5 reasons to bake late at night

Epicurious.com

Some people read, others watch TV, I, on the other hand, am all about late-night baking. No joke. My last five baking escapades have all begun no earlier than 10pm. Sometimes when I am in my apartment I just get the urge, and then there are times when I come home after a glass or two of wine and break out the cookie sheet (I find that my skills really improve when slightly inebriated.)

Take last night, for example. I walked into my kitchen and noticed that my fruit basket was filled with ripe bananas, too many of them. So what did I do? I made Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts. And it was delicious. These are the top five incentives behind late-night baking.

1. Shopping for baking ingredients at night = no endless check-out lines.


2. No one likes going to bed hungry.


3. Baked goods always taste better the next day.


4. Waking up to the sweet scent of freshly brewed coffee is one thing, but waking up to the sweet scent of late-night-banana-bread-baking is twice as sweet.


5. The saying "sweet dreams" has never been so literal.


Carolina Santos-Neves grew up in Brazil, Mexico City, and New York City. Her interest in the culinary field first surfaced in the second grade, when it became clear she only liked to play with edible play dough. Years later, after graduating from Brown University, she attended French culinary classes at the New School, honed her skills at the Grandaisy Bakery in Manhattan, and studied food writing. Her favorite pastime: perusing restaurant menus for Brussels sprouts, banana desserts, and eclectic ice cream flavors (like black pepper gelato). She attributes her interest in food to her mom's stories about growing up as an Ohio farm girl and to her dad's love of food and travel.


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