Inspiration

Growing up on Long Island in New York, I was surrounded by Italian bakeries. Their smell was intoxicating and made me crave a cup of hot coffee even though I was too young to need or appreciate the jitters and taste. Seven layer cookies, or “rainbow cookies” were, and still are my go-to cookie when I step foot into those brightly lit and welcoming treasure troves. Their cases are stacked high with buttery swirls of crunchy and chewy perfection. Not too sweet, and sometimes covered in crunchy little sprinkles that get stuck in your teeth, but you don’t care. Or sometimes jelly filled, and the jelly is somehow chewy from being spread in such a thin layer that it sets further between the two little soft cookies, clinging to the crumbs and pulling them off if you dare to separate them.

This is what I crave when I think of dessert, and when I think of my childhood. This is what was missing when I moved to KC from NY. I wanted them so badly that I began scouring the internet for Italian bakery cookie recipes (which are harder to come by (legit ones anyway) than one might think). But a few Italian grandma’s on youtube and google searches on “google Italy” (yes you can search google in different countries without getting your shoes on), later, I stumbled on some recipes that would suffice.

A few months later after learning more about the research and development of cookies and baked goods, I decided this would be my inspiration for Outliers Baked Goods. Cookies that aren’t overly sweet and contain a magic that only little Italian cookies can hold, both simplistic but flavorful, compact and bursting with textures.

So cheers to you for being here, and coming on this cookie adventure with me.