The Fancypants Bakery Blog: The Business of Cookies

Growing the Business

2010-10-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

The months are flying by and we're busy with orders. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah and Christmas are some of our busiest holidays. To keep up this year, we're doubling in size! This fall, we doubled the size of our production facility, installed new ovens, hired more bakers and decorators, and bought A LOT of baking racks and sheet pans! It's been challenging, but we have such a great team of people that we didn't lose even a single day of production. We're in a great position now and we're baking thousands and thousands of cookies each week. Keep visiting us here, online and on Facebook - we have lots of great news to share!

Cookie Decorating Parties

2010-08-17T08:29:00.000-07:00

Looking for a place to host a birthday party? Come to Fancypants Bakery! We host cookie decorating parties for kids ages 6 years and older. Groups of 10-15 kids come to our production facility for a tour, equipment demonstration, decorating lesson - and lots of cookie decorating, of course. Each child receives a chef's hat and 4 cookies to decorate and take home. The parties are 1.5 hours of fun! Best of all, parents don't have to do a thing. We do all the prep and the clean up. Sound great? Give us a call or send us an email to reserve your date today!

Fancypants Bakery on Chronicle

2010-07-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Decorated Cookies: Summer-Themed Cookies

2010-07-20T07:18:00.000-07:00

Summer cookies are baking away! Our Under the Sea Cookies feature a smiling purple octopus, a sweet sea turtle, and a little fishy What a delicious summertime cookie gift! Send them to a friend, or order some for yourself. It's been a hot summer so far, and we know lots of people have been traveling to their favorite vacation spots. Why not bring some of these cookies along for the trip, or send this collection to thank the host and hostess. This colorful trio of oceanic cuties is sure to make a splash!

Decorated Cookies: Father's Day Cookies

2010-06-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

Father's Day is Sunday, June 20th. This year we have several new collections of decorated cookies, made just for Dads. In addition, we're making tons of favors for everyone whose having a cookout to celebrate! Check out the website for lots more choices (including our new #1 seller - chocolate chip cookies!)

Decorated Cookies: Baby Cookies

2010-05-26T08:07:00.000-07:00

There have been some big changes at the bakery since the last post.
First, we added separate office space; and that space is doubling as a nursery! In February, the owners of Fancypants Bakery welcome a baby boy to their family. He's loving being part of the cookie community! Second, we expanded our production space. We now have more room for decorating and packaging, making it much easier for everyone to move around.

Decorated Cookies: Winter Cookies

2010-01-15T09:36:00.000-08:00

Enjoy some decorated cookies during the winter-time! Last week, we captured some adorable pictures during our winter photo-shoot. This collection of pink snowflakes and cute snowman was a favorite of everyone involved. It's a popular one for winter birthdays and for Valentine's Day. (Hard to believe how quickly that holiday is approaching! Be sure to join our newsletter to keep up-to-date on what's new and to receive e-coupons for sweet deals!)

Decorated Cookies: Christmas Cookies

2009-11-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

This year we are excited to have some terrific new cookie collections for Christmas. Our decorators work tirelessly each day to create perfectly delicious cookies that will delight every gift recipient. Shown here are our ever-popular "Shortbread Shorties." We bake these adorable cookies to golden brown perfection and then "dress" each one with a big smile. Visit our website to see lots more. Fresh baked decorated cookies are perfect for everyone on your list who has a sweet tooth! Friends, family members, colleagues, teachers will love to open their package and indulge in our fresh baked cookies. Merry Christmas! Celebrate with cookies!

Decorated Cookies: Hanukkah Cookies

2009-11-25T08:31:00.000-08:00

Hanukkah begins on December 12th! Celebrate the Festival of Lights with this beautiful Hanukkah Cookie Gift. Hand decorated dreidel cookies, menorah cookies, and star cookies make a delicious gift for the Hanukkah season! Prefer to hand out one or two cookies to friends and family? Then try our Hanukkah Party Favors. Each cookie is individually wrapped, making it easy to give a little something sweet.
If you live in the Greater Boston area, feel free to give us a call to come in to our baking facility to pick up a few cookies. Or, click here for a list of specialty food stores that carry our Hanukkah cookies.

Decorated Cookies: Thanksgiving Cookie

2009-11-04T13:08:00.000-08:00

Decorated Cookies for Thanksgiving are here! Gobble Gobble! Take a look at our most popular Thanksgiving Cookie Gift: "Turkey Time!" This collection comes in three sizes (6, 9, or 12 cookies) so we have the right size for every family. Our decorative pumpkin and endearing turkey cookies come packaged in a chocolate covered gift box and arrive just in time for the big day. Not only is "Turkey Time!" the perfect gift for your holiday hostess, it's also a uniquely sweet gift to send to family and friends that you won't see this year on Thanksgiving Day.

Decorated Cookies: Sweet Treats for Halloween

2009-10-23T06:20:00.000-07:00

Decorated Halloween Cookies make the perfect gift for for friends and family on October 31st! Our "Just Jack-o-Lanterns" gift box is new this year and a top seller! Kids and adults can't resist this delicious and adorable collection of Jack-o-Lantern cookies. Halloween Cookie Party Favors are another popular item that make great treats at neighborhood and school Halloween parties. Check out lots of different designs here! Want some tips for a bake-at-home project? Martha Stewart's website offers terrific ideas and tips for Halloween Cookie Decorating. Have fun and Happy Halloween!

Decorated Cookies: Corporate Logo Cookies

2009-10-16T12:03:00.000-07:00

Decorated cookies are a terrific way for companies to give conference attendants a sweet treat, while also reinforcing their own brand. This week we made 1200 corporate logo cookies for a conference held at a Boston, MA area hotel. The company wanted to serve a unique dessert to the conference attendees during their meeting, while also highlighting their corporate image. Our logo cookies are made with our delicious shortbread cookie recipe, so they taste rich and buttery while perfectly showcasing corporate logos. Logo cookies are perfect for business meetings, conferences, company parties and employee gifts. Just email us an image, and we'll do the rest!

Gourmet Cookie Gifts

2009-10-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

Gourmet Cookie Gifts make wonderful gifts any time of year, and during the fall, our fresh-baked chewy cookies taste particularly great! And when the cool weather sets in, I find myself dreaming about more cookie varieties, and all of the great fall flavors bakers can incorporate into delicious treats. Farm-fresh ingredients, hand-picked at New England farms are a terrific inspiration for yummy baked sweets. From apple crisp to pumpkin muffins, there are thousands of great recipes to try. Here is one recipe that I think everyone will love: Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies (Recipe and Photograph from http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/)

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola or corn oil
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup butterscotch chips

Position a rack in the middle of the oven . Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and butter the paper.

Stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the eggs and sugar until smooth and lightened in color, about 1 minute. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed during mixing. On low speed, mix the oil, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Mix in the flour mixture to incorporate it. Mix in the chips.

Using an ice cream scoop with a 1/4-cup capacity, scoop mounds of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies at least 2 1/2-inches apart. Bake the cookies one sheet at a time until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, about 16 minutes. Cool them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then use a wide metal spatula to transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely. Dust the cooled cookies lightly with powdered sugar. The cookies can be stored in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

Decorated Cookies: Halloween Party Favors

2009-10-06T06:17:00.000-07:00

Decorated Cookies make terrific Halloween Party Favors! Jack-o-lantern cookies, witch cookies, bat cookies and more! Each year we make thousands of cookies for Halloween and this year we're busier we're than ever. Because each cookie is individually packaged, the decorated cookies are the perfect treat to hand out to each guest. For example, dress up your dinner table with a smiling Frankenstein cookie adorning each party-goer's plate; or, fill a Halloween Trick-or-Treat pail by the door with the Black Cat cookies and let everyone grab one cookie on their way out the door. There are so many cute ways to use decorated cookies - feel free to leave a comment here with your creative ideas!

Need some other great Halloween Food ideas? Visit the Food Network's Eat, Drink and Be Scary series. They have pictures and recipes for tons of festive, delicious Halloween Treats.

Gourmet Cookie Gifts: Molasses Spice Gourmet Cookies

2009-10-01T06:56:00.000-07:00

Rich, buttery, chewy, fragrantly spicy molasses spice cookies are packed full of deep brown molasses flavor and baked until the dough is just barely set. Yum!

Baking in the Fall always brings me back to the early days of Fancypants Bakery. It was during the month of October that I first dreamed of opening a cookie company, and the cool weather made it an ideal time to experiment with recipes. We used to bake at night and then share samples with friends and family during the weekend. I remember doling out cookies at field hockey games, tailgating parties and other fun gatherings, and eagerly taking notes on what everyone liked the most. A clear favorite was our Molasses Spice Gourmet Cookies. The cookies are chewy, spicy and still a personal favorite!

The cookies taste great on their own, but I also know that customers also enjoy them with other treats. One customer told me she loved to put a dollop of ice cream between two cookies and make a sandwich! Sounds delicious!

Decorated Cookies: Cookies for Breakfast

2009-09-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

Decorated Cookies! Today, September 29th, is National Coffee Day. And no two things go better than decorated cookies and coffee. So this morning I celebrated. We've been baking a lot of football cookies lately, so I grabbed one of those and dunked it in my coffee.

Any blend will work, but, I also have 2 great recommendations. The first, Bluebottle Coffee Company, I discovered this summer on a trip to San Francisco and the second, Barrington Coffee Roasting Company, is a Massachusetts-based company I've known about for several years. Give either one a try!

Decorated Cookies: Spook-tacular Halloween Gifts

2009-09-22T09:56:00.001-07:00

Decorated Cookies make terrific Halloween Gifts. Every year we design new cookie collections, especially around the holidays. The Monster Mash Cookie Gift, which has Frankenstein, vampire, skull and alien cookies, was a huge hit last Halloween and is popular again this year. Everyone likes a little bit of ghoul as October 31st approaches, but we always put a smile on ours!
We package our Halloween Cookies in our signature gift box, and tie it with ivory grosrain ribbon. Click here if you want to check out our other Halloween Cookie Gifts and Halloween Party Favors.

Gourmet Cookie Gifts: Chocolate Chip Gourmet Cookies

2009-09-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

Our Chocolate Chip Gourmet Cookies are loaded with premium dark chocolate chips, brown sugar, butter, and pure Madagascar bourbon vanilla!

Fancypants Bakery has been known for years for our specialty: decorated cookies. But this fall season, we wanted to try something new. We turned to a classic, the chocolate chip cookie. Our chocolate chip cookies are generous in size and loaded with chocolate chips and butter...mmmm...

As soon as we turn on our bakery ovens, everyone in the building starts smiling; the smell of fresh baked cookies is irresistible! So, if you know someone who loves a sweet little pick-me-up, send them some of our delicious chocolate chip cookies.