Claire Saffitz

Claire Saffitz (born September 16, 1986) is a Contributing Food Editor at Bon Appétit magazine, professional pastry chef, and YouTube personality. Saffitz stars in several series on the Bon Appétit YouTube channel, most notably Gourmet Makes, in which she creates gourmet versions of popular snack foods by reverse engineering them.

Saffitz was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, to an Ashkenazi Jewish family. She attended Clayton High School, graduating in 2005. She then graduated from Harvard University in 2009 with a BA in U.S. history and literature, after which she studied French cuisine and pastry at École Grégoire-Ferrandi in Paris, France. After working at Spring Restaurant for a four-month externship, Saffitz moved to Montreal, Québec, where she received a master's degree in History at McGill University in 2013, with a focus on French culinary history in the early modern era.

Saffitz joined Bon Appétit in 2013, and worked there as a Senior Food Editor until August 2018. She returned in November 2018 as a freelance recipe developer and video host, with the title Contributing Food Editor.

In July 2017, Gourmet Makes debuted, in which Saffitz attempts to recreate or elevate popular snack foods such as Doritos, Twinkies, and Gushers. Gourmet Makes consistently trends on YouTube and has developed a cult following on social media. Saffitz's work has been described as taking "junk food staples and...elevating them from their humble processed beginnings into wonders of gastronomy."

In February 2019, due to the success of Gourmet Makes, as well as It's Alive with Brad Leone, Bon Appétit launched three new series on a streaming channel which took a more personality driven approach to their content.Saffitz's starred in two of these series: Bon Appétit’s Baking School, and Making Perfect, which also featured Andy Baraghani, Molly Baz, Brad Leone, Chris Morocco, and Carla Lalli Music. Saffitz also starred in the second season of Making Perfect.

On January 22, 2020, Saffitz appeared on a cooking segment on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Saffitz is currently working on her first cookbook, which is set to be published in late 2020.

Saffitz lives with her partner, fellow chef Harris Mayer-Selinger, in the Upper West Side neighborhood of New York City.