Laura Kanya

Laura Kanya is a recipe tester and developer in the EatingWell Test Kitchen. Laura tests many recipes that come through the Test Kitchen door, including for feature articles as well as for all sections of the magazine. She discovered her love of baking growing up alongside two grandmothers and a mom who shared the same love of baking and cooking. They unknowingly established the importance of food and cooking in Laura's life. Growing up outside of Philadelphia, she had access to some great restaurants, and her dad took her to many. After graduating from the University of Vermont in 1998 with a B.S. in dietetics, she pursued her love of baking by graduating with an associate degree in baking and pastry arts from the Culinary Institute of America in 2000.

Prior to joining the EatingWell team, Laura traveled the United States, England, Poland, Australia, New Zealand and Anguilla to check out different cultures and food. She has been active in the food industry for 25 years in a variety of roles such as pastry chef, chef instructor, executive chef and director of operations in restaurants, resorts, catering, retail operations and food production companies. This has included Macrina Bakery in Seattle, Sundance Resort in Utah, and Vermont Mystic Pie Company, The Inn at Essex, New England Culinary School and Sugarsnap Catering, all in Vermont.

Laura and her husband, Mark, live in Vermont with their son, Connor; daughter, Eleanor; and schnauzer, Blue. Outside of work she enjoys staying active and challenged with spin classes, game nights with her kids, coaching her daughter's soccer team, biking around town, walking with friends, canning food from her (very simple and beginner) garden and checking out the latest local restaurants' offerings.