The Jewish cookbook author Jessica Seinfeld finds sweet things – without sugar

Award-winning cookbook author Jessica Seinfeld is staying busy.

She has been married to her husband, Jewish comedy icon Jerry Seinfeld, since 1999 and, in addition to raising their three children – Sascha (24), Julian (21) and Shepherd (19) – has written six cookbooks, including Not too sweet: 100 dessert recipes for those who want more with a little less. She also recently produced a documentary, daughters The film, released in August, examines how incarceration affects prisoners and their children.

In the last year, she has added some new activities: publicly advocating for Israel and privately studying Torah.

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Seinfeld, 53, traveled to Israel with her husband last December, met with survivors of the Hamas attack and toured the ruins of Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the Gaza border communities hardest hit that day. Both before and after the trip, she said she “became more vocal on social media” to refute misinformation and anti-Semitism spread online.

“In my Jewish upbringing, being a victim was frowned upon,” she said. “Being in Israel shortly after October 7th and seeing Israelis pulling together was so moving and inspiring. It taught me a lot about the community and how important it is to Jews historically and will certainly be in the future.”

Seinfeld also said in an interview that she has been studying with one regularly since June rabbanita term used by some Orthodox women who have completed rabbinic training and ordination.

“Every week I connect with our history, our spirituality and our ancient wisdom,” she said. “It gives me the gift and energy to keep going and put as much as I can into everything I do.”

The same as most things – but no refined sugar. Seinfeld’s new cookbook features 100 dessert recipes, from chocolate tart to roasted strawberry toaster pastry – “Our family knows a thing or two about Pop-Tarts,” she writes, referring to the recent Netflix film her husband directed directed. Unfrosted – all have been optimized to be a little healthier than their “normal” counterparts. Most treats are sweetened with sugar alternatives such as maple syrup, honey and date syrup or fresh, dried or frozen fruit.

“I’m at an age where sugar gives me more hangovers than alcohol, and it makes me feel terrible,” Seinfeld said. “Why not revisit my favorite dessert recipes and find a way to make them less sweet and with more natural sugars?” Let’s leave dessert on the table, but make it a little better for you.”

Jerry and Jessica Seinfeld

For Jerry’s last birthday – his 70th – Seinfeld said she made a chocolate cake using pureed chickpeas, almond flour and maple syrup. She said it was one of her husband’s favorite recipes from the book, along with the oatmeal made with maple syrup, coconut sugar and salted peanuts; Apple pie, sweetened with pureed raisins, maple syrup and apricot fruit spread, and sweet potato caramel corn, a healthier version of sweetened popcorn.

To mark the release of the cookbook, Seinfeld released a video of her husband sounding off while eating her homemade Pop-Tart. Another family culinary tradition comes from Seinfeld’s parents: the bagels and lox routine on Sunday mornings. “I think my whole life I’ve eaten bagels and lox every Sunday,” she told the Jewish Week in New York in a previous interview. “When I married Jerry, we continued that tradition and my children rely on that tradition every Sunday.”

Jerry Seinfeld has also continued to advance his pro-Israel advocacy in the last year. In a May interview with GQ, 10 things Jerry Seinfeld can’t live withoutThe comedian named his David necklace: “I wear a Star of David necklace because it makes me feel closer to the people of Israel,” he said. That same month, he was met with protests from Duke University students, all of whose children were visiting, when he spoke during his graduation there.

Jessica Seinfeld says she sees Judaism as essential to everything she does.

“What I like best about myself and my family is that we are Jews. I love being married to a Jewish man who is just as proud,” she said. She added: “There is a Jewish thread that runs through those of us who feel that we want to make the world a better place every day.”

For Seinfeld, those efforts span a range of causes, from chairing the board of the anti-poverty nonprofit Good+ Foundation to advocating for a reduction in cell phone use among children to improve their mental health.

But while Seinfeld’s public service and bagel traditions are rooted in her childhood — her mother worked as a counselor in prisons — her interest in dessert is entirely her own.

Growing up on Long Island and then in Vermont, there were no desserts in her home. She writes that both parents worked and although her mother insisted on providing her family with home-cooked dinners, desserts were not her “thing.”

“It’s funny when we go back to what our parents wanted to teach us,” she writes. “I’m definitely following in my mother’s footsteps and writing a book that basically offers people fruit for dessert.”

Not too sweet will be available on Amazon from December 19th.