Cookie school and kitchen opens for novice, experienced bakers alike
MARIETTA — A group of women chatter and await instruction on a Saturday morning inside the Cookie Nip Studio Kitchen, a new education, baking and event space in Marietta.
Owner Michelle Gowan, a retired teacher, commands the class, instructing adults and children on everything from quick tips that will make baking easier to the finer details of culinary arts. Gowan, who has been baking for nearly 20 years, said she started baking cookies once they became too expensive to buy.
“I have always fooled around with recipes because whoever wrote the recipe had a preference for certain things,” she said. “So I have tried several different rollout cookie recipes. But the worst thing for me was trying to refrigerate the dough and then get it rolled out. That was too much of a workout. So I started working with a recipe where you can just work with the soft dough and that makes it much easier.”
Once she perfected the recipe, Gowan’s friends and neighbors wanted to learn from her. What started in Gowan’s kitchen in central Georgia with a group of friends baking together has quickly morphed into a learning experience for the community.
Gowan was still running classes out of her home when she met co-owner Mark Lipson, a retired math teacher who recently moved to Cobb. Lipson’s wife had signed them up for Gowan’s cookie class and by the end, he was impressed.
“[This experience] has been so rewarding and fulfilling as far as the many people that I get to meet and something that is just so much fun,” he said. “And then when I see people come in, and they have a lot of fun as well from something that I’m able to do for them, it’s very rewarding.”
Lipson said his partnership with Gowan makes them a great team that works well together.
“Michelle is more of the brains, I’m more of the brawn and together we have a lot of different characteristics that are different yet they make a good, complete team.”
Gowan and Lipson were working out of a communal kitchen before deciding to open their own space at 2211 Roswell Rd. in Marietta. Gowan said she’s had people travel from as far as California to attend classes.
“The Cookie Nip Studio provides an outlet of something that’s different,” Lipson said. “And you get to meet other people and learn a skill that you can then take and provide enjoyment for your family and friends and hopefully kids or grandkids if it comes to that.”
Gowan’s recipes contain a secret ingredient developed by her and Lipson: Cookie Nip. After searching for the perfect vanilla blend for her cookies, the duo decided to produce their own buttery blend of vanilla bean and salted caramel.
The Cookie Nip Studio Kitchen offers several types of events, ranging from birthday parties, cooking classes, decorating parties and more, throughout the week, Gowan said.
“The beginner class is our premier class,” she said. “It’s the one for people who are serious about wanting to bake.”
During the entry-level course, students learn to mix, roll, cut, bake, frost and decorate sugar cookies. After the class and graduation ceremony, students head home with “homework” — trying out the recipes at home and posting them to the Cookie School Facebook page for feedback.
Sophia Sekman, 14, of Alpharetta said she enjoyed the
class and meeting new people. Her friend, Lilly Hart, 12, of Johns Creek, agreed.
“I think the experience taught me a lot and I would definitely come back,” she said.
Gowan said the school also offers in-person and online “graduate” and “PhD” classes for more advanced bakers and an entrepreneur-style workshop for preteens and teens who want to develop a business selling their baked goods.
“I teach them how to write a business plan, how to make financial goals, how to price
their products, how to know what their products are worth, how to test market and all that,” Gowan said.
Her hope for the new studio kitchen is to get as many people as possible excited about making their own cookies, Gowan said.
“There’s something about a teacher that wants to empower other people to be able to do something for themselves,” she said.
To learn more about the Cookie Nip Studio Kitchen and the Cookie School, logon to cookienip.com/ studio-kitchen.