Mr. Claus sure loves his milk and cookies when he makes stops on Christmas Eve.
It’s possible that when Santa gets to Bridgitte Jonas’ house in the South End, the cookies will stop Santa in his tracks and cause him to be late and searching for more.
Jonas has spent 20 years in the medical field as a cardiac technician and clinical manager, but has always had a knack for making cookies. And she plans to make a change in the new year and turn that knack for cookies into a new business.
“For years I watched my aunt bake as a kid. I’d sneak her confetti cookies off the counter and then I caught the baking bug myself,” Jonas said.
Fifteen years ago, she started to experiment with Christmas baking. Family and friends began to make specific requests with her platters.
“I even turned to Tik Tok and really started tweaking family recipes that I have always known and loved,” she added.
Chocolate chip cookies are her speciality, but Jonas has also perfected a number of other treats: cupcakes, Reese and red velvet cookie cakes, special bars and other desserts.
These chocolate chip cookies are no small feat. Each piece weighs 5.5 ounces with her favourite chips, the ever-so-decadent Ghirardelli ones.
Jonas said her grandmother was the original source of the recipe, but she began tweaking it through trial and error.
“I found it was flat, so I added more flour, but also didn’t want a dry combination. I wanted bakery fluffy,” she said.
The result is pretty spectacular.
“My three daughters have come to expect batches of them to be delivered to their sporting functions for all to eat,” she said.
“I even have two bodybuilders who come to pick up their cookies once per week. They say they know good chocolate chip cookies but have never tasted one as good as this one.”
Jonas is about to take a big leap of faith in the new year. She plans to rent space in a certified kitchen, leave her 9-5 job and spread more sweetness with her new business, For the Love of Sweets.
“It will mean more hours in the kitchen, but I am excited for the prospects. Maybe my love will turn it into a full-time gig one day,” she said.
Jonas is already committed to baking two to three days per week with eight-hour days on the weekends.
Jonas said her husband has been very supportive and he’s even picked out new baking gadgets just in time for Christmas.
Her new year’s goal is to perfect the macaron.
For the Love of Sweets can be contacted by email at [email protected] or by calling (705) 662-5962.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat! is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.