is the dumbest comment ever. Get over it. It's just a mask for crying out loud. It's Mona Lisa's eyes you twinky. 😂🤔🥱

[@Tiffssweetspot]

😂

[@burningstrawman2589]

At least you have a soul. It's staring into my abyss.

[@gabehernandez3844]

SAME HAHA

[@kevinpoole6122]

*VERY* unsettling! 😱

[@fubbychucker6696]

I would love to see this as a competition with Chris up against someone else

[@joshp8535]

Said for a long time that I want to see ANYONE else do this, so that you can have a "control" for how good a "regular" (albeit cheffy/foodie) person is at this.

[@VBC_Records]

their biggest miss is not turning this into a beat chris style thing

[@thenotcast3590]

@@VBC_Records yo that would be actually so entertaining to watch.

[@carriehampton3513]

He figures out the corn syrup? REALLY? That is some next level talent. WOW

[@Halfcocked1222]

Glucose is the go-to for professional bakers because it is less temperamental than sugar and will add the same amount of sweetness and hydration. Once he deduced who made it, choosing the pro's method was logical.

[@kvpdesign5297]

This face mask 😂 It looked like Chris, keeping an eye on the oven while watching the crew to make sure nobody was sabotaging him 😂 Epic!

[@travares]

These 1 day episodes feel rushed and lacking the magic, care and attention to detail of the original episodes. I miss the supermarket and the pacing in the old videos

[@Avvisoful]

I'm really impressed how he instantly found out which recipe it is

[@tpn1110]

Christina Tosi’s Milk Bar is a literal empire in NYC so everyone who lives there eat them on a regular basis

[@potato-whiz]

@@tpn1110 yes they’re pretty distinct and the compost cookie super popular and well known. It’s a big thing with Milk Bar. Not surprised he figured it out once he realized there was other stuff in it.

[@hannahcollins1816]

@@tpn1110 I live in the middle of the Midwest and I even would've known. It's famous for sure. Would've been absolutely shocked if he hadn't gotten it

[@Avvisoful]

@@tpn1110 I never heard of it, but since I live in europe, I guess that's not too surprising

[@philevans6395]

milk bar was not the best should I try the compost cookie and see if it isnt as crazy sweet as everything else sold there?

[@asquithmainlines699]

This was a cookie master class. I was amazed how Chris took a recipe with a ridiculous amount of ingredients and somehow duplicated the taste, texture and appearance without using the same ingredients. A true master. I just watched her make these on an Austrailian T.V. show and she made no mention of the graham cracker crust.

[@MD-ef7nl]

We don't have Graham crackers in Australia. Perhaps that is why?

[@asquithmainlines699]

@@MD-ef7nl Oh dear, how do you make cheese cake? Ours always starts with a Graham crust. We can also buy chocolate flavoured Graham cracker crumbs. You must have something that tastes similar.🇨🇦

[@albux]

@@asquithmainlines699 You can make cheesecake with all sorts of cookies as the base. Digestive are a common choice.

[@asquithmainlines699]

@@albux Yes I suppose you could but Graham wafers have such a distinctive flavour. I guess if you did’t know the difference it would not matter though. Jello makes a boxed No Bake Cheesecake mix here with the cheesecake pudding mix and a bag of Graham cracker crumbs, all you need is milk for the pudding and melted butter for the graham crumbs. I started making those when I was 10. It’s not a real cheese cake but if you smother it in macerated strawberries it can make for a pretty good guilty pleasure.

[@joshp8535]

"Yeah, I dont know, it's just like, SCIENCE, ya know?"

[@Nastyhoops]

finally fair judging on the end - someone not afraid to be honest with Chris! must be a weird dynamic since he is more senior than the people choosing the recipes

[@maggien3676]

Him cutting the pretzel that was sticking up made me die

[@doubledude4381]

You need to let him remake one of his own.

[@SpootyMcGee]

Was just about to make this suggestion. So Ill second it!

[@BenedictAllen_]

He’d figure it out immediately

[@firedrakegirl13]

One of brad’s recipes

[@huitrecouture]

You people have only been saying this since day ONE. NOBODY IS INTERESTED IN A GOTCHA MOMENT what a stupid idea.

[@svn5994]

And yet we are because it's been asked since day one. @@huitrecouture

[@stephaniealvarado649]

Shout-out to the editing. The background music and zoom ins to the missing graham crust had me cracking up! Love these videos, always on the lookout for them!

[@claska333]

recreating baking recipes is SO much harder than cooking recipes and this shows it! There's so much exact science that goes into baking that we dont even think about

[@Wileylikethehawk]

I’d be like “Um…. I think it’s a cookie? Maybe?” His skills are insane.

[@_DaemonCleaner]

He knows better than to trust anything his team provides

[@Seatek_Ark]

Tbh this one was like a trick question lol. You didn't know that part of the definition of compost cookie was inclusion of coffee, and the things Christina does to offset the graham cracker mix makes it almost impossible to tell it does have graham crackers in it...

[@mmarksz86]

Her cookie looked so much better, and you can see it when they do the close-up side-by-side. Pretty amazing how little subtleties in ratios and techniques (like resting them in the fridge) can impact the final outcome so much. I'm sure his tasted good and they didn't look bad, but the fact that hers was a fine-tuned recipe and technique really showed.

[@Bob-nc5hz]

It's really not surprising, baking is much closer to chemistry than the rest of cooking. "Winging" baking is a lot harder as a result. But that also means replicating is difficult, and sight unseen even more so. I don't think baking is really great for this show, it's too fussy. I guess it creates more drama than when Chris does well, but it's so setting up for failure.

[@sbender3787]

The big difference is chilling the dough. It is huge.

[@philippb.7435]

My favourite episode so far! I love when desserts or vegetarian dishes are features!

[@GFDIAA]

The editing and the drama and the doubts reminded me of good ol Gourmet Makes

[@spencersmith3482]

"I mean they look pretty similar" 19:55 ha Wtf? I'm tired of the hosts on here taking it easy on Chris at the end.

[@garcipat]

This episode was enjoyable to watch. It had tention, drama, desperation and a conclusion. Packed in a good 25 minutes. :)

[@future.cadaver]

Chris: *picks up Lucky Charms box* “I haven’t even THOUGHT about these things in, like, THREE DECADES.” Chris clearly forgets the before times when Gourmet Makes still existed 🥺 Feels like an entire lifetime ago.

[@diggysoze2897]

He must have been on vacation for that episode - in the first minute of that episode you see him for just a second in the background, but then he’s never seen again.

[@maiarossini9091]

Loved the knowledge that both Chris and Kat shared about baking in this! So fun!

[@Amosgreyy1]

Hey beautiful 💗💗 How are you doing??

[@phanorkner]

This is the most disturbing mask by far!!!

[@michaelpropmaster]

Could Chris possibly be a distant relative to the Mona Lisa? That mask on him just works.

[@abrosenberry]

What an awful name for this cookie 🤮. Kitchen Sink is superior!!

[@Notorious38]

The compost cookie has a cool origin story, which Christina Tosi tells, but you’re probably right

[@buffienguyen]

the editing and B rolls are super playful and funny this episode :D

[@bur2576]

My wife and I really expected to love her cookies. If you buy the retail package in a store like target, THEY ARE AWFUL. Borderline as bad as protein cookies. Shame because of the price and how amazing people make her locations seem

[@j-bq5nc]

thats good to know! i have made some of her recipes and they turned out okay but i wasn't too impressed. then, a few months ago, there was a bunch of Milk Bar brand treats on the clearance rack at Walmart and i grabbed them all. got to check out and realized it said to keep them refrigerated, which they had not been. glad i didnt end up buying them.

[@annkennedyperry]

The ones they sell in target are completely different than the store! It’s worth going to the store if you’re ever near one but they’re not ground breaking either

[@pathologicaldoubt]

Seems like you ate “the garbage dump cookie” and not “the compost cookie” 😅

[@kitcoffey7194]

Agreed, wanted to buy some online but too many artificial ingredients to justify buying.

[@hundragant]

This is my favorite mask used so far hands down

[@arieljayde7486]

Chris’s BA best chocolate chip is my favorite cookie recipe. I’ve made them at least 100 times.

[@serenasmith4039]

Awe I love watching Chris. I've never seen him so stumped by a recipe before! That was a tough one with the graham crackers, milk powder, light brown sugar, corn syrup. So many random ingredients!

[@carolynfergus-callahan4194]

The editing on this was a+!

[@StaphyJr]

I noticed that also! I haven't seen any of these before, so I wasn't sure if that was the normal style or not, but it was fun.

[@keenhua1133]

Tell/show us how much of each ingredient that was used for both Chris' and the challenged dish? Grading can remain how it is; but would like to know just how close Chris was on his ingredient input.

[@mrmoloch4033]

One of the best masks yet.

[@allysonfernandez682]

It would be really cool to see a little sub-series of Reverse Engineering where Chris shows us how to make the actual recipe he tried to recreate

[@Narra0002]

Idk if I’d make Tosi’s recipe, but I will be making BA’s best chocolate chip cookie recipe again. It really is the best

[@BadHairdayKimmie]

Frustrated profanity Chris is all of us with a favorite odd recipe.

[@gclar014]

I gotta ask. What pens are you using!? I've got to know! Also love these cookies but my favorite are the Milk Bar ice creams.

[@FarleyHillBilly]

Oh look ! There's a squirrel !

[@namelesscrow2069]

He's using Sipa Pens! When I first saw Chris using them I got so excited because I'd been using them for a while. It's good for writing and doing line art

[@erinptrsn]

I'm glad you asked! I was literally only looking through the comments to see if anyone knew what kind of pens he was using!!! LOL

[@johannaperez80]

he's so funny he takes it so seriously

[@kalihqabrown4907]

I have never been this early. Sidenote, figuring out a baking recipe was thee most difficult challenge you could give. Excellent episode

[@danijelaolds2216]

Chris is honestly so amazing!!! Absolutely love this series. Wish there was more episodes!!!

[@kimbarbeaureads]

I think this would have gone better if they had given him a monster or oatmeal base cookie instead of his chocolate chip recipe. I was hoping he would abandon the marshmallows and corn flakes and switch to Golden Grahams. Poor Chris. Those cookies are ridiculous in the worst way.

[@beachesandcream27]

they’re sooooo good though

[@The_Green_Queen]

“Is that… Hershey’s… Special… Dark…? Is that what I am to you?”

[@phillipameling7284]

Chris' talent is incredible, though I think this was a bit unfair.

[@nan0bel]

the mask this week is hilarious lol

[@jicasas]

This mask choice was particularly fantastic. 😹

[@bodyfultherapies]

you did good Chris, if the graham cracker crust issue waste there, you have have been at a solid B, maybe even A-

[@Amosgreyy1]

Hey beautiful 💗💗 How are you doing ??

[@janethope]

Chris is a real good sport for putting himself through this

[@gmecxlove]

This whole episode I keep thinking they were letting him look at the cookies because of the freaking eye mask hahahah

[@antonlvdm]

Please never stop this show!!

[@beingforeverfree]

I straight up 💖guffawed💖 when he said “do I wish this wasn’t standing straight up? yes thx for pointing that out”

[@andreasvalen8802]

Dear god that mask is horrifying

[@josephchamberlain3681]

This was good and unlike every other video in the series. Way to go

[@Hortonscakes]

I live for Chris! And Brad lol. Thank you and Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄 ❤️

[@tonymonastiere8510]

Chris, this was...impressive, most impressive! Your version would sell everywhere. Another vid to make everyone's attempt much better. Thnx, and Happy Holidays!

[@trinkab]

When I was like 19.. I spent a summer trying to make chocolate chip cookies that aren't little bricks that my mom made for dad (I like mine chewy). So I made SO MANY batches. The structure that makes them hold their (at least for a Toll House Choco chip cookie) shape is flour. The more flour, the less they spread.

[@cypherknot]

Compost cookies is not an appetizing name. Doesn't make me want to put them in my mouth.

[@PuffinPsychologist]

This is the best Christmas gift I have ever received 😂

[@ria8894]

i absolutely love this whole video!! the idea of the cookies and Chris's course of action and thinking 😄👌💞

[@Toidal]

The milk crumb! Makes for cookies so good that you essentially make and destroy a different batch of cookies in the creation of the actual cookie

[@Fife178]

This cookie has been my obsession since I first took a bite of it. Most unforgettable cookie imo.

[@tzadik.]

Black People: "This man just dumped the cereal into the box..."

[@51rwyatt]

they threw him to the wolves for this one

[@Whiteplumee]

Chris Morocco; the ultimate bah humbug grinch of sweets… I had to. 😂😂😂

[@garcipat]

The result lookts totally different. they are both round and flat but thats it.

[@stusomers8613]

"These cookies look pretty similar" ....what?! lol

[@spotdogit]

That mask, y’all. 😄 Super surprised he missed the coffee element, even at the end. Interesting to learn what the graham crust does to texture and taste! Great job, as always, maestro!

[@hermiona1147]

I'm begging you please make Brad do this for April's Fools 😭

[@leslieeg]

I need these once a week please :(

[@Amosgreyy1]

Hey beautiful 💗💗 How are you doing??

[@gabrielfreitas9512]

This was for sure one of the hardest recipes in this program, not only because in sweet recipes any small change might mean a lot, but also because the "compost" idea could be literally any kind of ingredients. Congratulations, Chris!

[@amandalloyd8812]

well done!! baking has to be the hardest of the challenges. you can slap a sauce together with corn flour instead of rice flour. or swiss instead of gruyere in a 4-cheese sauce. but cookies! so many ratios and techniques. I'd never guess glucose.

[@amandarogers6217]

The chaos of these cookies and Chris’s reaction is everything loool

[@The_Green_Queen]

Just in case not enough comments about the mask: the Mona Lisa eyes are the best EVER.

[@nicoler.8581]

I don't think I payed attention to anything Chris said when he was wearing the eye mask because I was laughing too much!

[@thecookingtaste2022]

👍👍👏👏📣🚀

[@MrKadzima]

I can’t decide if that mask should be the permanent choice or burned immediately. 🤔

[@igglewiggle6649]

It is very entertaining to watch professionals recreate well known bakes. In my view, it is very difficult to replicate Tosi’s recipes. Of all of Tosi’s recipes (I have all her recipe books…and love her whimsical bake style.) my fav is her birthday cake (confetti). I am sure that when she introduced that cake recipe, she said that it took her 7 years to refine/perfect this recipe. Not 1-day.

[@kkyochan]

his skill is insane. I love these episodes so much.

[@BuckFieri]

The mask triggered some uncanny valley discomfort in me

[@pistolen87]

That cookie is just too much

[@sarahfuller5482]

I noticed in a previous episode, when a recipe has graham in it, he mistakes it for marshmallow. They are very synonymous in s’mores so it makes sense but it’s interesting.

[@PSroka]

It makes me sad that milkbar cookies were way better ten years ago than they were recently. They also got rid of the double chocolate which was divine, I'd give anything for that original recipe

[@iamemi5052]

Why does he seem so pissed

[@vivijd14]

Ioved this juge and the mask as well! Bravo Chris

[@yybbhn]

the point 6 font for "Lucky Charms Marshmallows" had me rolling

[@istrictlyrule]

You know we hate to see food waste, Morocco 🚩

[@b.i.f3667]

he should try actually eating the food and not just picking at it and maybe he wouldnt miss so many things all the time

[@kyokoyumi]

That mask though XD Also like... he nailed both the person and the food on the first shot (kinda). Not letting them rest is going to cost him for sure I can see it now.

[@superimpious6073]

That mask is the absolute best. Please never stop using that.

[@AileenTownsend]

I love this video! So fun and enlightening to watch the changing thought process. Tosi’s compost cookie is my favorite of hers!

[@mistyarcher802]

Maybe it's just because it's 1 am, but I absolutely cannot handle this mask 🤣😆💀

[@msmeraglia]

the mass produced milk bar cookies are horrendous, idk how she approved those to be sold under her name/brand

[@boonjabby]

Crazy how Chris can nail dishes I thought would be crazy difficult, only to be defeated by a cookie

[@whitneybobitney]

Why does it look like he’s not even wearing the mask 😂