In her time working in the Bon Appétit and Epicurious Test Kitchen, Zaynab Issa developed almost 100 recipes. But the one she’s most proud of are these Chewy Date and Dark Chocolate Cookies, spiked with olive oil and tahini. They “flip traditional chocolate chip cookies on their head, but in the best way,” she says.
Issa is a food media powerhouse. She runs a thriving Substack where she drops thoughtfully tested recipes, travel recommendations, and essays. She creates viral videos (including this swoon-worthy banana cream latte). And last year, she published a cookbook, Third Culture Cooking (which made our best cookbooks of spring 2025 list). Her work has been featured on Buzzfeed, Food52, The New York Times, and of course, Bon Appétit and Epicurious.
With so many wonderful recipes in our archive, it’s hard to know where to start. How about these Ultra Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes? When I spoke to Issa, she claimed this recipe was her achilles’ heel. “Pancakes are technically challenging as is—you want a tender crumb, a good rise, and a crisp exterior. Then, when you factor in managing the extra liquid and weight from canned pumpkin, you’ve got an additional challenge,” she said. “After lots of trial and error, I knew I got there when Andy Baraghani took the plate of pancakes off the pass and brought them to his station to have for lunch.” We would do the same!
Keep scrolling for more of Issa’s delightful archive.
