When I visited Jenny Cookies Bake Shop in Lake Stevens, I joined a well-established fanbase.
With celebrities such as Tori Spelling lauding bakery founder Jenny Keller as a baking “genius” and a line of customers out the door, I was not the first person to have discovered the confectionery haven.
Keller, 36, operates her namesake bake shop in a strip plaza tucked near the northeast corner of the lake, in the city’s old town neighborhood, at 12420 20th St. NE.
But it’s not much of a secret. Keller built her career on a baking and style blog, which she launched after perfecting a sugar cookie recipe. The blogger and mother of two taught herself how to bake and decorate, eventually honing a recipe and aesthetic that Jenny Cookies packages: soft, moist treats coated with buttercream frosting. She includes the recipe in her 2014 cookbook, “Eat More Dessert.”
Jenny Cookies exploded after a friend gave a batch of cookies to Spelling, who raved about the cookies on social media and also invited Keller to Los Angeles to bake cookies and help her design dessert tables for her son’s birthday party.
In addition to her signature cookie, Jenny Cookies Bake Shop offers a well-rounded seasonal menu. The staples include cake pops ($2.50), cupcakes ($3.75), crispy rice treats dipped in frosting ($2.75) and mini pies filled with fruit ($3.95). In March, Keller is releasing a cookie sandwich, two thick chocolate chip cookies with buttercream frosting in the middle. The shop also sells celebration cakes starting at $45.
Some treats sparkle; others are drizzled with colorful frosting.
And they’re not just pretty on the outside. For me, Keller’s red velvet cake pop coated in pink frosting and bedazzled with sparkles was love at first bite. The cake-pop frosting is mild, and its crunch is a pleasing contrast to the sweet moistness of the red velvet cake it envelops. Though it doesn’t take more than three bites to eat, it’s a satisfying treat.
If the cupcakes were as delectable, I’d have entered sugar heaven.
I saved that for Herald social media producer Ben Watanabe and features editor Sara Bruestle. Watanabe loved the sea salt and caramel chocolate cupcake.
“I like my cupcakes more moist than dry, and this one nailed that preference,” Watanabe said. “The frosting was creamy, and the salt added a bite to ground the sweetness of the rest of the confection. I love cupcakes (what monster doesn’t?) and I fully intend on popping into this place to get cupcakes and other sweet treats for fun occasions.”
Bruestle instinctively reached for the cookie dough cupcake.
“It didn’t take me long to decide which sweet treat I wanted: The cupcake with a dollop of what looked like cookie dough on top. Mmm, cookie dough,” Bruestle said. “I definitely wanted that one. I’ve never seen a bakery make cookie dough frosting before. It looked so realistic that when I bit into it, I almost expected it to be unbaked dough. I was only slightly disappointed that it wasn’t real.”
She added: “For me, it was all about that frosting. A woman who bakes a lot told me once that cookies and cupcakes are simply the vehicle for which to eat frosting. Or something along those lines.”
If you go
Jenny Cookies Bake Shop
Location: 12420 20th St. NE, Lake Stevens; 425-322-4847.
Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Online: www.jennycookiesbakeshop.com
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
